Lisa Rost MT-11519_web
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Lisa Rost earns national certification as District 153 teacher

Lisa Rost loves teaching so much, she spent four years examining her teaching methods at Homewood’s Willow School so she could become a better teacher.
 
Rost is the third District 153 teacher to earn a certificate from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, in addition to Laura Kozel and Marisa Alborn from Churchill School. Teachers with the certificate have improved their teaching practices, helped students learn more and demonstrated a commitment to excellence, according to the national board.

Lisa Rost loves teaching so much, she spent four years examining her teaching methods at Homewood’s Willow School so she could become a better teacher.
 
Rost is the third District 153 teacher to earn a certificate from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, in addition to Laura Kozel and Marisa Alborn from Churchill School. Teachers with the certificate have improved their teaching practices, helped students learn more and demonstrated a commitment to excellence, according to the national board.
 
Rost has been an educator for about 30 years teaching kindergarten, first and second grades. She has been at District 153 for 11 years. Five years ago she became an interventionist. She is focused on helping high achieving students throughout the day.

“They come to me for additional challenging work that goes deeper into the skills they are learning in class,” she said. “For example, if students are learning to write paragraphs in class, they will learn how to write different types of topic sentences with me. If students are learning how to solve single step story problems in class, they will practice two-step story problems with me.”
    

Rost started in the certification program four years ago after it was introduced in the district. She completed the four components doing one or two each year.
 
“I had to come up with a lesson unit and teach it to my kids and then analyze the data before and after to determine the growth they’d made,” she explained. She was videotaped while she taught. National board representatives critiqued the video for her teaching strategies and their effectiveness.
 
Kathy Schaeflein, curriculum director, said working through the certification requirements is “really honing your craft.” The district had 10 teachers in the national certification program. Laura Kozel and Marisa Alborn at Churchill School and Rost are those who have completed the program.
 
After she was honored Jan. 7 at the school board meeting, Rost thanked the school board members, the administration, her colleagues and the District 153 PTA for their support during the process.
 
Rost has a bachelors’ degree from Concordia College in Minnesota, a master’s degree in elementary education from Olivet Nazarene University, a certification as a gifted teacher and a certification as an English language learners teacher assisting students for whom English is not their first language.
 

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