Lake Havasu Unified School District Celebrates National Board Certification Day

Mayor Cal Sheehy declared Jan. 11, National Board Certified Teacher Day in honor of Christie Olsen, Lake Havasu City’s first National Board Certified Teacher.

Last December, five teachers successfully obtained or renewed their National Board Certification; Jamie Hammer, Third-Grade Teacher at Jamaica Elementary; Norma Zink, Fourth-Grade Teacher at Havasupai Elementary; Carol Nowakowski, Sixth-Grade Teacher at Oro Grande Classical Academy; Courtney Zampogna, First-Grade Teacher at
Starline Elementary; and Christie Olsen, LHUSD Professional Learning Coach.

LHUSD honors these teachers with the yearly tradition of Balloon Day, when these teachers receive a Golden
National Board Certified Teacher Balloon.

The NBPTS was founded in 1987 and developed a set of standards for educators nationally. National Board
Certification is the highest certification for education an educator can obtain and is a rigorous, multistep process.

Over 100,000 teachers are certified across the country with the NBPTS, with 25 of those teachers employed with
LHUSD.