After 21 years of teaching in the Bainbridge Island School District and a total of 33 years in Kitsap County, Loanne Harmeling is making a major change in her life.
Harmeling, 62, has been teaching Global Citizenship and World History at Bainbridge High School four out of the last five years of her career. She is retiring on Friday to leave March 2 to teach at the Northbridge International School in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. NISC is a K-12 international school and is in its second year of implementing its International Baccalaureate Primary Years Program.
Harmeling will teach English as a second language at the school. She said she has been working on applying to NISC since last year. She found out she was accepted over Christmas.
She has a year-long contract but will come back to visit over break and hopes to have family come visit her as well.
Citing personal reasons, Harmeling said she’d rather not detail why she’s retiring in the middle of the year.
“It’s just time,” she said. “When you get to that point, you know that it’s time.”
Harmeling is also excited to get back to Asia after she taught English at the Jiangdu Middle School in Jiangdu, China for the 2007-2008 school year.
Harmeling visited Angkor Wat in Cambodia while on vacation from her job in China and fell in love with the area.
“I had a wonderful time there,” she said. “The people were very friendly. I never felt I was in any danger.”
BHS principal Brent Peterson said Harmeling will be missed at the school.
“Loanne was a solid contributor to the social studies department,” he said, noting her work with the National History Day competition and the gifted student program. “She really contributed a great deal of time and energy. She will certainly be missed and we wish her very well.”
Harmeling won several awards for her work with Washington State History Day, most notably the Larry Lowther Distinguished Service Award in 2006 and the Teacher of Merit Award in 1994.
Peterson said the school was in the process of conducting final interviews for her replacement and will have one in place on Monday. The replacement also will have help from fellow teachers and a lesson plan that Harmeling will leave in place.
For Harmeling, she said the contract in Cambodia is renewable and she will stay at the school as long as they “like each other.”
She may apply for jobs in other schools in other countries or stay at NISC “as long as I can run up and down the stairs and stay healthy.”
“Then I’ll go back to the island and sit on the rocking chair on the front porch.”
