By Sue Kiesewetter
Enquirer contributor

Lakota Ridge Junior School language arts teacher Rebecca Tompkins has become nationally certified. | ZOOM |

WEST CHESTER TWP. - Teachers Rebecca Tomkins and Aaron Nunley empathize with students who have to take Ohio's high stakes proficiency tests.

That's because the two Lakota Ridge Junior School teachers had to pass six half-hour tests in their own specialty areas as part of a yearlong process to become nationally certified.

The teachers are among 7,886 nationally - 463 in Ohio - to receive the prestigious National Board Certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. Since the organization was created 15 years ago, 23,930 teachers have received the certification.

Only 39 percent of the candidates who applied for the first time during the 2001-02 school year received certification, said James Minichello, board spokesman.

"It is a very rigorous process and reflects so many aspects of good teachers," said Janet Walsh, spokeswoman for the Cincinnati Public Schools. "All of the teachers who undergo it are to be commended."

Video tapes used

Teachers applying for the certification must complete a four-part application that includes videotapes of them presenting lessons.

Lakota Ridge Junior School math teacher Aaron Nunley has recently become nationally certified. (Michael Snyder photos) | ZOOM |

"It's a reflective process," Ms. Tompkins said. "It made me aware of the student perspective. ... I question myself more. Not so much the what - that's in the curriculum - but the why and the how."

Ms. Tompkins said she began the lengthy review because she believes teachers "need to do things above and beyond the expected" and it challenged her to grow as a professional.

"I think the biggest thing for me is recognizing the significance of communication - not only with my students but with teachers and parents,'' Mr. Nunley said. "I emphasize with my students that at some point we all get answers wrong and to not be self-conscious. I can't find out what (they) don't know if (they) don't tell me."

Certified teachers

Tristate teachers who received national certification for the 2001-2002 school year:
Adams County/Ohio Valley: Renee Laporte;
Batavia: Amy Aspenwall;
Cincinnati Public Schools: Tracy Hallen, Virginia Applegate, Isabel Aranda Hopp, Sallie Barringer, Linda Blatt, Patricia Boling, Amanda Bowers, Jerome Brady, Meredith Carrisalez, Harrison Collier Jr., Traci Cummings, Chadwick Flaig, Jennifer Franzoi, Shirley Gibson, Robert Girton, Joann Gray, Jean Hurd, Margaret Jenkins, Juanita Johnson, Sherry Jones, Sheila Libecap, Glenda Nix, Liv Ramstad, Dorothy Reynolds, Jennifer Roark, Cecilia Schroer, Mary Shannon, Julie Skidmore, Diane Thomas, Robert Zimmerman;
Deer Park: Julie DeVilliers;
Fairfield: Christene Alfonsi, Allison Curran, Karen Gutzwiller, Kirsten Hannawald;
Finneytown: Richard White, Rebecca Wiehe;
Forest Hills: Charles Doyle-Warren;
Franklin: Tam Stackhouse;
Indian Hill: Sarah Lucas;
Kings: Peggy Allen, Margaret Coleman, Renee Everling, Kay Munson, Kathleen Teitelman, Christina Troehler;
Lakota: Faye Harp, Aaron Nunley, Shawn Rosekrans, Roger Stagge, Rebecca Tompkins;
Lebanon: Virginia Smith;
Little Miami: Kelly Blanchard;
Mason: Rebecca Gallimore, Sheila Issenmann, Scott Kerr, Tina Orlando, Michelle Tiffner;
Middletown: Cheryl Ames;
Milford: Myra Powers;
Mount Healthy: Jane Jordan;
New Richmond: Amy Smiddy;
Northwest: Sean Cooney, Nancy Flickinger;
Oak Hills: Reyne Davis, Debra Tullius;
Princeton: Susan Butts;
Reading: Mark Griffen;
Sycamore Community Schools: Jean Alder, Mara Brown, Denise Hayes, Jennette Horton, Jodi Kinasewitz, Matthew Kinasewitz, James Smanik, Sue Stewart;
West Clermont: Carrie Kratzer, Susan Vogel Crane;
Western Brown: Janice Applegate;
Winton Woods: Mary Barger