- Lori Engdall – Retiring
Lori Engdall, who you may know as one of the wonderful ladies in the TMC, is retiring after 28 years in the district, eight of which have been at Barlow. Engdall served as an Educational Assistant, EA, at Hall Elementary before coming to Barlow in 2017. Her Bruin pride runs deep as a former Bruin and also as the mother of children who have also gone through Barlow’s halls. When asked about retiring, she said she is “very excited to retire. I’m looking forward to going to Ireland, Alaska, and potentially Costa Rica in the next year.” While she will miss the relationships she has built with the staff and students here, she is still involved with the Sam Barlow Alumni Association as the co-treasurer and the director of the Hit the Barlow Trail fundraiser. She is also planning on subbing in the building throughout the next few years, when she’s not out exploring the world.
- Lauren Duncan – Moving to Seattle
Lauren Duncan, who has been a fixture in the math department for the past seven years, will be moving to Seattle this summer with her family. While she has enjoyed her time in Oregon, Seattle is her husband’s hometown and a place she loves to be a part of. While Duncan is leaving Barlow, she is not leaving teaching and will continue her career in Washington. Duncan taught in Tucson, Arizona, for three years prior to coming here. She expressed that she “is going to miss the students SO much,” but is simultaneously looking forward to a fresh start and teaching calculus and perhaps statistics.
- Chandler Ichikawa –
Chandler Ichikawa-Miyashita has been taking the math department by storm for five years after graduating from Concordia University with a master’s degree in teaching. She has taught Algebra 1 and Math Lab throughout her time here, and her AVID class is graduating this year. For the past five years, her commute to Barlow from home has been challenging. She said, “I know that it’s an odd time to be leaving a steady and stable work environment, but my commute is about an hour and a half each day, and I would like something more sustainable.” While she is flexible and unsure about her future in education, she knows that she will “miss my students and some of my favorite staff members.”
- Terry Summerfield – Retiring
Terry Summerfield is retiring after 38 years of teaching high school at Lake Oswego, Central Catholic, and Barlow High Schools. Summerfield is happy and excited to start this new chapter of his life, which he dreamed of experiencing with his late wife before her passing in December 2024. “It’s hard to imagine that without her, but I will be very busy, and I know she will always be with me,” he expressed. This new adventure will include traveling the world, coaching, and being a present father to his four adult children as well as a grandfather to his four grandbabies. Summerfield has been teaching since 1987 at Lake Oswego High School and coached four sports in six years during his time there. Then he became head football coach and Athletic Director at Central Catholic for the next six years before coming to Barlow in 1998 as the head football coach until 2019, putting 22 seasons under his belt. After his last football season, he continued teaching PE until his retirement. He said he will “miss the connections and relationships I developed with the students and staff. I won’t miss the work.” Although he has big plans for the future, he will still be around in the spring assisting with coaching the women’s flag football team.
- Liz Scharmann – Leaving Barlow
Liz Scharmann has been in the Gresham-Barlow School District since 2008. She has been at West Orient and Gordon Russell as a substitute teacher for Language Arts, AVID, and Theatre. This year, Scharmann joined the English department and taught Pre-AP English 1 and Pre-AP English 2, but had to say goodbye after budget cuts eliminated her employment. While she still plans to teach, she will be subbing back here in no time if a job doesn’t come her way. “I will miss the English department and students the most,” she said sadly.
- Jenny Byrne – Leaving Barlow
Jenny Byrne has been in the district since 2016, subbing, teaching, and filling in long-term for teachers. At one point, Byrne has been able to sub for almost every current teacher at Barlow, having been the building sub for a time and one of the most sought-after substitutes. In the past three years, she created a home in the English department, filling in for Mrs. Martin and then having her own position this past year. However, after almost a decade at Barlow, her position has been cut due to budget cuts, and she will leave this year. She mentioned that she is “very sad to leave my seniors and all of my work.” In the fall, she will be headed to Summit Learning Charter in Eagle Creek, a program similar to MEWA, our district’s online learning academy. “My favorite part of Barlow has been the kids; they are so funny,” she said sadly.
- Mick Dougherty – Retiring
Mick Dougherty is most likely one of the only staff members who can proudly say that he has spent the entirety of his teaching career within the walls of Barlow. Dougherty started his teaching career 30 years ago and has taught multiple classes during his tenure, including: US history, Global Studies, Global Perspectives, Personal Finance, Economy, World History, Personal Development, and Strength and Conditioning. He also coached football for 23 years, wrestling for 27 years, and track for 3 years during his time here. After he turns in his grades and packs up his classroom in June, he plans to work side hustles through construction and truck driving, which he dabbled in before teaching. He also plans to travel with his wife, Karyn Dougherty, who you may know as the secretary in the Athletics office, and ride his beloved motorcycle as much as possible. His travel plans include going on a cruise, going up the coast to the Redwoods with his motorcycle, and going on a cross-country road trip. Perhaps even venturing back to Australia and Europe. While he says he’ll miss working out during his prep time, he also mentioned that he’ll miss “the valuable time spent in teacher-directed teaching training exercises. And I’ll miss the friends I made in the building.”
- Renni Ferguson – Retiring
Renni Ferguson has worked for 24 years in a self-contained SpEd classroom, 10 of which were at Clear Creek Middle School and the last 14 at Barlow. Ferguson is a Gresham graduate, but all three of her children were Bruins before she worked here. She looks forward to this retirement journey, including traveling and spending time with her seven grandchildren. Her next trip will be to Alaska with her husband in August. While she plans to return to substitute at Barlow, she said she will “really miss the relationships with the students and staff. It’s very bittersweet to leave.”
