Back row, left to right: Derek Byrne, Stephanie Stutesman, Corey Russell, Melissa Hendy, Melissa Swenson, Anne Bowling and Randy Howard. Front row, left to right: Alessandra Karlin, Kathy Hardy and Rose Emanuel. Not pictured: Elyse Azorr, Megan Grant, Miranda Kammerdiener, Brett Smedley and Kendra Yamamoto.

Fifteen Vancouver teachers earned certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards in December 2018. With this certification, one of the most respected professional certifications available in K-12 education, these educators have demonstrated that they have reached the highest levels of the profession.

Earning certification requires 200 to 400 hours of work, including a content knowledge exam, expert review, student work and feedback, filmed teaching and a portfolio of self-reflection.

Elementary teachers

  • Anne Bowling, Washington Elementary, certified in English as a New Language/Early and Middle Childhood
  • Melissa Hendy, Washington Elementary, certified in English as a New Language/Early and Middle Childhood
  • Miranda Kammerdiener, Ogden Elementary, certified in Reading-Language Arts/Early and Middle Childhood
  • Kendra Yamamoto, a teacher on special assignment and a teacher at Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School, certified in Physical Education/Early Adolescence Through Young Adulthood

Middle school teachers

  • Kathy Hardy, Gaiser Middle school, certified in Mathematics/Early Adolescence
  • Alessandra Karlin, Gaiser Middle School, certified in Career and Technical Education/Early Adolescence Through Young Adulthood
  • Melissa Swenson, Gaiser Middle School, certified in Exceptional Needs Specialist/Early Childhood Through Young Adulthood

Gaiser Middle School is one of only 100 schools across the nation at which three or more educators earned certification in 2018.

High school teachers

  • Elyse Azorr, Skyview High School, certified in Mathematics/Adolescence and Young Adulthood
  • Derek Byrne, Vancouver iTech Preparatory, certified in Physical Education/Early Adolescence Through Young Adulthood
  • Rose Emanuel, Fort Vancouver High School, certified in Science/Adolescence and Young Adulthood
  • Megan Grant, Skyview High School, certified in Science/Adolescence and Young Adulthood
  • Randy Howard, Hudson’s Bay High School, certified in Career and Technical Education/Early Adolescence Through Young Adulthood
  • CoreyAnne Russell, Fort Vancouver High School, certified in Science/Adolescence and Young Adulthood
  • Brett Smedley, Columbia River High School, certified in Exceptional Needs Specialist/Early Childhood Through Young Adulthood
  • Stephanie Stutesman, Vancouver Virtual Learning Academy and Hudson’s Bay High School, certified in Art/Early Adolescence Through Young Adulthood

The district currently employs 117 educators who hold National Board certification. Forty-one percent of those teachers and counselors work at schools with the highest needs.

For the second consecutive year, Washington state leads the U.S. in the number of newly National Board–certified teachers. With 10,859 certified teachers total, Washington is third in the nation.