Meet the new teachers at LOHS!

Jenna Blancher

Welcome to the English department, Jenna Blancher! Blancher currently teaches Freshman English and is in her fourteenth year of teaching. Prior to teaching at LOHS, she taught at Lake Oswego Middle School. Blancher grew up in the Pacific Northwest and lived two years abroad in Belgium when her kids were younger. Blancher said her favorite thing about teaching is “helping kids connect to the texts we read in class and watching them express themselves through writing.”

Elle Carlson

Welcome to the foreign language department, Elle Carlson! Carlson grew up in Vancouver, Washington and currently teaches Spanish 2 here at LOHS. This is her ninth year teaching. Prior to LOHS, she taught World Language Exploration at Lake Oswego Middle School. Her favorite thing about teaching is getting to know her students and having fun with them. She loves how a lot of students here at LOHS seem genuinely excited and curious about learning Spanish. 

Meriel Hartling

A track runner for the University of Oregon in college, Meriel Hartling is one of the newest additions to the teaching staff in the English and history departments. Hartling grew up here in Oregon, and this is her fourteenth year of teaching. She currently teaches U.S. History, Sophomore English and World History. Hartling has taught all over the globe, including Germany, Kansas, Ireland and Lakeridge High School. Her favorite thing about teaching is how everyday is different, and she loves how the students at LOHS are so welcoming and hard working. 

Michelle Wright

A beloved English teacher from Lake Oswego Middle School, Michelle Wright, is another new member of the teaching staff in the English department here at LOHS. Wright is originally from Akron, Ohio, and this is her twenty-seventh year teaching. Prior to LOHS, Wright taught overseas at the Singapore American School in Singapore as well as at Sunset High School in Beaverton and for five years at Lake Oswego Middle School. At LOHS, Wright loves how she already knows so many students from teaching them in previous years. Wright said her favorite thing about teaching is “getting the opportunity to read students’ creative writing and getting to see what their imagination comes up with.”