This Teacher Appreciation Week, tune in for an inspiring conversation with Dr. Sonia Matthew, a National Board Certified Teacher and assistant principal. Drawing from her experience as an accomplished educator and instructional leader, Dr. Matthew will provide invaluable insights into fostering positive teacher morale. Learn her proven strategies for creating a supportive environment where teachers feel empowered, valued, and motivated to have maximum impact in the classroom.

Dr. Sonia Matthew, NBCT - Assistant Principal - Charles County, Maryland - Teacher Appreciation Week 

Jennifer DiGioia is a veteran educator of 22 years, a lifelong learner, and a National Board candidate. She jumped on the chance to go through the National Board process when California offered to cover the fees. She has an unmatched passion for her students and wants to be the best educator. Listen to her story on this episode of National Board Conversations. 

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Jennifer DiGioia - 2nd Grade Teacher - Ontario Montclair School District - Southern California

On this National Board Conversations episode, you hear from Kim Radostits, NBCT. She is the 2023 Illinois Teacher of the Year and has much to say about her time as an educator. She greatly advocates for the National Board process and has a special message for several other State Teachers of the Year! Be sure to follow her on Twitter @SrtaRad [https://twitter.com/SrtaRad]

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Kim Radostits, NBCT - 2023 Illinois Teacher of the Year - Oregon, Illinois

Katie McClain is a seasoned educator with six years of dedicated service in the esteemed Clark County School District, specializing in high school video production. She embraces the dynamic intersection of creativity and technology within the educational landscape, guiding my students through the intricacies of multimedia storytelling. She is a Career and Technical Education National Board candidate. 

In this episode of National Board Conversations, she talks about her journey to this point and gets into the intricacies of how she has been able to weave her first career in broadcast journalism with becoming a teacher on her way to achieving National Board Certification.

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Katie McClain - High School Video Production - Clark County, Nevada

Tune in to the latest episode of National Board Conversations as we sit down with Jeff Norris, NBCT, the 2024 Alabama Teacher of the Year! Jeff shares his journey, insights, and innovative teaching practices that earned him this prestigious recognition. Gain valuable inspiration and ideas for excellence in education from this dedicated educator! 

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Jeff Norris, NBCT - 2024 Alabama Teacher of the Year - Birmingham, AL

Candidate Conversations by the National Board is a chance to speak with educators who are currently on their National Board journey. Danielle Brown, NBCT, continues our school year-long journey with Keke Powell! She is a second-grade teacher in Texas and is super fun and engaging! In this episode, we catch up with Keke as the submission window opens and talk about how she plans to attack submitting the two components she is working on.

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Candidate Conversations - Keke Powell - Austin, Texas 

Michelle Accardi is a National Board Certified Teacher in Early Childhood through Young Adulthood/Exceptional Needs Specialist and the Senior Director Strategic Partnerships for the National Board. Before joining the staff of the National Board in 2011, she was an elementary school teacher at Albuquerque Public Schools. She achieved National Board certification in 2005 in Exceptional Needs and renewed it in 2015. Michelle worked in team-taught and self-contained classrooms, focusing on students with behavioral differences. In addition, she was active with the New Mexico NBCT Network. She enjoyed interacting with fellow teachers as a Candidate Support Provider and Dossier Assessor. Her work included consulting for several BIE Schools. Before working in education, she was a private-sector attorney. Michelle holds a bachelor’s degree in politics from the University of Dallas in Irving, Texas. She earned her Juris Doctor from the Columbus School of Law at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. She is a Certified Non-Profit Executive.

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Michelle Accardi, NBCT - Senior Director of Strategic Partnerships - National Board for Professional Teaching Standards

As Senior Manager of Standards, Dianna Minor leads the National Board work in overseeing the Standards Team’s critical functional areas, including project management, consultant management, event planning, and grant reporting. Additionally, Dianna coordinates the Certification Council, which is the arm of the Board of Directors with approval authority over the Standards and Assessment Department. She also works closely with the Assessment, Communications, Finance, and Candidate Experience Teams and with representatives from external stakeholder organizations. Minor is a renewed National Board Certified Teacher in Early Adolescence, English Language Arts. Previously, she has worked in Alabama as an English/language arts teacher, literacy and ESL interventionist, curriculum specialist, and a college adjunct in curriculum and instruction at the University of Alabama (Birmingham).
She is a graduate of the University of Alabama (Tuscaloosa). She holds a master’s degree in English/language arts education, an Administrative/Instructional Leadership certification, and an Educational Specialist (Ed.S) degree in English/language arts. Minor has served as a blogger for the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) and coached with the National Math & Science Initiative (NMSI), where she designed and developed content and eLearning experiences for educators nationwide. She has also served as an education consultant with Alabama’s A+ College Ready organization, where she developed curricula and trained educators in the latest-best practice teaching strategies. She has been active in the National Board communities, serving as a board member with Alabama’s NBCT Network, as National Board Core Connections Webinar facilitator, and as an educational consultant with the Alabama A & M University/University of Alabama at Huntsville Regional Inservice Center, where she facilitated professional development workshops and seminars asynchronously for educators pursuing National Board certification. In addition to being previously recognized as a district nominee for Alabama’s Teacher of the Year with Hoover City Schools, she was recognized as a 2020 Red Mountain Writing Fellow, an affiliate of the National Writing Project, and a 2021 TEDx Birmingham Education Fellow.

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Dianna Minor, NBCT - Senior Manager of Standards at the National Board - Birmingham, Alabama

Barry Thomas has been teaching English for 11 years at Young Oak Kim Academy Middle School in Los Angeles, California.
He received his bachelor's degree in English Education at California State University Long Beach and his master's degree in Teaching Pedagogy, along with his teaching credential at USC. He obtained National Board Certification in December of 2021. He also served as English Department Chair for seven years and is mentoring two new teachers through his district's Teacher Growth Induction Program (TGI).

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Barry Thomas, NBCT - English Teacher Young Oak Kim Academy - Los Angeles, California

Chad achieved National Board Certification in School Counseling with a specialization in Early Childhood Through Young Adulthood and presently works as an elementary school counselor in Montana. He has elementary education and Modern Languages certifications and as a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC) in Montana. He began his career teaching elementary school and junior high for several years. He also worked as a therapist for two years at the Center for Children and Families. At the center, he conducted group therapy, individual sessions, and trauma care, among other therapeutic services. As a school counselor, Chad specializes in differentiated behavioral interventions, trauma-informed care, suicidal response and prevention, and curriculum development and design. In addition to being an active member of local and state National Board Networks, Chad has worked with the American School Counseling Association National Model in developing comprehensive counseling programs. In 2022, Chad was selected as Montana’s School Counselor of the Year.

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Chad Jackson, NBCT - Elementary School Counselor - Montana 

This podcast takes listeners coast to coast in discussion with National Board Certified Teachers who offer their advice and insights into the process. Each episode is an exploration into the amazing journey that these teachers have undertaken to get nationally board certified. We hope this podcast acts as a tool for prospective candidates for the National Board Certification while answering questions and concerns that candidates may have.