Students across the state will benefit from having 12 teachers who recently achieved the highest honor of the teaching profession for a second or third time.
Ninety-three percent of the 13 educators mentored through a program at Emporia State University in 2018-19 were notified recently the work they had done toward recertification had measured up. Nine work or have worked in Kansas and/or Missouri K-12 schools, three work at Kansas universities.
“This process of board certification is similar to how a doctor becomes certified in a special area,” said Alvin Peters, the director of the program that guides teachers through working towards their national board certificates. “This is voluntary — no state, school district, or program is demanding them to go through this process. That’s why — a decade after earning their certification the first time — it’s a huge commitment to say, ‘Yes, I want to do it again.’”
The process is often misunderstood to mean a teacher passed a test or was nominated for the award. Peters added, “National Board certification is a different kind of honor. Teachers must submit extensive documentation of their instruction, including videos of their students at work in the classroom.”
Emporia State’s Great Plains Center for National Teacher Certification maintains a 99.5% renewal rate since 2005 with candidates achieving recertification on their first attempt.
Peters himself earned recertification this year. Peters, a former social studies teacher and Emporia State alumnus, has certification in early adolescence through young adulthood/ social studies-history.
The other educators renewing their certificates this year included:
Emporia, USD 253 – Barbara Fowler, social studies teacher at Emporia High School, certificate area: early adolescence/ social studies-history; Lana Ritchie, physical education teacher at Emporia High School, certificate area: early adolescence through young adulthood/ physical education
Hays, USD 489 – Kathy Wagoner, sophomore English teacher at Hays High School; certificate area: early adolescence through young adulthood/ English language arts
Kansas City area –
- Blue Valley, USD 229 – William Smithyman, English/language arts teacher at Blue Valley Northwest High School; certificate area: early adolescence through young adulthood /English language arts
- Gardner Edgerton, USD 231 – Carlene Stueve, senior English teacher at Gardner-Edgerton High School; certificate area: early adolescence/ social studies-history
- North Kansas City Schools (MO) – Susie Helwig, biology teacher at Staley High School; certificate area: early adolescence through young adulthood/ science
- North Kansas City School District and Park Hill School District – Brenda Stolle, teacher of English language learners for high school and adult students Park Hill’s LEAD Innovation Studio and at the Adult Education and Literacy Center in the North Kansas City School District. Her certificate area is in early adolescence/ social studies-history
Lawrence — University of Kansas Center for Research on Learning senior research associate Suzanne Myers; certificate area: early adolescence through young adulthood/ English language arts
Wichita –
- Wichita, USD 259 – Chele Behrens, English teacher at Wichita Alternative High School; certificate area: early adolescence/ English language arts
- Wichita-based author and former USD 259 teacher Jesica Glover; certificate area: early adolescence/ English language arts
- Friends University visiting assistant professor Darla Loggans; certificate area: early to middle childhood / literacy: reading language arts
Kansas currently has a total of 4,522 national board certified teachers. To date, more than 122,000 teachers in all 50 states and the District of Columbia have achieved National Board Certification. Educators who worked during the 2018-19 school year for their first national board certificate will find out in the coming days if their work measured up to achieve National Board Certified Teacher status.
More information about Emporia State’s national board program can be found at www.emporia.edu/gpcntc.
Is your teacher board certified?
They are among the best teachers in the profession, undergoing a rigorous process taking at least one year to complete. They are told to expect a 400-hour time commitment, and less than half will achieve certification on their first try.
NBCTs represent less than 1% of all educators in Kansas. The voluntary process is the equivalent of national board certification for physicians and other health professions. There are 452 teachers in Kansas who are NBCTs.
To see a list of NBCTs, go to www.nbpts.org/nbct-search.