As the 2012-2013 school year recently came to a close for the Battle Ground School District, retirements, promotions and resignations in the district have led to administrative changes in the District Office and in schools from Pleasant Valley in the west to Amboy in the east.
Principals retiring at
three middle schools
Shayla Ebner, who has spent 22 of her 26 years in the district at Amboy Middle School, often greets visitors this way: “Welcome to paradise.” She is the school district’s senior principal, retiring after 15 years on the job. Following several years of teaching in Louisiana, Texas, California and at Our Lady of Lourdes in Vancouver, she started at Amboy in 1987, teaching seventh grade. Three years later, she transferred from the foothills to the flatlands, teaching at Maple Grove until 1994. Then it was back to Amboy as dean of students and then assistant principal, including a year splitting her time between Yacolt Primary and Amboy Middle. In 1998, she was appointed principal at Amboy.
JoDee McMillen’s first teaching job was in Finley, ND, where her family had, and still has, a farm. She taught special education in K-3, then taught Title I reading at a Native American boarding school. Enticed by friends in Battle Ground, she and her husband moved to the area in 1988 and she was hired as a special education teacher in Amboy. Later assignments included teaching seventh grade at Maple Grove, Title IX duties for the district and a half-time assistant principal job at Laurin Middle School. She has been principal at Laurin since 2006. She says, “I have had 30 wonderful years working with the kids and have enjoyed every minute of it.”
Ward Holcomb is a Vancouver native (Hudson’s Bay High School) who served 22 years in the Marine Corps. His deployments included Saudi Arabia during Operation Desert Storm in 1991. His first teaching job was 1992-1993 in the seventh grade at Maple Grove. After teaching there and at Lewisville, he became assistant principal at Amboy and in 2001 was named principal at Pleasant Valley Middle School. “I’ve always felt the secret of success at Pleasant Valley is the support of the parents and the PTA,” he said. “It’s incredible.”
Certificated, classified
retirements
Retirements and resignations of non-administrative Battle Ground School District employees announced at the June 10 Battle Ground School Board meeting include:
Certificated: Sharon Cyr (Summit View High School); Nikki Dancu (Battle Ground High School); Bev Ferrier (BGHS); Carla Gish (Daybreak Primary); Bob Grossman (Prairie High School); Donna Heidelberg (Captain Strong Primary); Patricia Jensen (PHS); Judy Jones (Laurin Middle School); Julie Koch (Tukes Valley Middle); Meda Logan (TVM); Midge Marcus (TVM); Rowena Millis (Maple Grove K-8); Katherine Nitsch (LMS); Jan Paullin (MG K-8); Mary Jane Solberg (Daybreak Middle); and Richard Soohoo (PHS).
Classified: Billy Doyle (LMS); John Grisso (Warehouse); Polly McComb (Glenwood Heights Primary); David McLaughlin (BGHS); Lenora Nichols (MG K-8); Eugene Townsend (Transportation); Terry Wilson (PHS); and Lynette Wooldridge (DBP).
New principals at five schools
In addition to new principals replacing retirees at Amboy, Laurin and Pleasant Valley, there are new principals for Captain Strong Primary and Maple Grove K-8.
Pleasant Valley Middle School, Travis Drake: Drake began his teaching career at the old Lewisville Middle School teaching seventh grade language arts and history. He has been an assistant principal for five years, two at CAM Academy and the past three at Prairie High School, where he was also athletic director. Drake and his wife, Jessica, a Battle Ground High School teacher, attended Maple Grove Primary and Middle schools and Battle Ground High School together.
Laurin Middle School, Nick Krause: Krause, who grew up and went to school in Ridgefield, has been assistant principal at Laurin this year. He started in 2004 as a seventh grade science, math and reading teacher at the old Lewisville Middle School. He was assistant principal at Chief Umtuch Middle School for two years before moving to Laurin.
Maple Grove K-8, Michelle Reinhardt: Reinhardt, whose appointment was approved by the members of the School Board on March 25, has been a student in France and Canada as well as the U.S. Her first job was in Fort Worth, TX, in 2000-2001, teaching students in grades three to five with mild-to-moderate disabilities. She moved to Battle Ground in 2004 and taught students with disabilities for three years at Captain Strong, then fifth grade for three years at Daybreak Middle. She was assistant principal at Daybreak Primary for two years before moving to Maple Grove this school year as an assistant principal.
Captain Strong Primary School, Mike Michaud: Michaud is also advancing to a new job without changing schools. He will replace Cindy Arnold as principal. Arnold is moving to the District Office to take over as director of career and technical education for Denice Harvey, who is retiring. Michaud’s first job was as a second-grade teacher at Eleanor Roosevelt Elementary School in Vancouver, starting less than two weeks before 9/11 in 2001. He later taught other grades and in 2008 came to Battle Ground as an assistant principal at Captain Strong. Michaud has run a marathon and the Hood-to-Coast Relay, and coached middle school athletics.
Amboy Middle School, Mike Maloney: Maloney’s first post was in 1995-1996 as a fourth grade teacher at Harney Elementary School in Vancouver. Over the years, he taught multiple grade levels during his time in the Vancouver School District. For the past five years he has been assistant principal at Glenwood Heights Primary. He lived overseas during his tour of duty in the U.S. Army and during his assignment in Germany, he ran a marathon in Berlin.
Major changes
at District Office
There are major changes at the Battle Ground School District Office as well, including the retirements of Superintendent Shonny Bria and Deputy Superintendent Diana Gilsinger, each with 15 years with Battle Ground Public Schools. Their retirements were reported earlier this spring.
Also previously reported were the appointments of Duane Rose as interim superintendent and Lynn Hicks as interim deputy superintendent. They will serve while the board members conduct a search for a new superintendent. They will assume their new jobs on July 1. In recent weeks, Rose has been serving as liaison to the members of the School Board.
Denice Harvey, director of Career and Technical Education, is retiring after a career that began in 1980 in northern Holland, where she taught basic education to U.S. troops. A year later, she was in Battle Ground as Community Education coordinator for the Amboy/Yacolt area. She subsequently worked at Battle Ground High School, three years as Career Center secretary and 14 years as career guidance counselor. She later held administrative posts in the Washougal School District and at the Clark County Skills Center before returning to Battle Ground Public Schools nine years ago as director of CTE.
Cindy Arnold is moving from principal at Captain Strong Primary to the District Office, replacing Harvey as the director of Career and Technical Education. In 1983, Arnold was living in Alaska and planning on a career in the health field when she did some work as an uncertificated substitute teacher. She liked it so much she took a new career path and by 1990 had credentials and a job at Columbia River High School in Vancouver. She started in Battle Ground in 2005-2006 as an assistant principal at Prairie High School and has been principal at Captain Strong since 2008-2009. Her work history includes being a telephone operator, an office manager and a teacher of business education and technology.
Changes for
assistant principals
• At Battle Ground High School, Matt Stanfill, health/fitness teacher at Amboy Middle School, will replace Karla Kalian at BGHS as athletic director. Kalian is replacing Pam Lyster as assessment coordinator. Lyster is retiring after six years with the district.
• Susan Watson, Tukes Valley Primary assistant principal, is leaving the district temporarily to take a two-year fellowship working for The Teachers Development Group.
• Peter Fallaw, assistant principal at Daybreak Middle School, is returning to the classroom to teach language arts at Prairie High School.
