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Michelle Accardi, NBCT - Senior Director of Strategic Partnerships - National Board for Professional Teaching Standards
211 Plays7 months ago
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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Transcript
Introduction to Michelle Ocardi's journey
00:00:00
Speaker
Hey everyone, welcome to another episode of National Board Conversations. We have another great episode with an MBCT doing the work here at the National Board. Michelle Ocardi is the Senior Director of Strategic Partnerships and leads a fantastic team of people doing grant work to increase the number of MBCTs nationwide. Michelle has such an incredible story and I learn something new from her every time we speak.
00:00:19
Speaker
You know, that was it was gut wrenching. I remember about two weeks before I packed up everything and my husband and I left to D.C. just sitting on a table in my classroom after school, just bawling my eyes out because I didn't want to leave. And it was so hard to leave these kids and
00:00:42
Speaker
I had a meeting with the school psychologist who told me that based on a number of factors, that he was predicting that at least three of my kids would attempt suicide after I left.
Career transition and remote work benefits
00:00:55
Speaker
She's certified in exceptional needs and is currently working through her maintenance and certification. She's a powerful storyteller, so I won't keep you any longer. Here's my conversation with Michelle Lecardi. Michelle Lecardi, how you doing today? I am great, Eddie. How are you?
00:01:11
Speaker
I'm doing well. I feel like I've had to have you on the podcast for a long time. You're one of my favorite people to just chop it up with, not national board related, but just like anything world related. So I just love talking to you because you just bring so much insight to any conversation we have. The feeling is totally mutual, Eddie. I just really enjoy your podcast. Thank you. Thank you. All right. So we'll get started. Can you tell us your current role and give a brief intro of yourself? Sure. I am currently the senior director for strategic partnerships here at the national board.
00:01:41
Speaker
I am very fortunate to work remotely, full-time remote, from my home here in Gulfport, Mississippi, about four miles from the beach. It's always inspirational to know the beach is there, even though I am always here at my computer.
National Board's mission and partnerships
00:02:03
Speaker
working with a great team of folks. And we oversee several different grants around the country, which is fabulous because it gives us the opportunity to interact with just about everybody at the National Board and so many teachers from all around the country. So it's a fabulous place to be. Lovely to hear it. All right. So what are your three favorite foods?
00:02:26
Speaker
Three favorite foods. Well, coffee has to be like the number one because that's I'm nonstop without with coffee. I just got an espresso machine. So I'm fully wired at all times. Oh, man. Honestly, macaroni and cheese goes way back. Okay. That's something my mom used to make. You know, when you were a kid and you weren't feeling so good or whatever, she'd make macaroni and cheese. Make their box. Make their box.
00:02:52
Speaker
Oh, she would bake it. Okay. Yeah. I mean, I will take a box if that's all that's available, but, you know, you got to, you got to get serious about it, macaroni cheese down here in the South. So, and probably anything chocolate after that, a good old Reese's peanut butter cup will do. I'm not the most healthy vegetarian. I don't even, I like lots of candy. I keep Reese's and sweets out of my house because I had cavities when I was a kid and like, listen,
00:03:21
Speaker
I would just eat them all. So it's like all or nothing. It's nothing in my house. I don't want no more cavities. Yeah, it's hard to do those when you're rock climbing, right? You got to keep anything going. Difficult. All right, so the last three songs on your music playlist.
Personal interests and life outside work
00:03:38
Speaker
Gosh, you know, I don't really know that I have a playlist. I sometimes will get one of my kids or my granddaughter to download some music for me. But for the most part,
00:03:51
Speaker
Like, I read a lot. You know, the only time I really listen to music, honestly, is when I'm on an airplane. All right, so what's the last book you read? The last book that I read was one that I reread called Elephant in the Classroom by a good friend and NBCT, Andrew Maxie from Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Okay, okay. And then the one sports team that has your heart, if not sports, one movie you can recite line for line.
00:04:19
Speaker
Dude, it's got to be Roll Tide University of Alabama. Both my parents attended the University of Alabama, and I have several family members that went there. And it's a little school in Alabama that has a fairly successful football team. I mean, that's what Alabama got to be proud of, right? It's like, listen, Alabama football is what we do. Absolutely. They take football very seriously down here in the South. Man, listen, I want to get to a game out at Alabama.
00:04:50
Speaker
at LSU my freshman year of college, man, it was a different environment. Yeah, definitely crazy. Well, we'll have to see if we can get you hooked up with some tickets. I've got a cousin over at the university, so we'll see what we can do. Man, listen, sign me up.
Motivation and impact of board certification
00:05:05
Speaker
All right, so can you share why you became a teacher and why you remain connected to education? Yeah, I actually kind of fell into education. You know, I was in another field and
00:05:19
Speaker
got together with my husband and he had two very young children at the time. And I started volunteering in their classrooms and just absolutely fell in love with it and found that I was rescheduling appointments, sometimes rearranging hearings to make sure that I was there for the volunteer Wednesdays. And so we talked it through and I went through a program for people who were transitioning from one career into education.
00:05:50
Speaker
and completed that program in, it was about 17 months, I think. And the day after I got my certificate, the principal of the elementary school across the street from my house came over, knocked on my front door and said, hey, I heard that you got your teaching license, would you like to teach fifth grade? So.
00:06:14
Speaker
It was meant to be, I guess. Didn't even have to apply. Didn't even have to apply. Wound up over their teaching and just absolutely loved it. So what keeps you connected to education now that you're not in the classroom anymore? You know, a couple different things. Of course, I get to talk to teachers from all around the country and
00:06:36
Speaker
I'm doing my maintenance of certificate for National Board this year. So that's got to be doing some lesson planning and working through some things. My youngest daughter is a National Board certified teacher in Austin, Texas, and she is in the same certificate area that I am. So we will occasionally talk through situations in her classroom, what's going on with students. And then, of course, a primary driver is I have
00:07:03
Speaker
the world's most spectacular granddaughter. And Cicely is a seventh grader, just about to be an eighth grader. And so really watching what goes on at her school and how the teachers are doing just amazing things with technology and really working through so many different things keeps me on my toes. Hey, Cicely, you keep keeping you on your feet. She does. She does. It's a very different world being 13 now than it was.
00:07:31
Speaker
Even back when her mom was a teenager, things have changed so much. Right. Even back when I was a teenager. So while you were in the classroom, you pursued board certification. You mentioned that you're going through maintenance certification now. What pushed you to pursue board certification and what was your journey like? You know, someone came to my school and did a information session. It was actually Evelyn Sanchez. Shout out to Evelyn. I call her my natural-born mama.
00:07:58
Speaker
She came out and talked about board certification. And having been in another career where, you know, a credential was the norm, it was expected, you know, that part made sense to me.
00:08:15
Speaker
And then I am not going to lie, Eddie, they said that getting my national board certification would mean an increase in my licensure rank. And it was a $15,000 a year pay raise. And I was like, itty up. And I have always thought that it is so strange to me that a lot of educators will clutch their pearls when you start talking about money being a motivator. But it's real. That's what keeps your family going.
00:08:44
Speaker
what keeps you in a space where you're able to say yes to both your personal children and the children in your classroom. And so I was absolutely like, hey, this is going to be awesome. Let's do it. And I got myself and my teaching partner, we dove in head first. Now, where things went a little bit off the wheels, that was seeing Evelyn was the last time I saw a board certified teacher until my pinning ceremony.
00:09:11
Speaker
So I had no idea what was going on. I of course downloaded all the instructions and this was old school version where you had to put everything in a big box and mail it off and everything was done on paper.
00:09:26
Speaker
You know, so did what I could to prepare, went through the first time. And at the time you had to get a 279 in order to certify. And when I got my scores back that first time, I got a 278.7. So, which, you know, devastating, but honestly the best thing that could ever happen to me because I went through that next year really reflecting and refining my practice.
00:09:56
Speaker
And that's where I changed from being someone who was really good at what I did to somebody who was able to see education in a whole new way and see my classroom in a very different way. And I was fortunate to certify that next time. And then the world opened up to me for board certification. But at that point, even though I worked with some kids who were
00:10:26
Speaker
very, very challenged. I knew every day that I was giving them the best. I was giving them a world-class education, and that just really kept me going when there were some really difficult, dark experiences for the kids in my class. Yeah, and I think that instills a level of confidence in you, too, right? It's like, all right, if you know you're giving them the best that you got because you've been certified, you know then
00:10:51
Speaker
these kids are going to benefit at some point from how much effort I put into myself to help them. Absolutely. Of course, in my position and my work at the National Board, I could spew all the statistics and all the research stuff, but it's a feeling that is instilled in you.
00:11:12
Speaker
So many educators suffer from imposter syndrome or just are constantly berated with people from all aspects of life telling you that teaching is not enough and that teachers are not a respected profession.
00:11:28
Speaker
having the certification and maintaining that certification really does give you a foundational place to say, you know, this isn't me just sitting in a classroom and getting a nice review from my principal who likes me. This is, it's telling me in a very scientific way, in a very, you know, psychometrically and legally valid way that I am providing what a teacher should know and be able to do
00:11:57
Speaker
And that I still, you know, I still got it. That's what I would get from my maintenance. All right. So how you touch on it a little bit, how did becoming an NBCT impact your career? In a couple of different ways. I mean, in my classroom, I was working at the time with children who were behaviorally or psychologically identified as needing special services. And
00:12:25
Speaker
These were tough kids. To be in my classroom, you had to have spent at least a year in a psychiatric hospital. You had to have been arrested at least once. And I was teaching third, fourth, and fifth grade. So these were kids who really brought big backpacks of baggage with them. And they also had learning differences. So with board certification,
00:12:47
Speaker
We got the confidence, but the other thing that it did is it opened me up to a whole group of educators that were also exceptional needs specialist national board. At that point, there were times when I might have reached out to somebody by email and said, hey, I see you're a national board certified teacher in exceptional needs. Have you ever come across this? What do you think about that? It opened up a branch of colleagues for me that was completely new.
00:13:16
Speaker
And then I did get involved with the New Mexico network. I went to my pinning ceremony and at the end I went up and, you know, shook one of the officers' hands and said, you know, thank you so much. And is there anything I can do to get involved and support the network? And they were like, sure. And so I became a candidate support provider.
00:13:37
Speaker
specializing in teachers who were advanced candidates who had submitted once and were going to continue their journey. The rest is history, so to speak. They had me go to a couple of National Board political events in DC. Shortly thereafter, the then Director of Policy asked me to submit to become a staff member at the National Board. That was 12,
00:14:06
Speaker
12 and a half years ago and I have not looked back. Here you are. So why did you leave the classroom?
Decision to leave teaching for broader impact
00:14:15
Speaker
It was gut wrenching. I remember about two weeks before I packed up everything and my husband and I left to DC, just sitting on a table in my classroom after school, just bawling my eyes out because I didn't want to leave. It was so hard to leave these kids.
00:14:38
Speaker
I had a meeting with the school psychologist who told me that based on a number of factors that he was predicting that at least three of my kids would attempt suicide after I left. And that's hard. That's kids' lives. And two of the kids actually did make the attempt. And thank God they survived. And credit to my educational assistants who were so key in working with these kids.
00:15:07
Speaker
And the other one got so violent with his foster home that he was removed and placed in state care. So I carry those kids with me in my heart. And I am not at National Board to play around. Everything that I do has to be worth those kids grief and what I could have done for them I need to do for students all around the country.
00:15:35
Speaker
It was the mothership calling me home, and it's a fabulous place to be. And if anybody gets the chance to engage with the National Board on a committee or as an employee, I strongly encourage it. But knowing that the work that I was going to be able to do was going to impact
00:15:54
Speaker
thousands of teachers, thousands and thousands of students, you know, you can't say no to that calling. There are, you know, so many kids who will never have the benefit of a board certified teacher, so many teachers who will never have the benefit of going through the process that until board certification is the norm, we have to take up that challenge and keep moving forward. And that sounds very challenging to have like
00:16:21
Speaker
dealt with for like leaving the classroom, students not committing but attempting to commit suicide. What other challenges were faced whether you were transitioning from the classroom to National Award?
00:16:33
Speaker
Well, you know, the skills that you have in the classroom don't necessarily immediately translate to skills like, you know, go testify in front of the Nevada State Education Committee on this particular law or, hey, can you put together a grant application for this or that?
00:16:58
Speaker
You know, we're a learning organization and just have been able to experience so many things, some of which are, you know, have taken advantage of my, you know,
00:17:12
Speaker
personal skills that I brought with me from the classroom and from my other careers. And then, you know, we just we find a way to make it work. And it can be uncomfortable, you know, teachers are always taking new things on in the classroom, but you, you always have, you know, the opportunity to reach out and get a support network. And that's how we are at the national board, you know, if there's a challenge, we find a way to
00:17:36
Speaker
network with ourselves with some other teachers out in the field and find a way to get it done. So it is an incredible privilege and something I hope to keep doing for a while. So you talked about, you've been here for 12 and a half years now. How have you seen the National Board grow over your time? You know, it's been amazing. The ways in which we've transitioned, I think we've really matured as an organization.
00:18:04
Speaker
The first 30 years, there were obviously a lot of things getting done in terms of setting up processes and procedures.
00:18:13
Speaker
and whatnot, and those are great valued years. But under the leadership of Peggy Brookins and with the team that we have in our senior leadership now, we've really taken some hard looks at ourselves and at the profession. And we have started doing some work to make sure that every teacher
00:18:37
Speaker
has the opportunity to become board certified. And it's not something that we just say, it's something we go about doing every day. We are reaching out to teachers. We are working with funders to make sure that finance is not an obstacle. We're working with politicians at every level to make sure that these teachers are gonna be recognized and rewarded for what they're doing. And so we are a much more diverse organization, a much more focused organization,
00:19:05
Speaker
on the entire spectrum from pre-service through your maintenance of certificate, making sure that everybody gets a chance to be aware of board certification and absolutely to be successful in it. And it's, as you well know, Eddie, it's hard work. We are constantly trying to find new ways to reach people and let them know that they have a place here at the national board. So right. It's a lot of work, but it's very rewarding.
00:19:35
Speaker
I love this job. I really do feel blessed to have this job for her. And so that's something that I tell people, I was like, listen, I got lucky getting this job.
00:19:43
Speaker
Like people ask me, how do you get the details? I was like, I don't know. I got lucky. Well, we have a great team and it's such a great combination to have folks like you that are young and energetic and fresh and have also lived some of the life that we're trying to reach to teachers and students. So it's fabulous, but there are
00:20:08
Speaker
people that I have gotten to know around the country that are like-minded and that are really doing the same work and just the joy of seeing these people and then looking back and saying, hey, I remember when you were a candidate and now you're the president of a network. And I remember when we got that law passed in this state and just all the different things to see how it's built and grown.
00:20:36
Speaker
It's been, you know, powerful and challenging and absolutely blessed is the best word, I think, to describe the way I feel about the work here. So you have a very unique perspective. You have your juris doctor, I believe that's what it is, your juris doctorate. You're also, so it means you're a lawyer, but you're also an NBCT.
Advocacy for widespread board certification
00:20:56
Speaker
So with that perspective, what changes or initiatives do you believe are crucial to improving our education landscape?
00:21:04
Speaker
Um, you know, there are, um, obviously a lot of angles that people could look at, but I think that we have to get to a place where, um, you know, it's, it's a slogan I came up with a while back, but we really do have to get to a place where every child and every zip code has, um, access to a national board certified teacher. And I say that because.
00:21:28
Speaker
We do know the learning advantages that have been research proven for students aboard certified teachers. And with the way that the world is talking to each other, the way that the world is, you know, we're competing globally, trying to face challenges that, you know, there have always been challenges, but now we're looking at climate change. We're looking at ways that we can, you know, feed a growing population, all of these different things.
00:21:56
Speaker
we have to have those teachers. We can't just let groups of students be forgotten because they live in inner city Chicago or because they live on the Navajo reservation somewhere. We need everybody to be just absolutely filled with the ability to learn. In addition to that, though, we need to build
00:22:18
Speaker
and rebuild a respect for the profession. Many times people have thought that teaching was an honorable and noble profession, but they don't wanna put their money behind it. They don't wanna be paying the taxes or investing.
Respect and investment in teaching
00:22:36
Speaker
And so keeping the importance of educators to the front has got to be ongoing work. And board certification can play that role because when you make the comparison and say,
00:22:47
Speaker
Would you take your child to a doctor who wasn't a board certified pediatrician? Everybody's like, well, no, of course not. And it's like, so why are you putting them in a classroom with somebody eight hours a day who's not a board certified educator? And it starts to make that connection. And I have been really fortunate to work on some pretty powerful equity initiatives.
00:23:10
Speaker
here and that's where my heart is in the work and just want to continue to be able to do that and work with just amazing educators and funders all around the country to keep finding these places and identifying ways that we can increase the access and success of teachers and students there. Nice. So we're coming down to the final stretch, just a few more questions for you. Who is your favorite fictional teacher?
00:23:41
Speaker
Well, that's always an interesting question because you think about, you know, fictional, like, you know, there's something kind of in the cool factor around his dangerous minds and, you know, the movies Edward Olmos and, you know, stand and deliver and all those things. But I was an elementary school teacher. And so
00:24:02
Speaker
Gotta love the crazy dresses and the magic school bus. Yeah, Ms. Frizzle. Ms. Frizzle. The year they made me teach kindergarten, I actually got a whole wardrobe custom made with all these Ms. Frizzle type dresses with the pictures and the- Oh, are there photos? I need photos. They are carefully concealed from the world. All right, so you're down in Gulfport.
00:24:30
Speaker
I was able to see visit down there. So I know a couple of restaurants, but you're more of an expert than me. So what are three restaurants down there people should visit when they pull up to Gulfport and go to the beach?
00:24:41
Speaker
Well, you definitely want to hit up Ground Zero Blues Club. Really good food. I'm a huge fan of the cracker salad there. And it's a very hip vibe and you can get some of the best blues and R&B kinds of singers. And you might get a chance to see Morgan Freeman. He does own the restaurant. So that's cool.
00:25:04
Speaker
Also, a big fan of Shaggy's, which is actually a chain of a couple of restaurants in different locations down here on the Gulf Coast. They're always right on the beach, so you can sit out there, overlook the beach, watch the brown pelicans diving in and have some great seafood or just about great burgers, all those kinds of things. And then there's a place called Salute's.
00:25:30
Speaker
which is an Italian restaurant right across from the beach. And they have just incredible Italian food, but incorporate all the fresh seafood and the great agriculture that comes in. And so we find ourselves down there fairly often having just a great meal with friends. Listen, them beaches down there, they're really nice. Them white sand beaches, they're really soft. Like, oh man, it really is, it's really not like,
00:25:58
Speaker
That Biloxi golf course, you ain't been. Definitely make that trip. It's perfect. We are a hidden gem down here. We really are. All right. So if you had to sell the education profession to someone looking to get into it in one to two minutes, what would you use as your elevator page? The rewards from becoming an educator are
00:26:25
Speaker
incomparable to any other profession. You can be an attorney and impact cases and maybe even case law, but being a teacher gives you the chance to have generational impact on the students in your community and communities around the country and around the world. And it's not just teaching a specific subject. It's certainly not just test scores. It's that moment when you connect with a kid
00:26:55
Speaker
And they get the concept that you're working on and you see that spark that just flashes in their eyes and that thrill of confidence that they are a learner. And they can take that with them moving forward. And that is just something that you don't get anywhere else. And it will break your heart.
00:27:18
Speaker
It will challenge every single aspect of your intellect and you'll find yourself doing things that you never expected to do. I mean, I used to make up rap songs for my kids. I have sung and dance, the periodic table and you know, all these things, but whatever it takes to get that spark of, of learning in a kid and.
00:27:37
Speaker
It is a profession that you can make a good living at, especially if your, you know, state or district supports board certification and lets teachers get that additional stipend here in Mississippi, six to $10,000 additional pay every year. You know, so that's, it's, it's definitely worth investing your heart and your soul in. Appreciate it. So as you know, we have a feature on the podcast called the shoulder tap.
00:28:06
Speaker
when you give a tap on the shoulder and let a colleague know they're ready to become National Board Certified. On here, you'll give them a quick shout out and we'll give them, we'll encourage them through social media to go through the process. So Michelle, who are you shoulder tapping? Well, I am going to tell you, I am going to be shoulder tapping the staff at West Harrison Middle School, particularly Ms. Williams, who's an eighth grade English educator.
00:28:32
Speaker
And they need to dive in as a staff and get board certified. It's the time and ready to reach out. I drive there probably four times a week, so happy to help them out. And Wes Harrison needs to become the center for board certification in Gulfport. He's going to send you back with some shoulder tap cards next week. Yeah, I absolutely need to bring that swag.
00:29:01
Speaker
All right, Michelle, thank you for joining me on the podcast. This was a good time. Absolutely enjoyed it. Thanks so much for having me, Eddie.
Dedication to educational excellence
00:29:08
Speaker
You can tell that Michelle is passionate about getting a National Board Certified Teacher in front of every student and every zip code. Let me thank her again for taking the time to join me on the podcast. And thank you for listening to this episode of National Board Conversations. Be sure to rate, review, and subscribe to the podcast wherever you listen to podcasts. And we'll see you next time.