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Teacher gains prestigious certificate



JESSICA KELLER | ARGUS OBSERVER Ontario High School art teacher Pam Helfrich reapplies adhesive to her students' artwork on display in the hallway at OHS. Helfrich completed her national teacher's board for Professional Teachers Standards Certificate - the highest certification a teacher can meet - this fall, making her the only teacher in the district with the certification.
JESSICA KELLER ARGUS OBSERVER

ONTARIO

Ontario High School art teacher Pam Helfrich is finished.

After spending two years working toward her national board teaching certification, the 13-year veteran instructor has finally acquired the prestigious credentials.

She conceded, though, after devoting so much energy to her goal it is sometimes still difficult to grasp the fact she's finished.

“It's just an odd sense,” Helfrich said. “You know when you work so hard for something, and then it's over.”

The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards Certification (NBPTS) has only been in existence for about 10 years. Helfrich is one of only 190 teachers in the state to receive a NBPTS certification. She is the only teacher in the Ontario School District to complete the program, although she is not the first to go through the intensive certification process.

“The process is just so arduous,” Helfrich said.

Helfrich said the testing is difficult - including six timed evaluations in her subject area - and each participant must complete four required portfolio projects.

The testing, while not easy, was expected, Helfrich said, though she said the portion of 30 minutes free writing on a given subject was stressful enough.

The portfolio projects were time consuming.

A big part of the project was the tedium of meeting the submissions criteria.

Setting out on the program had little to do with ego, Helfrich said, but was all about testing her own limits.

“To me this was just a really good way to test myself,” she said. “It gave me a standard to measure myself up against. And it gave me a high standard. It's the top standard in my profession. It was really like training for the marathon.”

Helfrich said a major component of training for the marathon is proving you are good enough to compete in the marathon, rather than the actual competition itself.

“It's not a case where I think I'm a better teacher than anyone else,” Helfrich said. Much of Helfrich's two years working toward the certificate was spent studying or writing papers to accompany her portfolios or seeking comments and advice from friends and colleagues.

Her husband - an attorney - Helfrich said, was instrumental in her success, having read over many of her papers and giving her advice on writing succinctly, just addressing the questions posed.

While Helfrich is glad to have her certification, she said she is not one to sit still for very long, and already has a number of projects in the works, mostly including her classes.

“I'm just a doer, I guess,” she said. “I keep reinventing the wheel. I keep doing new things.”

In receiving her board certification, Helfrich received $2,500 from the Ford Family Foundation to use toward professional development in her subject area at Ontario High School.

While Helfrich said the possibilities are thrilling, she and OHS Principal Bret Uptmor have not decided what the money will be used for yet.




Comment Blog - Note: All Comments Subject To Approval

No Dhimmi wrote on Aug 14, 2009 9:38 PM:

" Islam is a woman-hating, human-enslaving ideology that should NOT be taught in our public schools. It's obvious the Saudis and the rest of the Muslim fanatics who are trying to take over the world have bought off the State of Oregon. Expect lawsuits.

And this isn't "racist," because Islam is not a race, anymore than Communism or Nazism are races, both of which killed far fewer people than Islam.

Disgusting. "

anonymous wrote on Aug 10, 2009 2:19 AM:

" The girl was Latasha Rodriguez "

Cody W. Ables wrote on May 16, 2008 11:04 PM:

" May 16, 2008

Here is something that we should all read. This is a letter from an angry woman in New Jersey regarding the War in Iraq and all of the war’s negative publicity. Pay attention.

'Are we fighting a war on terror or aren't we? Was it or was it not started by Islamic people who brought it to our shores on September 11, 2001?

Were people from all over the world, mostly Americans, not brutally murdered that day, in downtown Manhattan, across the Potomac from our nation's capitol and in a field in Pennsylvania?

Did nearly three-thousand men, women and children die a horrible, burning or crushing death that day, or didn't they?

And I'm supposed to care that a copy of the Koran was 'desecrated' when an overworked American soldier kicked it or got it wet?...Well, I don't. I don't care at all.

I'll start caring when Osama bin Laden turns himself in and repents for incinerating all those innocent people on 9/11.

I'll care about the Koran when the fanatics in the Middle East start caring about the Holy Bible, the mere possession of which is a crime in Saudi Arabia .

I'll care when these thugs tell the world they are sorry for hacking off Nick Berg's head while Berg screamed through his gurgling slashed throat.

I'll care when the cowardly so-called 'insurgents' in Iraq come out and fight like men instead of disrespecting their own religion by hiding in mosques.

I'll care when the mindless zealots who blow themselves up in search of nirvana care about the innocent children within range of their suicide bombs.

I'll care when the American media stops pretending that their First Amendment liberties are somehow derived from international law instead of the United States Constitution's Bill of Rights.

In the meantime, when I hear a story about a brave marine roughing up an Iraqi terrorist to obtain information, know this: I don't care.

When I see a fuzzy photo of a pile of naked Iraqi prisoners who have been humiliated in what amounts to a college-hazing incident, rest assured: I don't care.

When I see a wounded terrorist get shot in the head when he is told not to move because he might be booby-trapped, you can take it to the bank: I don't care.

When I hear that a prisoner, who was issued a Koran and a prayer mat, and fed 'special' food that is paid for by my tax dollars, is complaining that his holy book is being 'mishandled,' you can absolutely believe in your heart of hearts: I don't care.

Sooner or later, it'll get to the people responsible for this ridiculous behavior!

If you don't agree, then by all means quit reading. Should you choose to do so, then please don't complain when more atrocities committed by radical Muslims happen here in our great Country! And may I add:

'Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference in the world. But, the Marines don't have that problem' -- Ronald Reagan

I have another quote that I would like to add

'If we ever forget that we're One Nation Under God, then we will be a nation gone under.' Also by.. Ronald Reagan

One last thought for the day:

In case we find ourselves starting to believe all the Anti-American sentiment and negativity, we should remember England 's Prime Minister Tony Blair's words during a recent interview. When asked by one of his Parliament members why he believes so much in America , he said: 'A simple way to take measure of a country is to look at how many want in.. And how many want out.'

Only two defining forces have ever offered to die for you:
1. Jesus Christ
2. The American G. I.
Important for us all!!!!
One died for your soul, the other for your freedom.

MANY SEEM TO FORGET BOTH OF THEM. AMEN!’


I hope you take this woman’s viewpoint into consideration. It closely parallels my own. As I begin my journey in becoming a soldier of the greatest country in the world, hearing this woman’s words sets my heart at ease. It is warming to know that there are people in this great country who still care about those men and women who have no choice.


Cody W. Ables
U.S. Air Force Academy 2012
"


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