Currently, English teachers Kathy Wagoner and Lisa Renz are National Board Certified in English Language Arts/Adolescence and Young Adulthood.

According to www.nbpts.org, National Board Certification is designed to develop, retain and recognize accomplished teachers and to generate ongoing improvement in schools nationwide.

While Wagoner has been certified since 2000 and has renewed her certification throughout the years, Renz was certified in December 2019 and recently received her certificate.

“Board certification is for those teachers who want to go above and beyond what a college degree or master’s degree would offer,” Renz said. “You can choose to get certified in different areas. I chose young adult literature, which would be high school age. It took me four years to go through the entire process because I had to repeat one of the components.”

Renz said there were four components to getting board certified.

“Component one is a test similar to a standardized test and then an essay test that you do at a testing center,” Renz said. “Component two is choosing two students out of your class load and helping them to achieve differentiation, making the work at their level and helping them to accomplish and to improve. Component three is where you video yourself and your class, and then you analyze that video and reflect upon it. Component four has a lot of different areas to it. It’s looking at what do you do to improve yourself, to help a student to improve, how do you use data to best help your students. It’s quite a process, and I spent many hours working on it and taping my classes.”

Renz also worked through the Great Plain Center for National Teacher Certification at Emporia State University, as well as through candidate support, to get all of her components ready.

“I am thrilled about being certified,” Renz said. “It was a very long and very hard process, but I’m glad to do it. I think it really does make you a better teacher. It makes you way more reflective, and it makes you think about what I can do to better my students and how can I accomplish doing that.”

22nvuong@usd489.com