Two Valley View Teachers Achieve National Board Certification

Two Valley View School District 365U teachers have achieved the coveted National Board Certification issued by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS).

Bolingbrook High School history teacher Cher Muehring and BHS bilingual/ESL teacher Miriam Alonso earned the honor.

“The stakes are high as expectations for students and teacherscontinue to rise with the demands of the global economy. Students today must be able to solve problems by applying what they have learned in new and unexpected ways,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. “As our nation’s most accomplished educators, National Board CertifiedTeachers are well positioned to move our students, workforce, and country forward.”

Muehring has been at BHS for eight years, most recently teaching Modern World History and three sections of Honors World History. She also is the faculty sponsor of the BHS National Honor Society. A former teacher at Proviso West High School, she holds a M.ED in Curriculum & Instruction as well as a Bachelor Degree in social science from Concordia University.

Alonso, who teaches bilingual health, consumer education, world history and English as a Second Language I, came to BHS 10 years ago after teaching English at a Mexico City public high school for three years. An adjunct English instructor at Joliet Junior College, she holds a Bachelor’s Degree in English as a Foreign Language from National Autonomous University of Mexico and a Master’s in Literacy Education with a focus on bilingual and ESL from Northern Illinois University.

The NBPTS is widely recognized as the source for the highest standards and practices that lead to improved teaching, leading and learning. National Board Certification, a voluntary assessment program designed to develop, retain and recognize accomplished teachers, and to embed ongoing school improvement in schools nationwide, is achievedthrough performance-based assessment and testing that takes one to three years to complete.

While state teacher credentialing programs set the basic requirements to teach in each state, National Board Certified Teachersmust demonstrate advanced teaching knowledge, skills and practices. Completion of the NBPTS certification process signifies that teachers have developed and demonstrated the skills required of an accomplished education professional.

The two VVSD teachers will be honored at the Jan. 27 Board of Education meeting.