Teachers pass national board certification

Three Columbia Falls High School English teachers recently received National Board Certification — one of the highest achievements in their teaching careers. What’s unique is that they decided to embark on the rigorous requirements together, rather than go it alone.

Michael Christensen, Linda Kaps and Alyson Dorr all started on the process in spring 2012. Christensen and Kaps have been teaching for more than 30 years, Dorr 12 years. In spring 2012, they started working on the certification, which scrutinizes and tests a teacher’s ability and acumen on many levels, culminating with an excruciating six-hour exam.

“It was the hardest exam I’ve ever taken,” Dorr said.

“I wouldn’t have done it if I were doing it alone,” Christensen said. “Working together enhanced our ability to get through it.”

The three teachers were already collaborating prior to the exam. They all taught sections of pre-AP or AP English and were working on a cohesive curriculum prior to taking the national boards. They’ve also known each other for years. Dorr, who graduated from Columbia Falls in 1997, was one of Kaps’ students years ago.

“It taught me a lot about real collaboration,” Christensen said, adding it was the most “challenging thing I’ve ever done professionally.”

The certification requires that teachers demonstrate that they not only know curriculums but also know how to effectively teach them.

Kaps received a perfect score on one section of the test.

“I think it’s good for the community to know how good the teachers at the high school are,” she said.

The high school already has two national board-certified teachers — psychology teacher Jenny Lovering and art teacher Jenny Stone.

Christensen completed his undergraduate work at the University of Massachusetts, the University of Montana and Montana State University — where he completed graduate studies that fulfilled his requirements for teaching certification in Montana. His wife, Janae, teaches second grade at Ruder Elementary School. He has three daughters, Emilee, Stephanie and Anna.

Dorr has a bachelor’s of language arts education and English from Corban University in Salem, Ore. In 2005, she was selected as a Fulbright Memorial Fund participant and traveled to Japan as one of 200 teacher-delegates from the United States. She is also a member of the National Consortium for Teaching about Asia, Currently, she is working on implementing the SpringBoard curriculum in grades 6-12, a pre-AP curriculum for all students. He husband, Casey Dorr, is an information technology infrastructure project manager at Plum Creek. They have two young children, Elaina and Evelynne.

Kaps is a Flathead High School graduate with a bachelor’s from the University of Montana, a dual major in creative writing and literature and drama. She has a master’s in counseling from the University of West Alabama. Kaps is still active in theater and was awarded State Farm Insurance Good Neighbor Award for the Montana Centennial Play “Echoes of the Past,” which she directed. She has also coached junior high volleyball and youth soccer. She started teaching in Columbia Falls in 1983.

The three will each receive a $3,000 award for the certification, though they note it cost $1,500 to get through the test.