NORTH END — A teacher as defined by “Webster’s” is “A person who teaches, esp. as a profession; instructor.”

While “Webster’s” is to definitions what the Bible is to Christianity, it’s definition of teacher lacks a little bit.

The definition doesn’t include helping raise 20 to 24 children each year, meeting state standards without all the tools and finances to do so, hours of preparation or grading work outside of the salaried day, and required professional certification, which consists of hundreds of hours of advanced work.

Within seven years of receiving a teaching certificate and setting foot in the classroom teachers are required to complete advanced professional development work. The advanced requirements take about two to three years of time outside the classroom to complete, and about three to five hours a week.

Teachers have a few options: professional certification, specific to Washington where teachers build a portfolio based on three standards that must be applied to 12 criteria; national board certification, also involving a portfolio based on a different set of standards and assessments, or obtaining a master’s degree in conjunction with professional certification work.

“When I did mine I probably had 250 hours in it,” said Nancy Carter, a national board certified teacher, who now mentors North Kitsap School District teachers through the process.

The standards, assessments and expectations required for professional development work are exhaustive. Teachers must show examples of effective teaching through video, student artifacts and descriptive, reflective and analytical writing.

It’s a lot to ask of a teacher, but it is a requirement and once it’s all said and done the payoffs are great, for both teacher and student.

Karen Trudeau is a first grade teacher at Pearson Elementary. She’s been a teacher for 16 years and with NKSD for five. She’s nationally board certified, and thankful she is.

“It was the most powerful professional development experience for me,” she said. “It caused me to look at my teaching and how it impacts students. It caused me to hone in on the reflective, answering the ‘Why did that work and here’s what went wrong and what do I need to do differently in the future.’”

Professional certification forces teachers to hold under a microscope the impacts their teaching has on student learning, which is the primary benefit according to Carter. If there’s no impact then throw that part of the curriculum out, Carter said.

She told a story of one teacher who often commiserated about the professional certification process, but by the end the teacher’s attitude had transformed.

“The teacher said, ‘I took my curriculum and threw it out because I needed to show impact on my students and I couldn’t with my own work,” Carter said. “It’s the big reflection.”

Obtaining advanced certification is often times hard to go at it alone, but NKSD has a cohort group to help.

Cheryl Boatman is the coordinator of the teacher certification program and was hired six years ago to launch the program. Her and Carter work together to guide the teachers.

The National Board cohort, consisting of NKSD teachers, and teachers from district’s around Kitsap County and as far away as Tacoma and Quilcene, meet eight times a year for three hours at a shot.

Boatman said she’d hear teachers say they really wanted to get their professional certification but didn’t want to do it alone.

“To me it (starting the cohort) was the next natural step,” Boatman said. “I’m an advocate for teachers to do what we can to support them.”

National board certification costs approximately $2,500 and professional certification with the NKSD cohort, as it’s affiliated with Pacific Lutheran University, costs $850.

NKSD does not provide financial help for the required certification, but did put up the funds to hire Boatman. However, teachers can apply for partial grants with the North Kitsap Education Foundation Union, and the union provides the space for the cohort to meet.

Washington provides national board certified teachers an additional $5,000 salary each year their certification is good. Teachers must renew every 10 years.

Thus far 67 teachers have been certified through the cohort program, 50 being from NKSD. Eleven teachers at NKSD are national board certified and currently seven are going through the process.