The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards has awarded National Board Certification to 140 teachers in Pennsylvania.

Here is a list of the 14 teachers from the PG East region and their certification areas:

East Allegheny: Marcella Sippey, mathematics/adolescence and young adulthood; Lori Steiner, science/adolescence and young adulthood.

Gateway: Cindy Strotman, English language arts/adolescence and young adulthood.

Greater Latrobe: Lisa Bompiani, English language arts/early adolescence.

Norwin: Thomas Swenson, generalist/middle childhood; Trisha Brunazzi, generalist/middle childhood.

Pittsburgh: June Beighley, CAPA 6-12, mathematics/adolescence and young adulthood; Molly Braver, Allderdice High School, social studies, history/adolescence and young adulthood; Kathleen Choate, Minadeo PreK-5, literacy: reading-language arts/early and middle childhood; Lisa Fevola, Milliones 6-12, English language arts/adolescence and young adulthood; Amy Galloway-Barr, Arsenal 6-8, English language arts/early adolescence; Wendi Obritz, Schenley High School, mathematics/adolescence and young adulthood

Woodland Hills: Sarah Hart, mathematics/adolescence and young adulthood; Rochelle Pristera, generalist/middle childhood.

The national board this month announced new certificates to nearly 8,900 teachers, bringing the total to 82,359. Pennsylvania has a total of 639 such teachers, with a rank of 21st among states.

The process of becoming a national board-certified teacher takes one to three years to complete and requires a portfolio, extensive self-evaluation, videotapes and demonstration of subject knowledge.

In a statement released by the national board, U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan said, "What if every child had a chance to be taught by a National Board Certified Teacher? I think the difference it would make in students' lives would be extraordinary."

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