Michelle Feist (left) and Melissa Styger (right) pose for this photo at Edison Elementary School.
Six educators in the Centralia School District earned certifications from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards this school year. The certification requires more than 400 hours of work and is highly regarded among educators.
“We’re proud of these six, as well as those who have earned certification for their dedication to excellence in education,” said Superintendent Mark Davalos in a press release.
At Centralia High School, science teacher Emily Carson, English teacher Monica Harris and Dean of Students Jessica Nommensen earned their certification.
At Fords Prairie Elementary, Counselor Heidi Weaver earned the certification. First-grade teacher Michelle Feist and third-grade teacher Melissa Styger from Edison Elementary both earned certifications as well.
“National Boards is the highest a teacher can go other than a doctorate,” Styger said. “There’s a stipend attached to it, which is a huge incentive and, being National Board certified, you can move anywhere in the U.S. and you don’t have to recertify in that state.”
Feist said her lesson plans became much more refined through earning her certification.
“It makes you reflect and think about every single moment,” Feist said. “What am I doing? What’s the purpose of it? Can I get rid of it? Is it just fluff? Everything seems much more intentional, because it had to be (intentional) all last year — that continues.”
As part of her certification, Feist recorded her lessons and wrote the purpose of each part.
“I wasn’t completely starting from scratch, like, ‘oh, I have to develop this whole new lesson plan or way of thinking,’” Feist said.
“You’re already doing it and kind of looking more closely at what you’re doing and why. I think it’s also helped me be more open to working with other teachers, being videoed, sharing ideas, making mistakes, finding a better way of doing things.”
Styger also said the process made her lesson plans more focused.
“Every decision you make for each kid is like ‘OK, why am I doing this,’” Styger said. “‘How is this addressing the students’ needs? What is the benefit of this? Is this really the best use of my time or materials?’ I mean, it’s in your head and now it’s ingrained.”
Styger said the components of earning her certification became progressively harder, but it was worth it.
“The time commitment was grueling,” Styger said. “I’m a mother of two — it was grueling. To work full time, to be a mom full time and to do National Boards, I mean it’s a big undertaking. But my girls saw me do that, and achieve that, and they know that, ‘Wow, mom has that achievement. I want to do that.’ So you’re setting an example and you can tell your students, you can tell your students’ parents, ‘I’m National Board certified; I want to be good at what I do.’”
