Three teachers recently completed the rigorous process of becoming national board certified teachers.

For Andrea Schueler, a longtime Spanish teacher for the Stillwater Area Public Schools, it meant passing six exams, completing four portfolio projects and being observed and evaluated by students and peers, a school district news release said.

She was certified on Oct. 30 by the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards.

Also earning the distinction at that time were two White Bear Lake Area Public Schools teachers: Abigail (Abbi) Case, a fifth-grade teacher at Oneka Elementary in Hugo, and Merrily Wolters, a third-grade teacher at Lakeaires Elementary in White Bear Lake.

National board certification is a credential held by only 3 percent of the nation's teachers. Typically, midcareer teachers take on the challenge in order to refocus, re-energize and build skills that can lift their performance to new levels, observers say.

Schueler now is an instructional coach at Stillwater Area High School.

Schueler

"Did I learn a new teaching strategy? No," the district quoted her as saying. "But I learned to be reflective and to think about what I am doing and the effect of what I am doing."

As an instructional coach, Schueler helps others improve through self-reflection and peer observation. She told the district she sees teaching as a blend of art and science — a "wonderful, beautiful, sometimes messy mix of knowledge, relationship, adventure, trial and error that results in the sparks and 'a-has' of learning."

Wolters also has taken on a new assignment this year, representing Lakeaires on the White Bear Lake district's elementary curriculum leadership team.

Case, a former math specialist, has taught fifth grade in the White Bear Lake district since 2009.

Woodbury

Deadline nears for 'Educator of Year"

People have until the end of the day on Monday, Dec. 15, to submit nominations for the Educator of the Year award presented by the Woodbury Area Chamber of Commerce.

Nomination forms can be e-mailed to glenda@woodburychamber.org, faxed to 651-578-7276 or dropped off at the chamber office at 6949 Valley Creek Road.

The award is one of several to be presented at the chamber's annual community gala on Jan. 23.

Nomination forms are available at the chamber website at www.woodburychamber.org.

District 833

High school sessions set for 8th-graders

The first of three high school information nights is set for this week in the South Washington County School District.

Current eighth-graders and their parents can tour East Ridge High in Woodbury on Thursday, Dec. 18, as part of an event being billed as the "Raptor Ninth Grade Evening of Opportunity," a district news release said.

An overview of the ninth-grade curriculum will be presented, as well as information on four-year course planning. An activities fair also is planned.

The event runs from 6:30 to 8 p.m.

Park High in Cottage Grove will host a "Wolfpack Welcome" on Jan. 12 that will include information about that school's International Baccalaureate and AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) programming.

The district's third high school, Woodbury High, also is planning a "Royal Opportunities Night" on Jan. 12 during which student projects will be on display. Attendees also can learn about extracurricular activities and tour the school, the district said.

The three events are designed to inform students and parents of available programs before registering for 2015-16 classes.

Anthony Lonetree