Stephens Earns National Board Certification Honor

Gordon Stephens has earned the most respected certification an educator can receive in the nation – the National Board Certification in Mathematics. 

Stephens is one of five teachers in AISD to receive the certification; one in 1,570 teachers in the State of Texas; and one of 147,000 teachers in the entire nation. The certification was made to recognize the accomplishments and improvements teachers make throughout their careers. 

‘’The National Board program has been the most impactful professional development experience of my three-decade career,’’ Stephen says. ‘’It has deepened my commitment to my students and their learning, enhanced my understanding of mathematics and improved my teaching methods. I’ve become more adept at managing and monitoring my students’ progress and have embraced a reflective approach to learning from my experiences. Each morning, I look forward to going to work and continuously improving as an educator.”

The certification was not earned overnight for Stephens, but was a two year process. The certification isn’t handed out to everyone once they hit a certain number of years as a teacher – only a select number of with respectable careers achieve this honor.

“It was a great deal of work that I had to put in for the certification,” Stephens says. “I am glad I was able to accomplish it and I will continue to commit to getting better as a teacher.”

Stephens was able to accept the certification on January 19th from members of the AISD Board. To his delight, he was accompanied by many of his peers there to support him.

“I was so glad to be surrounded by my wrestlers present and past, Coach Roberts and my wife Monica,” Stephens shares. “Having everyone there seeing me accomplish something so big in my career was honestly the best feeling ever.”