Sheri Bettis, a master’s of social work (MSW) student, former teacher, and interim director of the National Board Resource Center (NBRC) has created a unique overlap between the School of Social Work and NBRC. Throughout this academic calendar year, Sheri invited MSW students Noah Ondo and Sarah Hickman to work alongside NBRC as graduate assistants (GA), which has created an innovative tie between the teachers they serve and the practice of social work.
The National Board Resource center is a program dedicated to ensuring greater teaching standards by supporting teachers seeking National Board (re)Certification. They do this through mentoring, fee subsidies, and monetary incentives. NBRC has been around since 1999, but this distinctive mesh between the School of Social Work and the NBRC has occurred thanks to the unique mindset that Interim Director, Sheri Bettis, brings to the table. Sheri believes, “Education and social work are very, very, closely tied together.”
Through the work of this collaborative team, NBRC is bridging a gap for teachers who desire their National Board Certification but require that additional support to get them through this rigorous process.
Sheri adds, “We all know that the education world is struggling. We’re struggling to find and sustain teachers. We’re struggling to have enough counselors. We’re struggling to get the resources, especially in our hard-to-staff schools. So, having that line of understanding between social workers and our candidates is essential.” As an educator for many years, Sheri utilizes her seasoned experience to actively promote supporting teachers, who play a vital role in student success.
“Education and social work are very, very, closely tied together.”
Sheri Bettis, interim director at NBRC
Noah Ondo, an MSW student, was recently hired as a GA for the NBRC. Noah, alongside his responsibilities as a GA and MSW student, is also the founder and Athletic Director of the 501(c)(3) not-for-profit Maroons Baseball Club. This exceptional organization has served baseball and softball athletes ages seven to seventeen, throughout multiple counties, since 2021.
As a former college baseball player, Noah understands the importance of leadership and the long-lasting effects of good personal character. So, he leads his organization, and community, by example. His upmost priority, as Noah mentions, “isn’t necessarily just about playing ball. The sport is a means to invest in people and build them up. We develop people first and athletes second.” Their work focuses on meeting the socioeconomic, access, and equity gaps of the local communities and provide the same high-class opportunities in affordable and accessible ways. With Noah’s previous experience and current leadership role in his not-for-profit, Sheri utilizes his time as a GA to assist in administrative tasks, which benefits both NBRC and Noah.
As a future school social worker, and current administrator, Noah utilizes his skills to serve the mission of NBRC by investing in teachers who, like his players, may find of value the support of a larger team of people. In Noah’s words, “I believe that to effectively service the missions of NBRC or MBC it takes intentional people to make an intentional effort to create intentional change.”
Sarah Hickman, also an MSW student, brings with her strong empathetic skills and management experience. Through her work in loss prevention, she would often work with people who “were struggling with drug addiction and sometimes even under the influence when caught.” Sarah would then need to “talk them down from the frantic state of mind that they were in.” In the heat of the moment, Sarah learned key de-escalation practices that assist both her work at NBRC and her career in social work.
One of Sarah’s primary roles as a GA includes incentivizing national board-certified teachers (NBCT) to work at higher-need schools and connecting mentors to candidates. Similar to her work with troubled individuals, Sarah supports NBCT by listening to their concerns or simply creating a safe space for them to process their emotions. As Sheri shared, “When you’re a teacher, you are not just a teacher. When you are a teacher, you’re also a surrogate parent during the day. You’re also a social worker, counselor, life coach, career advisor, and teacher, so you’re trying to do all these things that are essential for the kids to thrive within the classroom.”
Sarah, through her attuned nature as a social work student, plays an instrumental role in supporting teachers who are doing their best to juggle the many hats they carry.
With this phenomenal team of people, and others not featured in this article, NBRC will continue their remarkable work of helping the education community and others who will inevitably benefit from the growth of these individuals. As closing remarks, Sheri shares, “I am really hoping to use my time as an interim director wisely and to help the students and teachers to the best of my ability.”
