Twenty-five Lake Washington School District teachers, including six from Sammamish area schools, recently achieved National Board Certification.

The list includes: Kathleen Pazaski, Library Media/Early Childhood through Young Adulthood, Blackwell Elementary; Sandra Don Chokr, World Languages/Adolescence through Young Adulthood, Eastlake High School; Rob Jones, English Language Arts/Adolescence and Young Adulthood, Eastlake; Sharon Leinweber, Science/Early Adolescence, Inglewood Middle School; Jyoti Bawa, Science/Early Adolescence, Renaissance School; Kristen Orth-Dunseth, Generalist/Middle Childhood, Smith Elementary.

“Lake Washington School District prides itself on the caliber of its teaching staff and we’re grateful to have so many teachers commit themselves to excellence,” said Superintendent Traci Pierce. “The National Board Certification process directly benefits our students because teachers increase their capacity to evaluate the best classroom strategies for academic success.”

The National Board Certification takes teachers through a demanding process to help further their instructional skills and typically takes more than a year to complete. It requires these teachers to demonstrate how their work improves student achievement. As part of the process, teachers build a portfolio that includes student work samples, assignments, videotapes and a thorough analysis of their classroom teaching. Teachers also are assessed on their knowledge of the subjects they teach.

National Board Certification is considered the highest professional credential a teacher can obtain.

Lake Washington School District ranks 21st in the country for the number of new National Board Certified Teachers.

Numbers released by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards show that the state of Washington is fourth overall in the total number of NBCTs (6,740).