More teachers earned certification

Teachers throughout Eastern Washington and North Idaho recently learned their investments of time and money have paid off with certification by the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards.

National certification is a year-long process for seasoned teachers, requiring hundreds of hours of additional work and an application fee of $2,500. In Washington, only about 5 percent of teachers are certified, including the 900 who were added to the list Tuesday, when the National Board released the names of those who completed the process last year.

Teachers say the process requires them to be more reflective.

“You spend a lot of time thinking about your own teaching, why you teach, why something didn’t work (in the classroom) and how would I do it differently next time,” said Shane Heideman, a science teacher at Kettle Falls Middle Schools and the first in his district to become nationally certified.

The reward for teachers who gain certification: a $5,000 pay raise, plus an additional $5,000 annually if the teacher works at a school that serves impoverished areas.

On Wednesday, The Spokesman-Review published the names of 62 recently certified teachers from Spokane and Kootenai counties. Here are those from other counties:

In Washington

Othello School District – Paul Firth, Scott McBride, Steven Parris, Eric Shafer and Chad Smith; Orient School District – Gretchen Cruden and Cheryl Metsker-Belcher; Newport School District – Curtis Rowsey; Colville School District – Gail Herbst; Columbia School District in Hunters – Michele Nelson; Kettle Falls School District – Shane Heideman; Mary Walker School District in Springdale – Rebecca Gearhart; Dennis Kiefer and Wendy Peone; Colton School District – Catherine Kinzer; Pullman School District – Joni Stevens and Robert Winchell.

In Idaho

Moscow School District – Judy Mock and Brenda Tribelhorn.