With National Board Certified Teacher Week celebrated at the end of January, Sussex Academy teachers who have earned the standard say the process is rigorous and rewarding.

NBCT Week highlights the impact, leadership and expertise of educators who have achieved certification through the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards.

Dr. Nicole Turgeon-Williams, who teaches AP Psychology and both honors and AP U.S. History, earned her 10-year NBCT certification in Social Studies-History/Adolescent & Young Adult in 2013.

“I did the entire portfolio in a single year, as that was all that was the only option provided at the time,” Turgeon-Williams said, noting she achieved Maintenance of Certification in 2022, extending her NBCT status through Dec. 31, 2028.

After achieving national certification, Turgeon-Williams served as a cohort leader in Arlington, Va., where she helped other teachers on their road to achieving certification.

“I often refer to the year-long intensive NBCT process as doing a second master’s degree in a single year,” she said. “I learned so much and grew exponentially as an educator through both my NBCT and MOC processes.”

High school biology teacher Jenni Couch just earned her NBCT in Science-Adolescence and Young Adulthood/Biology in December 2025 after a two-year process that involved a computer-based assessment of biology and basic science content knowledge and three portfolio entries.

Portfolios required classroom-based evidence, including student work samples, instructional planning, evidence of collaboration with colleagues, administration and the community, video recordings of teaching, and multiple reflective analyses demonstrating accomplished practice.

“By far, earning this certification was the most rigorous and rewarding work I have completed so far in my teaching career,” Couch said. “National certification is the highest and most rigorous certification any teacher can earn. Seeing that other teachers have gone through the process might encourage or inspire others to do the same.”

Spanish teacher Cameron Smith is currently pursuing certification in Early Adolescence Through Young Adulthood/World Languages (Spanish). He has successfully completed the Language Proficiency Portion and component 2 ‘Differentiation and Instruction.’

“I’m working on Component 1, 3 and 4 this year and will submit by May,” he said. “If successful, I will become a NBCT in December of 2026.”