TEACHER REACHES FOR MORE JOSHUA HILLS INSTRUCTOR ATTAINS PROFESSION'S HIGHEST STANDARD.

Byline: KAREN MAESHIRO Staff Writer

PALMDALE -- Joshua Hills School fifth-grade teacher Ginger DeValue is the first instructor in the Palmdale School District to earn her profession's highest standard.

The 15-year teacher, a Valencia resident, is now certified by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards.

``I would love to see more teachers do this program,'' DeValue said. ``I think it's really empowering and really has allowed me to think about how I teach and what I teach. It's a really powerful and positive program.''

Founded in 1987, the national board is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to establish high and rigorous standards for what accomplished teachers should know and be able to do.

The process of obtaining certification has been described as being akin to physicians becoming board-certified in their area of specialty.

There are about 10 other teachers in the Antelope Valley who have achieved board certification. Nationwide, 55,000 teachers have earned the distinction.

Because DeValue is certified and teaches at a school where pupils perform poorly on standardized tests, she is eligible to receive $5,000 from the state every year for up to four years as long as she works as a classroom teacher at a low-performing school.

Principal Mary Oleson said DeValue is an energetic teacher who takes every opportunity to get students involved in their learning.

``She is always up and always looking for innovative ideas to get students to understand a concept, whether it's math, language arts or science,'' Oleson said. ``She shares wonderful ideas with her peers. She's highly requested by parents because she works well with all kinds of students with diverse needs.''

DeValue came to education in a roundabout way.

The daughter of a homemaker and an accountant, she studied fine arts at California Polytechnic State University, Pomona.

She then worked in business, financing government bonds, in what was supposed to have been a temporary job but turned into a six-year career.

She felt unfulfilled, however, and looked into teaching.

``I started to talk to teachers who loved it.

``I asked what they loved about it, and they said they all enjoyed learning new things,'' said DeValue, 45. ``I thought, `That is for me.'''

DeValue decided to pursue board certification as a way to gain a new perspective on her job and refresh her commitment.

``I'm about halfway through my teaching career. I felt like I needed to reinvent myself and give myself a renewal. This is what I thought would meet my needs and rethink who I am as an educator,'' DeValue said.

``It was a very arduous process. It was most of my life last year.''

As part of the certification process, instructors must put together work portfolios that analyze how they teach and pass tests assessing their knowledge on the content they teach.

``I love learning. I want to impart to others, I want them to feel how exciting it is for them to learn,'' DeValue said.

DeValue is married and has two dogs and a cat.

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2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color -- ran in AV editio only) Fifth-grade teacher Ginger DeValue is sought-after by parents of students at Joshua Hills School.

(2 -- color in SAC edition only) Joshua Hills teacher Ginger DeValue has attained teaching's highest standard.

Jeff Goldwater/Staff Photographer