January 8-12 is National Board Certified Teacher Week and Shelby County Schools is proud to recognize the recent accomplishments of nine teachers who earned NBCT certification, along with three others who renewed their certifications.

With the addition of these newly certified teachers, Shelby County now has a total of  67 teachers who have gone through the rigorous process of earning National Board certification.  As a state, Alabama is currently ranked 15th in the nation for the most NCBTs and 10th in the nation for the number of newest NBCTs.

Shelby County teachers who recently earned National Board Certification include Lindsey Irvin from Calera Intermediate; Shannon Goodwin from Chelsea High; Cherry Moody from Chelsea Park Elementary; Mallory Swinsick from Helena High; Vicki Jackson from Oak Mountain Middle; Adrianne McKinney from Forest Oaks Elementary; Jennifer Touchstone from Oak Mountain High; Cammie Eanes from Oak Mountain Elementary; and Laurie Sherrell from the Gifted Education Department.

Teachers who renewed their certification this year include Stephen Kearly from Wilsonville Elementary, Tracy Lee from Vincent Middle High, and Sandra Gallups from the Shelby County Instructional Services Center.

“Our district recognizes that these teachers are dedicated to their craft and have given of their time and resources to achieve the highest level of excellence in their field,” said Dr. Angela Walker, who serves as professional development supervisor and is also a National Board Certified teacher.

Walker said National Board Certification includes teachers writing and analyzing student work, filming and analyzing their instruction, evaluating current professional learning based on student performance, and completing area specific assessments.

The Shelby County School District recognizes that the process is not easy and is providing support to teachers who chose to pursue certification.

“This process can take from one to five years and is about $2,000 or more depending on how many years it takes to complete,” Walker said.  “Our district offers three paid professional development days to candidates and our SCS Education Foundation pays for all teachers in our district pursuing NBC to participate in the University of Montevallo Candidate Support Program.”

Additionally, the  Professional Development department has resources for teachers to check out.  Once their have earned the NBCT distinction, teachers receive a plaque to post outside their classroom and principals recognize them at the school level during national TeamNBCT week.

“We also plan a special conference each year just for our National Board Certified teachers,” Walker said. “This year it will be March 19.  We offer session topics based on feedback from our NBCTs and the latest trends and research in education because we know these teachers will be the ones leading the learning in our district.”