The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards’ (NBPTS) announced recently that 268 Kentucky teachers were awarded National Board Certification in the class of 2012.

Kentucky ranked seventh in the number of teachers earning National Board Certification in 2012, and is ranked ninth nationally with the most National Board Certification Teachers (NBCT) overall.

“I think it is awesome that Kentucky has such a high number of NBCT, which is due to the fact that it is highly supported in Kentucky,” said Lindsey Davie, NBCT agriculture teacher at Henry County High School. “Kentucky’s decision makers realize the benefit and are willing to help and encourage teachers who want to pursue this path.”

Davie is one of six Kentucky career and technical education (CTE) teachers in the Class of 2012.

“It is a great honor to become National Board Certified because it gives me more opportunities in education to be a leader, and it has had a positive impact on my teaching,” Davie said.

Davie has taught for five years. Prior to becoming an educator, she established new church congregations in Haiti for two years.

This year she teaches Principles of Agriscience; Greenhouse; Landscaping; Animal Science; and Agriculture Construction and Structures.

Henry County High School currently has three teachers with NBCT status. “Two of us are CTE, so that’s a great ratio,” Davie said. “Our school is very proud of our accomplishments.”

Davie wanted to become national board certified because she felt it would help her with learning opportunities that would give her more “groundbreaking” material to implement in her classroom.

“I had known several agriculture teachers who had received National Boards and said that the process seemed tailor made for our programs,” Davie said. “They were able to analyze and strengthen their skills and teaching in areas like leadership, teamwork and teaching high-level skills to students.”

Jefferson County school district finished eighth nationally with 38 teachers receiving certification in 2012, and the Oldham County school district was 19th nationally with 27 teachers.

To read more about national board certification, click here.