7 Cherokee County teachers earn national accreditation

Mary Bramlett Elementary first grade students discuss their fishing experiences Tuesday before sitting down to read a book about the subject with new National Board certified teacher Ruth Glasgow. A first grade student's eyes lit up as he mimicked the sounds of a fishing rod dipping into water in response to a fishing question from Mary Bramlett Elementary teacher Ruth Glasgow.

Tapping into the student's connection with fishing, Glasgow drew on her experiences teaching reading recovery to work with her first grade class in small groups Tuesday afternoon. This was not a routine day, though, for the Mary Bramlett Elementary teacher.

Glasgow was among seven Cherokee County teachers who earned National Board certification in 2008.

County teachers who achieved national board certification are: Mary McDaniel and Donna Howell (Gaffney High), Gayla Millwood (B.D. Lee Elementary), Julie Walker Foster (Blacksburg Primary), Holly Nix (Blacksburg High) and Rebecca Scruggs (Northwest Elementary). The school district now has 44 National Board certified teachers.

"I want to learn all I can. This helped me get into areas I don't normally get into every day, such as working with English as a Second Language students," Glasgow said. "I feel like the National Board process really helped me grow as a teacher because it caused me to really think about why I do certain things in the classroom."

South Carolina is among many states that provide salary incentives and cover the cost for teachers to pursue and earn National Board certification. South Carolina gives National Board teachers a $7,500 annual salary supplement for every year they teach after receiving certification, for the 10-year life of their certificate.

Teachers undertake a twopart process that takes one to three years to complete. It requires candidates to reflect on their classroom practices, their understanding of subject material and their preparation techniques.

Teachers prepare a portfolio with videotapes of their classroom teaching, lesson plans, student work samples, reflective essays and assessment center exercises that prove they have mastered the subjects they teach.

At Gaffney High, Howell said she feels the work involved in becoming a National Board certified teacher has helped her grow as a teacher.

"I'm very excited," Howell said. "This year-long process that I went through was very demanding, but rewarding. I feel like I learned so much about my teaching practices through this process."

A total of 755 South Carolina teachers achieved National Board certification in 2008, according to the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. South Carolina now has 6,499 National Board certified teachers, the third-highest total in the nation behind North Carolina and Florida.