Cabell County new and returning National Board Certified teachers pose with the Board of Education members during a regular meeting on Tuesday, March 4, 2025.
Cabell County new and returning National Board Certified teachers pose with the Board of Education members during a regular meeting on Tuesday, March 4, 2025.
HUNTINGTON ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥” The Cabell County Board of Education on Tuesday recognized seven teachers who recently earned the title of being a National Board Certified Teacher.
According to Whitney Stead, an academic specialist for Cabell County Schools and the state facilitator for National Board Certified Teachers with the West Virginia Department of Education, receiving the certification is anywhere from a one- to three-year-long process where teachers submit monthly work and receive mentorship.
Stead said Cabell County has 91 National Board Certified Teachers and is ranked in the top three counties in the state and 14th in the country for having teachers who have completed the program.
ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œUsually, if you are National Board Certified, itÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s better to have retention of teachers in the classroom. TheyÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™re more likely to stay in their positions,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ Stead said, adding Cabell County is one of the few counties to match pay for teachers to become certified.
ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œSo itÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s a big deal. These teachers have gone through a lot of hard work to be recognized, and then every five years, they will have to go through maintenance of certification to renew their certificate. So itÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s a very rigorous process to be honored with National Board Certified. YouÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™re really the best of the best.ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥
Teachers who just earned their National Board Certification for the first time received a check for about $2,000 from Cabell County Schools during TuesdayÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s meeting.
Those teachers were:
Holly Baumgartner, career literacy teacher at Barboursville Middle School
Megan Carder, fourth grader teacher at Altizer Elementary School
Shauna Fields, first grade teacher at Martha Elementary School
Ashley Kinker, second grader teacher at Village of Barboursville Elementary School
Sandra Patterson, special education teacher at Highlawn Elementary School
Sara Stacy, fourth grade teacher at Altizer Elementary School
Jennifer Thompson, Title I math teacher at Guyandotte Elementary School
Several teachers were also recognized for maintaining their certification, including:
Courtney Arnold, art teacher at Southside Elementary School
Adam Riazi, math and computer science teacher at Cabell Midland High School
Rachel Baden, eighth grade science teacher at Huntington East Middle School
Teri Keim, first grade teacher at Martha Elementary School
Stephanie Neace, kindergarten teacher at Ona Elementary School
Lori Terango, 11th and 12th grade English language arts and AP literature teacher at Cabell Midland High School
Amy Thompson, art teacher at Village of Barboursville Elementary School
Calendar changes
In other business, the board announced some calendar changes due to recently missed instruction as a result of inclement weather.
Based on recent school cancellations, the board made the following adjustments:
May 27 teacher prep day will now be an instructional day
May 28-30 OSE days will now be instructional days
June 2 OSE day will now be an instructional day and the studentsÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™ last day
June 3 will be a teacher prep day
The board also noted the WVDE is accepting waiver applications to excuse instruction missed during the state of emergency declared by Gov. Patrick Morrisey in February. If the countyÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s waiver is accepted, studentsÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™ last day could be as early as May 28, according to the board.
Staff membersÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™ last day will still be June 3.
The board also noted additional adjustments could be made if the county experiences more inclement weather resulting in cancellations.
The board also recently adopted the academic calendars for the 2025-26 and 2026-27 school years. These calendars may be viewed by visiting the Cabell County Schools webpage under ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œ.ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥
The board approved the full consent and personnel agendas and special board items.
The board will meet again for its next regular meeting Tuesday, March 18.
Katelyn Aluise is an education and court reporter.
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