Dr. Ben Jones, South Dakota Secretary of Education, Kelsey Buchholz, Garretson School Dis- trict, Amy Berke, Rapid City School District, Robin Beck New, Pierre Indian learning Center.
Garretson High School English Teacher Kelsey Buchholz received recognition for attaining a National Board Certification on Thursday, October 10 at the Teacher of the Year banquet in Oacoma, SD. She follows in the footsteps of second grade teacher Jodi Neugebauer, who obtained her certification previously.
“Garretson is lucky to have Ms. Neugebauer in the halls. She is a phenomenal teacher but she had already gone through the National Board Certification process. I was able to use her as a mentor and really get good, quality feedback on my writings, reflections, or choices of examples of student learning and growth. Knowing I had someone in building to turn to was a big stress relief,” said Buchholz.
Buchholz was awarded her certification in December 2018. Per the SD Department of Education, National Board Certification “was designed to develop, retain and recognize accomplished teachers and to generate ongoing improvement in schools nationwide.”
Teachers who earn certification receive $2,000 per year for five years, with half provided by the SD Dept of Education and half provided by the local school district.
According to information Buchholz had, most teachers have to repeat at least one component of the certification. She was able to complete all of it on her first try.
“My students are always a highlight, but during this process especially as we were all learning, growing, and becoming more purposeful together. One of the major components of National Board Certification is purposeful reflection and constant awareness of students and their learning. Having that in the back of my mind wasn't just good for reflection after the fact, but made me more purposeful and creative when planning my lessons ahead of time, which, I hope, benefited all students.”
According to the SD Dept of Education, “Teachers achieve National Board Certification through a rigorous, performance-based, peer-reviewed assessment of a teacher's pedagogical (teaching) skills and content knowledge. The certification process takes one to three years to complete. While licensing standards set the basic requirements to teach in a state, National Board Certified teachers demonstrate advanced teaching knowledge, skills and practices similar to the certifications earned by experts in law and medicine.”
Four other South Dakota teachers also received recognition for their certification at the banquet, which also announced that Amanda Harris of the Harrisburg School District had been honored with the 2020 South Dakota Teacher of the Year. Garretson FFA teacher Alysha Kientopf also received recognition as the district Teacher of the Year.
Buchholz also gave the keynote presentation at the Systems Change Conference the Friday morning after.
According to Kelly Royer, Teacher Quality Specialist at the SD Dept of Education, Buchholz “did amazing” with her presentation.
“There were five of us who spoke on the topic ‘Why I Teach.’ It was a brief 5-minute presentation (Ted Talk style) where we each shared our stories,” Buchholz said. “My speech specifically focused on ‘one’. I teach for one moment, one lesson, one opportunity, one student, one conversation, etc.”
And as one of the favorites of students at Garretson High School, she’s succeeding.
