Three teachers earn national certification

After a year of immersion in the intensive national certification program, three Oak Harbor teachers recently reached the pinnacle of their professional development. Teachers Molly Butler and Allison Sinibaldi, both teaching OHHS language arts, and Jennifer Loomis, Oak Harbor Elementary third grade, are now nationally certified teachers.

The program focuses on national standard practices, self-evaluation, and peer review. It takes about 200-400 hours to complete, while at the same time maintaining the full teaching schedule of the school year.

A big part of national certification requires teachers to video tape their own classrooms and seriously analyze their teaching styles, successes, and failures. The tapes and self-evaluation are then submitted for peer review through the national certification program.