The St. Mary’s County Board of Education on Feb. 26 honored three educators who have successfully completed the rigorous National Board of Professional teaching Standards (NBPTS) certification process. Bernadette Scheetz has been newly certified and Colleen Gill and Contina Quick-McQueen have been recertified.
Sheetz is a math teacher at Leonardtown Middle School. She was St. Mary’s County Teacher of the Year for the 2011-12 school year.
Gill is English Department Chair at Leonardtown High School.
Quick-McQueen is an assistant principal at Great Mills High School.
The three educators are among 51 who are board certified in St. Mary’s County. More than 4,000 were certified in 2013. According to the NBPTS website, Maryland has 2,575 Board Certified Teachers. The state provides robust incentives for National Board Certification, including fee support and annual stipends up to $2,000.
According to information provided to the school board by Certification Coordinator Jessica Western, “The National Board Certification process is an extensive year-long series of performance-based assessments which includes teacher portfolios, student work samples, videotapes, and thorough analysis of the candidates’ classroom teaching and student learning. This certification is a demonstration of teaching practice as measured against high and rigorous standards. Offered on a voluntary basis, the advanced system of National Certification complements but does not replace licensing.”
