About 20 teachers in the Edmonds School District— including five from the newest class of recipients— are board certified.
They might also fall into the category of overachievers.
National Board Certification is a credential that assesses accomplished teachers at a high and rigorous standard, and only 1 percent of teachers in Washington are certified, said an official with the National Board.
Jennifer Blackstone from Hilltop Elementary, Teri Garrison from Lynnwood Intermediate, Krista Swenson from Edmonds Homeschool Resource Center and Marty Thayer and Sarah Treworgy from Alderwood Middle School were each recently certified by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards.
The group of educators was honored at a reception Feb. 2, which included remarks from representatives of the Washington Education Association, National Board, Edmonds Education Association and comments from Superintendent Nick Brossoit.
The application process spanned the course of one school year, during which the teachers spent hundreds of hours preparing.
“It’s very intense,” Swenson said.
The process is voluntary and complements state licensing, said Terese Emry, Washington Initiative National Board for Professional Teaching Standards coordinator.
The assessment is two-fold: Teachers must complete four portfolio entries and six exam questions.
The portfolios, depending on the teacher’s area of expertise, typically include reflection on the teacher’s methods and style.
“Each portfolio tries to dial into whatever’s special about your discipline,” Thayer said. “They really try to fixate on that.
There’s a lot of self-examination, and that’s hard,” she said.
The assessment portion takes several hours to complete, and the questions could be on any topic or skill used within the teacher’s subject area.
Treworgy, who teaches social studies to middle school students, had to prepare for questions about world history, U.S. history, politics and other topics covered in the curriculum.
For these teachers, the experience enabled them to further their education and better themselves.
“It was the only way I could advance and stay in the classroom,” Swenson, who teaches Spanish, said.
She had looked into obtaining a master’s degree, but realized it wasn’t a good fit for her goals.
Garrison, who’s taught for 18 years, wanted to challenge herself.
“When you have an opportunity to better yourself, you should take advantage of it,” she said.
“It forced me to try things a little differently.”
Board certified teachers earn a 10-year certificate, which also renews their state teaching credentials for 10 years. They also receive a $3,500 annual stipend subject to Washington state legislative appropriation.
The process itself costs teachers $2,300, but the Washington Initiative provided scholarships that covered half of the fees for most of the teachers. Teachers also participated in support groups, facilitated by National Board teachers, which helped guide them through the process.
Brossoit recognized the teachers’ hard work at their reception.
“There are those among us … who extend themselves above and beyond,” Brossoit said. “You set a path for others in the district,” he told the teachers.
Thayer, an ESL teacher and head of the department at Alderwood Middle, said she hopes her accomplishment will encourage other teachers to become board certified.
“You get success and that success feeds off itself,” Thayer said. “It’s a big snowball of positive effort.”
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