By James V. Horrigan
Staff Writer
Randee-Sue Allen was hardly through the front door of the Scarborough Middle School on Tuesday when she knew something was up.
For starters, everyone was wearing red and black, the school colors. But Allen, who has taught a multi-age “team” of sixth, seventh and eighth graders for the past 13 years, wasn’t ready to make any assumptions. After all, she was wearing a red and black sweater.
The bouquet of red and black balloons in the front lobby was enough to raise her eyebrows, especially since they were tied to an easel with her photograph on it.
“I thought, ‘Well, that’s odd,’” Allen said. “Then I hear this tap, tap, tapping; it was a teacher who was stapling up a banner. And she was angry that I’d shown up so early.”
The reason her colleague wasn’t happy is because she hadn’t counted on Allen, a resident of Yarmouth, to catch her in the act of hanging up a sign that read: “Congratulations Randee Allen.”
Allen admits she was flattered by the banner, but wasn’t prepared to be floored by what followed.
“I thought ‘Well, that’s it,’ and then I went to my room and my goodness, as soon as I unlock the door there was just stuff everywhere: streamers, banners, balloons and little fliers with my picture on them,” Allen said.
There was a reason for the surprises and congratulations. Last month Allen learned she had become the first teacher in the Scarborough school system to earn National Board Certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards.
“It’s like getting beyond your master’s. It took a lot of work,” said Assistant Principal Barbara Hathorne. “It’s a real big deal. That’s why we’re having a Randee Allen Day and congratulating her.”
“I was definitely surprised,” Allen said. “I didn’t know anything about it. I was totally blindsided.”
It was only mid-morning but already one group of students had brought her coffee and another plied her with breakfast. At that point Allen had no idea about the catered luncheon that awaited her and her team.
“Our teachers do a really good job of hiding,” Hathorne said.
Nationwide, approximately 55,000 teachers were recognized on Monday as part of National Board Certification Day. Owing to the region’s first brush with winter weather, school in Scarborough was cancelled on Monday, but students, teachers and administration all knew their roles, so the event was moved to the following day.
Allen said the certification process was a lot of work, but definitely worth it.
“It’s probably the highest professional thing a teacher can do. I’m glad that I did it because it made me think about my teaching practice,” she said.
For more than a year Allen and about a dozen other teachers attended a monthly support group in Augusta sponsored by the Maine Education Association.
“It was run by teachers that already had their national board certification,” Allen said. “We’d spend all day there together and we could see each other’s work. So I felt like I made a lot of good connections with other teachers. I got a lot out of it. I feel that it’s going to help my practice.”
Allen said a major part of the certification process is the assembly of a portfolio, divided into four parts. One part assessed professional development and community involvement, another had a focus on math and science, the third component was on literature and writing and the fourth concentrated on teaching students good citizenship.
“How does what you’re doing in the classroom impact and improve upon student learning? It made me really reconsider things that I’d been doing for the past 13 years,” she said.
Allen said the program helped her understand that even though she and the students might both find the study of certain subjects enjoyable, it is important to question whether they have as great an impact on student learning as other areas of study.
“Time is so precious in education. You can’t be doing something just because it’s fun, you have to be doing the best that you can do to really make a difference,” Allen said.
Because she teaches in a multi-age program and has the same students for three straight years, Allen said it is important to be the best possible teacher you can be.
“Because if you have someone for three years and you’re not giving them everything they need it can have a huge impact,” she said.
Allen said that although the certification program would likely not appeal to everyone, she has encouraged many of her colleagues to follow in her footsteps.
“I think there are many, many teachers in Scarborough here at the middle school that would benefit. I don’t think we do it for the recognition but there are others that I would like to see recognized. It’s like putting your teaching practice under a microscope and opening it up for teachers across the nation to look at and see what you’re doing,” she said.
Allen said she owes the biggest thanks to her students, who agreed to be videotaped repeatedly last year, and have the tapes used in evaluating her teaching practices.
“They’re very, very proud too, very supportive of my effort. But hopefully they’re ultimately going to benefit from it,” Allen said.
Hathorne said one of the most amazing things about Allen’s success is that she began her professional life as an accountant and didn’t start teaching until she was 40.
“It’s a second career for her,” Hathorne said. “And she’s done an awesome job.”