Congratulations, 2023-24 Retirees!

We want to recognize these dedicated employees - not only for their years of service to our District and our students, but as our friends and colleagues, who are forever a part of our legacy.

We send a warm congratulations and a sincere thank you out to ALL of our retirees. You will be missed!

Transitional ISP Paraeducator

6 years in Education

6 years with BSD

Before Sue came to the Bremerton School District six years ago, she worked in healthcare for more than 15 years. The skills she gained during those years served her well in her role as a paraeducator with medically fragile kids. Her ability to not just follow, but understand, the student’s health care plans all the while working to promote their learning objectives was very much appreciated by all; as was her dependability in a hard to fill role. Consistent and yet flexible, Sue demonstrated a responsiveness to serve in any area of need. She was open to learning new techniques and new ways to handle a wider variety of special needs students. Sue would often come in early to help in whatever way she could, making her an asset on the transitional team. In retirement Sue says she is planning on spending time with family, taking trips with her husband, and exploring this beautiful place she gets to call home. Congratulations, Sue!

Certificated Teacher

33 years in Education

26 years with BSD

Dan Bock has spent the last 26 years teaching middle school PE for the Bremerton School District. Dan’s high expectations for all of his students, combined with his understanding that everyone’s best is going to be different, allowed him to capitalize on individual student’s strengths and backgrounds to differentiate learning goals. He encouraged the students to set their own growth and learning goals. Dan stressed learning the rules and playing safe in all activities. He was always an advocate for fair and equitable treatment of all students.

Our students are better educated in what it takes, and the benefits of, having a healthy lifestyle because of Dan’s hard work during the time they were with him. In retirement Dan is looking forward to spending more time with family and friends and to continue to travel the world looking for ways he can make it a better place to live.

Recruitment Specialist

43 years in Education

12.5 years with BSD

Leesa’s career in education spans 43 years and encompasses time as a teacher, PTA parent, substitute, District Office receptionist and HR recruitment specialist.

During her many years with the Bremerton School District, she became a veritable “Who’s Who” of District personnel – as she has either worked /volunteered with them or hired them. Leesa’s welcoming demeanor provided warmth not only to staff but also to the community members she encountered. Leesa has shown herself, more than once, to be an amazingly calm, competent professional even in the most stressful of situations. Her knowledge about her job, the department and the district as a whole combined with her enthusiasm and valuable input helped to make her an informal leader in the HR department.

For Leesa it has always been about the kids and the educational community, knowing that in each of her various roles she was serving the students here. In retirement, Leesa is looking forward to having more time to spend with her family & friends, her classes at the Y, working in her yard, traveling and engaging in other hobbies.

Enterprise Database Supervisor

35 years in Education

35 years with BSD

Coming to the District with a number of years of experience in data management, Lori quickly established a reputation for excellence in handling the vast amounts of student information maintained by the District. Starting as a registrar for WST and moving up the ranks to Enterprise Database Supervisor, Lori accrued extensive knowledge of the database management systems we have and became the “go-to” person in the district.

Lori takes pride in her work and is dedicated to providing the best customer service she can – for co-workers, parents and students. Her work in building teams throughout the district will help to keep things running when she leaves us. Once retired she would like to dust off the golf clubs and get back into the sport of chasing that little white ball around. She will also be spending much more time with her three adorable grandchildren that live here in the area. Who knows while she is not a big traveler, she may even take a trip or two.

Reflecting on her time at the Bremerton School District, Lori remarked, “I’ve loved meeting and greeting the parents/students that we get to work with every day and seeing the learning and growth. I've worked with the new excited little kindergarten students, with their fantastic smiles to the seniors that have graduated and now back enrolling their children. It really does come full circle. That is why I have stayed for 35 years. Working for the district has been an honor, I will miss the people and friends I have made.”

Certificated Teacher

34 years in Education

34 years with BSD

Jenny has taught at both West Hills and Crownhill during her 34 year tenure here with the Bremerton School District. Her warm accepting personal manner with each student combined with her humor and positive attitude make her classrooms a safe haven for students. Encouraging positive behaviors, the environment in Jennifer’s classroom is one rooted in support, discourse and respect. She makes learning meaningful and sets high expectations for her students and then willingly spends the extra time and energy needed to make sure they are successful.

Jennifer’s dedication to the development of her students both academically and as people has led her to be highly respected by students, parents and colleagues. Her knowledge and expertise combined with her passion for her craft add value to her grade teams and the schools. Jennifer’s dedication to making sure Crownhill remains a vibrant successful learning environment for the community will be missed. Jenny is looking forward to an exciting retirement filled with traveling, enjoying the outdoors, spending time with family and friends and, of course, doing anything else she wants! Woo-hoo!

Paraeducator

4.5 years in Education

4.5 years with BSD

When Sybil came to the Bremerton School District in November 2017, she was fulfilling a lifelong dream of working with children. Until she retired this past fall, she was a paraeducator at Naval Elementary where she was known for her hard work and dedication to helping students become successful.

Sybil genuinely cared about the kids and treated all of them fairly while working to meet their individual needs. She would ask them questions then use their answers to make the day's lessons more meaningful. Positive and enthusiastic, Sybil was a team player who would try to predict problems before they became one. In retirement, Sybil is planning on continuing to enjoy life and filling it with travel, family, friends, service, and being a positive example to those she comes in contact with.

Occupational Therapist

34 years in Education

5 years with BSD

Deb came to BSD in 2019 with 29 years experience under her belt as an occupational therapist. During her time here she has helped students at Crownhill, West Hills, Mountain View Middle School, and Bremerton High.

She is a proficient evaluator with good instincts and a sound understanding of the physiological systems that impact a student’s ability to learn. An innovative and creative thinker, Deb has regularly improvised devices to support her students’ needs for “something just right.”

Deb’s advocacy for student access regularly extends to some of our most heavily impacted students. A leader of the OT/PT team, she has been dedicated to improving the organization and condition of the materials for her students and colleagues. Always pleasant and personable to be around, Deb enjoys showing off pictures and stories of her grandkids! Beyond spending as much time as possible with her family in retirement, Deb is planning on traveling to all of the states, quilting, and working on her 1931 vintage house. And, since she still wants to work with kids, we may still see her around the district.

Paraeducator

33 years in Education

17.5 years with BSD

Joyce spent just over 17 years with the Bremerton School District at Armin Jahr. Outstanding in every aspect of her job as a paraeducator, Joyce was known for going above and beyond teacher expectations. She has a genuine interest in the students’ lived experience, asking them questions and then using that knowledge to build a relationship with the students which helped her in skillfully supporting their academic and social needs.

Joyce’s kind, caring nature combined with her positive attitude was demonstrated regularly in her obvious enjoyment working with students and treating all in a compassionate and fair manner. She is a team player who skillfully supports students with their academic and social development.

Joyce’s love of working with and being around children may lead her to do some subbing when she is not spending time with her grandkids, family, friends and making lumpia for all!

Child Nutrition Services (CNS) Supervisor

19 years in Education

10 years with BSD

Having worked in every aspect of food service, Lynn brought an impressive amount of knowledge to the Bremerton School District when she joined us in 2014. During her ten years with the District, she used the depth and breadth of her skills to build up the Child Nutrition Services (CNS) department.

Lynn was instrumental in making BSD one of the first districts in the nation to collect and distribute surplus food to area food banks - thus helping to feed the community and build long lasting relationships with the food banks in Bremerton. She also led the drive to get the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) program in our schools, allowing us to provide free breakfasts and lunches to all enrolled students.

Lynn rose to the challenges of COVID and found ways to provide meals to students during the shutdown. Her strong work ethic combined with her open-mindedness helped to make her a strong team player across departments throughout the district which has led to the successful transformation of the CNS department. Lynn’s drive to be the best and make our CNS the best came from her desire to make sure the kids not only got fed, but had enough to eat to be able to be their absolute best in school. In retirement, she is planning on spending lots of time with her husband, kids, grandkids and all the rest of her family.

Certificated Teacher

22 years in Education

18 years with BSD

Christine started her career with the Bremerton School District 18 years ago as a long term substitute. She was hired at Armin Jahr two years later where she has stayed for the last 16 years. Christine has been a kindergarten, first and second grade teacher, and also taught Dual language second graders for a year.

Understanding a child’s initial experiences at school could shape their attitudes towards learning for the rest of their lifetime, Christine strove to develop close, appropriate relationships with both them and their parents. She consistently sought to increase her repertoire of instructional strategies to ensure her students would have the optimal learning environment. As a student advocate, Christine was committed to providing each and every student with a high quality learning experience and developing the whole child. Her many and varied contributions to Armin Jahr will be greatly missed.

Golfing, traveling, spending time with grandchildren, sewing, and gardening are just a few things Christine is looking forward to being able to do now that she is retired.

Payroll Specialist

27 years in Education

25 years with BSD

Wanda has been a payroll specialist with the Bremerton School District for 25 years. During that time she has been known for her thoroughness, her ability to work through payroll questions and problems and her willingness to share information with others. Her expertise in all things payroll and her ability to consistently and accurately interpret the various Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA) made her the “go to” person for payroll questions and concerns.

Wanda was consistent, dependable and hardworking and one who always had the District’s best interest at heart. Her stated goal was “always to be accurate and thorough so our staff could attend to our most precious assets, the growth of the children / students, without worry about the correctness of their pay each month.” An exceptional payroll specialist who unceasingly strove to provide excellent customer service, Wanda will be missed.

In her retirement, Wanda is looking forward to spending quality time with her family and friends, getting caught up on projects around the house & yard, traveling and having the flexibility to stay up late, sleep in, and do what she wants, when she wants!

Paraeducator

35 years in Education

34.5 years with BSD

MaryJane spent the first 11 years of her 35-year educational career working with the preschool kids at Crownhill and Naval. During this time she enjoyed being part of the program becoming integrated as opposed to self-contained. She left the District in 2000 to pursue other opportunities, but returned to the Bremerton School District in 2007 as a paraeducator at Naval Elementary.

MaryJane’s positive attitude and excitement motivated children to learn. Her creativity in generating and developing ideas, helped her in leading the kids in problem solving. Always aware of the IEP goals, combined with her ability to take instruction well and put it to practice, MaryJane was a great support to her teachers. She was an asset to the school, willing to take on any group and always participating in school wide spirit days and family nights. Students loved having her work with them in class, and MaryJane loved talking to them and helping them to get those “aha!” moments.

In retirement, MaryJane is planning on going fishing, visiting the beach, engaging in her hobbies, spending time with her family and taking care of herself.

Lead Groundskeeper

29 Years in Education

29 Years with BSD

What can you say about someone who has spent the last 29 years transforming the grounds of all of the Bremerton School District buildings so they look almost like parks instead of school grounds? While Lance may have started out as a general grounds keeper, his pride in his work, his energy and enthusiasm soon made him a real asset to the district.

When Lance became the lead groundskeeper 10 years ago, his ability to coordinate and direct his crew with a “let’s work together and get it done” attitude showed him to be a team player, a great motivator and a positive staff leader. Lance is thoughtful and diligent in all he does, and he can be relied upon in any situation that is thrown his way. His enthusiasm for life and his work comes out in his engaging manner with all he encounters be the students, staff or the public.

Lance was the visionary behind the Kokoro Garden at Bremerton High School - the beautiful courtyard space in between the main building and the newest wing of the school. Lance made his vision a reality by coordinating a group of staff and volunteers to create a truly remarkable calming place for staff and students to enjoy.

Lance has also had a lasting impact on students in the District as a coach. Lance served as head girls and boys soccer coach at Bremerton High School for many years. He was also was head assistant boys soccer coach for a few years - along with head girls golf coach back in the day! He is a seven-time League “Coach of the Year” recipient.

No matter what Lance was doing he had a way of making the difficult look easy, and he was more than happy to lend a helping hand and coach you in how to do it yourself.

Reflecting on his time with us Lance says “My time with the district was nothing but awesome! Between my many seasons coaching soccer and golf, I had the opportunity to help shape young lives to the best of my ability. My work as a lead groundskeeper was magical and my team and I always tried to make our district top notch.”

Lance is already enjoying his retirement backpacking in the Olympics and hanging out with his family.

Certificated Teacher

24 years in Education

24 years with BSD

Mary has taught English/Language Arts and Social Studies to Bremerton students for her entire 24-year education career. She has shared her knowledge of these subjects with the students at Bremerton Junior High, Freshman Academy, Bremerton High School and most recently at Renaissance High School.

Mary’s talent in building positive relationships with students helped to establish within her classrooms a culture of respect and fairness. Though already a gifted and outstanding teacher, Mary was always looking for ways to increase her knowledge and provide new strategies for kids. She encouraged her students to participate in community events and provided opportunities for them to do so. Mary’s input during team get togethers – formal and informal – is always thoughtful and on point; she listens to others and respectfully offers her opinion – which makes her a vital team member.

In retirement Mary is looking forward to spending lots of quality time with family, especially her grandson. With the motto of “have golf clubs, will travel” Mary is planning doing a fair amount of traveling in her nifty little camper van – especially if her plans to become a contestant on “Wheel of Fortune” pan out.

Certificated Teacher

36 years in Education

6 years with BSD

The last six years of Danan’s 36 years in education have been spent here in the Bremerton School District working with special education students at West Hills and Crownhill. Danan is masterful at differentiation to meet her students’ learning goals which enables her to create engaging lessons for all students and helps to push them to achieve their goals.

Her ability to be flexible with students' needs allows her to provide strategies that suit the learning modality and pace of each student individually. Danan genuinely cares about her students and her fellow staff members. Her passion and dedication to the teaching profession and the future of her students is apparent and goes beyond what is asked of her in the classroom.

Though she will miss her students, in her retirement Danan is looking forward to moving to Oklahoma and opening her own business (EMJ Treasures) to sell her crafts such as quilts, crocheted items and machine embroidery.

Certificated Teacher

44 years in Education

7 years with BSD

Patrick has spent the last seven years of his 47-year career in education teaching in the Bremerton School District. Patrick is a master teacher who integrates curricula materials and high engagement strategies with a growth mindset in all his interactions with students, families and colleagues. His “what’s best for the kids'' approach was evident in everything he did. Students loved his classes because of his effervescent attitude and energy. Parents appreciated his understanding of their child’s developmental skills, and his colleagues welcomed his guidance when they needed additional support.

A positive, highly respected professional, Patrick was a valuable team player who could keep everyone on track and found the best in all situations through his amazing sense of humor.

In addition to his community work serving as a Commissioner on the Green Metropolitan Park Board in Kingston and a Commissioner for North Kitsap Fire and Rescue, Patrick is looking forward to having more time for his hobby building bird houses in retirement.

Certificated Teacher

35 years in Education

35 years with BSD

Laurie is another one of the teachers we have been honored to have - those who started and are ending their career with the Bremerton School District. Laurie has been with us for 35 years working at View Ridge, Kitsap Lake and Crownhill, teaching our young students the benefits of fitness in maintaining health and wellbeing. She engages with families to communicate the students strengths and weaknesses to assist in each child reaching their health and fitness goals.

Laurie has phenomenal instructional skills and is an expert at developing activities where the student learns and practices essential skills to keeping fit. Staying current in all teaching strategies, she works tirelessly to ensure her students are engaged and learning all the time. Laurie was also instrumental in launching the Crownhill House System which had created a sense of belonging for all students and staff and continues to contribute to the positive climate at the school. Laurie says she feels so lucky to have taught a subject most kids can’t get enough of and the looks on the kids’ faces when they see their favorite activities set up in the gym has provided excitement and motivation throughout the years.

Laurie expects to spend her retirement enjoying morning coffee in the sun, being with her family and especially watching her three grandchildren grow up.

Certificated Teacher

45 years in Education

32 years with BSD

Before Paula came to the Bremerton School District 32 years ago, she already had 13 years of experience teaching special education. She used her excellent classroom management skills to develop motivating tasks for her students; ones that epitomized her motto of “Challenge Yourself”. Paula’s ability to quickly apply new teaching and learning research extended beyond her students to include her colleagues. Using her strong coaching skills, she consistently collaborated with her peers and administrators to build on colleagues’ strengths and improve instructional practices for all students.

While quick to give credit to others and point out their contributions, Paula’s own expertise assisted her in her leadership roles on Response to Instruction (RTI) teams, as an assessment and testing coordinator, a curriculum leader, instructional coach, and as a team leader. Paula is a distinguished teacher whose contagious positive attitude will be greatly missed.

Paula is going to have a busy retirement with all her plans to read, quilt, volunteer, taxi the grandkids, and get a discovery pass so she can explore Washington’s many state parks.

CTE Teacher

32 years in Education

22 years with BSD

Patrick “Kelly” started and is ending his 32-year educational career in the Bremerton School District. His first 20 years with BSD were at Peninsula Vocational Skills Center. After teaching in other school districts for 10 years, Kelly found himself drawn back to Bremerton where he’s been teaching auto body repair and automotive tech at West Sound Technical Skills Center.

Focused on supporting students and ensuring they have a rigorous learning experience, Kelly created a model program for self-paced instruction both written and hands-on with special care taken to ensure it was a quality competency based program. Collision repair technology has changed significantly in the last 32 years and Kelly continually participated in professional growth opportunities to ensure he had the most up-to-date knowledge of the field to share with his students.

Kelly has a deep concern for those in his classes and strove to provide a strong role model for them. He encouraged and supported students in participating in Skills USA and took them to the regional, state, and national competitions. Kelly enjoyed helping his students’ create goals for themselves in collision repair and many have gone on to start their own businesses.

WST is fortunate to have had him as a teacher, and we say thank you for your wisdom, strength and dedication to training our students. In retirement, Kelly is excited about being able to spend time in the wrestling room with his son and grandsons, gardening with his daughter-in-laws, fishing and camping with his numerous long time fishing buddies.

Certificated Teacher

51 years in Education

27 years with BSD

51 years. That’s right. Fifty. One. Years. That’s how long Elizabeth “Liz” has been in education – with the last 27 of those years spent in the Bremerton School District. Liz taught second grade and reading at Naval and kindergarten and reading at Crownhill before spending the last two years as a literacy specialist at West Hills STEM Academy.

Well-versed in current best practices, she knows how to raise student achievement. Liz treats students with kindness and respect and is quick with an encouraging word or compliment. She is a team player and considers all points of view and works to find a solution that is best for students. Liz willingly shares her knowledge and techniques with her colleagues to help all students succeed.

Throughout her career with BSD, Liz has been involved with a number of programs -- Washington Reading Corps Supervisor/AmeriCorps, Building ELL coordinator, DIBELS/AIMS/WA KIDS testing, and the before school reading and math programs. That Liz has enjoyed every moment (well almost every moment) of her teaching career and that she feels blessed to have been able to do what she loves is evident in the positivity and joy she brings to the workplace every day. She will be missed.

Liz has been so busy teaching she hasn’t thought much about her retirement plans beyond sleeping later than 6 a.m. every day, doing some traveling with her beloved daughter and attending former students’ weddings.

Certificated Teacher

19 years in Education

9 years with BSD

Of Debora’s 19 years in education, she has spent the last nine here at View Ridge where she taught kindergarten and first grade.

Debora has a vast repertoire of teaching approaches and strategies which served her well as a strong supporter of student development. By encouraging her students to share their thoughts, she helped them learn how to connect with others – a very valuable lifelong skill. An advocate for ethical treatment of all students, Debora is a good collaborator with her grade level team.

Debora was involved many school groups and committees – PBIS, arts integration planning, PTA, ELA, and professional book study groups to name a few. She also spearheaded the movement to start a school garden which is still flourishing today while teaching students about connecting with the earth and learning where their food comes from.

In retirement, Debora is planning on spending time with family and friends and working in her yard and garden. She is most looking forward to traveling throughout the year and experiencing the seasons and cultures both near and far from home.

Office Coordinator

5.5 years in Education

5.5 years with BSD

Before moving back to Washington, Suzanne she was a paralegal in Southern California for many years. Suzanne started working at the Bremerton School District in 2019 and was able to transfer the skills of working in a face-paced legal office to handling the organized chaos of working in an elementary school as the office coordinator for Kitsap Lake.

Suzanne’s professionalism doesn’t keep her from regularly demonstrating her compassionate and caring nature for the KLE students and families. Her positive interactions with colleagues often reflect her great sense of humor. A team player, Suzanne is willing to help when and where needed and her flexibility enables her to shift her focus to support others when urgent needs arise.

In retirement Suzanne is looking forward to traveling (hopefully to Ireland), reading, visiting family (especially her grandchildren) and friends.

Bus Driver

Head Custodian

23 years in Education

21.5 years with BSD

Donnie originally started with the Bremerton School district in 1985 as a bus driver. He left in 2000 to pursue other opportunities, however, he returned to us in 2017 to become one of our longstanding, beloved custodians.

Donnie’s friendly nature served him well in both of his positions whether interacting with staff, students or the public. His courteous, pleasant personality, his mild nature and willingness to assist everyone helped to make him a positive role model. Bus drivers and custodians are often “unseen” as they work to keep our students safe and provide a clean environment for them to learn in. This never kept Donnie from taking pride in his work and continually doing an excellent job. In retirement, Donnie will be traveling around the country visiting family and friends.

Retiree bios researched and written by Stephenie Nagle, Human Resources.

Note: Some retirees have opted out of participating in District retiree recognition activities and are therefore not included in this newsletter.

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