Educator Ambassador Program

Julian Kenneth Braxton serves as the Bezan Chair for Community and Inclusion and is a member of the history department faculty at the Winsor School in Boston. For more than 25 years, he has been a dedicated teacher and senior administrator at Winsor, where he has helped shape the academic and community lives of the school. Braxton began his career as a Howard Heinz Teaching Fellow at Sewickley Academy and later served as director of the Summer History Institute at the Bostonian Society, Boston’s historical society. He was a fellow and counselor for the Center for the Study of the Presidency and a recipient of the prestigious Rockefeller Brothers Fund Leadership Fellowship. His exceptional contributions to education have been recognized through numerous awards, including the Diversity Medal of Honor and the Virginia Wing Outstanding Teacher Award. In 2022, Braxton was named one of three finalists for Massachusetts History Teacher of the Year. A long‐​standing advocate for civic engagement and public service, Braxton received the Patrick Daly/​Mother Hale Community Service Award from the New York City Council for his leadership in The Constitution Works, a civic education initiative serving public school students in New York City. Braxton’s leadership extends into regional and national education circles. He is a former member of the Board of Directors of the Association of Independent Schools in New England and currently serves on the Harvard Graduate School of Education Alumni Council, the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History Teacher Advisory Council, and Facing History’s New England Advisory Council.

Shari Conditt is a 25‐​year veteran educator. A National Board–certified teacher, she currently serves as a US history teacher, Advanced Placement (AP) US history teacher, AP government teacher, and instructional coach at Woodland High School in Woodland, Washington. She is the 2024 Bill of Rights Institute Civics Teacher of the Year and was recently selected as the runner‐​up for the Washington State Sons of the American Revolution 2025 History Teacher of the Year. In 2015, Conditt was chosen as one of nine finalists for Washington State Teacher of the Year, and in 2016, she was selected as the Gilder Lehrman Washington State History Teacher of the Year. Conditt attended her first Sphere Summit in 2022 and Sphere 100 in June 2024. Aside from her work as a Sphere ambassador, Conditt also serves on the Teacher Advisory Council for the National Constitution Center, is a member of the iCivicsEdNet, and serves on the Retro Report Council of Educators. Outside of school, she serves as an adjunct professor at Washington State University–Vancouver, teaching a social studies/​history teaching methods course to preservice teachers. Conditt’s work is guided by the belief that civic virtue and civic engagement create opportunities for advocacy and change. To that end, she works with students, colleagues, and her community so that they, too, can become catalysts in our American democracy.

Serge Danielson‐​Francois earned his BA in history at Swarthmore College, his MA in information resources and library science at the University of Arizona, and his MS in educational technology at Lawrence Technological University. He is starting a PhD in political science at Wayne State University with a focus on political theory, and his goal is to write an open‐​source AP government and politics textbook. Danielson‐​Francois teaches AP US history; AP US government and politics; debate; and world humanities at the Academy of the Sacred Heart in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. He is comoderator for the senior class, debate and ethics bowl coach, and FIRST Robotics team comoderator for the high school and outreach FIRST Tech Challenge team at the Center for Success in Pontiac, Michigan. Danielson‐​Francois is a Vincentian and contributes to the St. Vincent de Paul Detroit Justice Initiative. He is an inaugural member of the Eastern State Penitentiary Justice Collaboratory, a colead for the Educating for American Democracy Teacher Leadership Task Force, and a judge for the 2024 A250 America’s Field Trip contest. He is a contributor to the Gilder Lehrman Citizenship project and to the Gilder Lehrman African American Studies study guide. A decade ago, Danielson‐​Francois was recognized for his work with student journalists as part of the 1 for All First Amendment Challenge sponsored by the American Society of News Editors. He was awarded a grant from the Knight Center for Environmental Journalism at Michigan State University to lead students in investigating brownfield sites in and around Detroit.

Rick Holifield is the assistant head of school at Providence High School in Burbank, California. He has overmore than25 years of experience in private school education. In that time, Holifield has held other leadership roles, such as the director of community life at the Walker School in Marietta, Georgia, and was the inaugural dean of diversity, inclusion, and community engagement at the Lawrenceville School in New Jersey. Holifield is a certified mediator with the Supreme Court of Georgia and has served on the Teacher Advisory Council for the National Humanities Center in Durham, North Carolina, and the Advisory Board for the National Center for Civil and Human Rights in Atlanta, Georgia. He holds a bachelor’s degree in theology from Life Christian University; a master’s of ministry degree in Christian counseling from Jacksonville Theological Seminary; and a principal certification from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Holifield is also the president and principal consultant of MRH Consulting Group. His areas of expertise center around conflict resolution, team building, and coaching and mentoring students, teachers, and athletes.

Jennifer A. Jolley is the secondary social studies content specialist for grades 7–12 at Brevard Public Schools in Florida. With three decades of experience in education, she was honored as a 2010 James Madison Fellow and named Florida’s 2020 Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History Teacher of the Year. As a dedicated teacher leader, Jolley serves on the National Social Studies Leaders Association Board and the Florida Council for the Social Studies Board. She also participates in various national teacher councils, including iCivics and Retro Report, and has collaborated on numerous projects with the National Constitution Center, National Council for History Education, and Teaching American History. Jolley attended the 2022 Sphere Summit and was named a 2025 Sphere Alumni Fellow. She holds a BA in social sciences and philosophy/​religion from Flagler College and an MA in American history and government from Ashland University.

Patience LeBlanc has more than 26 years of experience in teaching social studies. She is the secondary social studies coordinator for Frisco Independent School District, where she writes curriculum and manages secondary social studies teachers. LeBlanc has taught at both the middle school and high school levels. Even though she spent most of her career teaching eighth‐​grade US history pre‐​1877, she has also taught Texas history, US history post‐​1877, AP US history, AP world history, constitutional law, and street law. LeBlanc has also coached athletic and academic teams, including girls’ basketball, volleyball, and track; Academic Decathlon; Citizen Bee and Jr. Citizen Bee; and the We the People competition. She has been a consultant for many educational programs and organizations, including Law‐​Related Education through the State Bar of Texas, the Center for Civic Education, the We the People program, and the Gilder Lehrman Institute, where she has written curriculum and presented across the state and nation. LeBlanc’s awards include the 2020 Humanities Texas Outstanding Teacher of the Year, 2018 Gilder Lehrman Teacher of the Year for Texas, 2013 American Lawyers Auxiliary Teacher of the Year, 2011 Texas Lawyers Auxiliary Teacher of the Year, 2010 James Madison Foundation Fellowship, and 2005 Leon Jaworski Award for Excellence in Law Focused Education. LeBlanc has a BA in history from Texas A&M University and an MA in history from Texas Woman’s University.

Lois MacMillan, a James Madison Fellow and National Board–certified teacher in her 33rd year of teaching, has taught at all three levels of education: elementary, middle, and high school. In 2024, she earned the Mary K. Bonsteel Tachau Award from the Organization of American Historians for her service to K–12 history education and the Daughters of the American Revolution’s National Teacher of the Year. A master teacher, MacMillan has coordinated more than 40 teacher seminars for the Gilder Lehrman Institute and the University of Virginia’s John L. Nau III Center for Civil War Studies. In 2018, she won the GRAMMY Museum’s Jane Ortner Education Award for her work incorporating music into the nonmusic classroom, which led to a sabbatical year as the senior education fellow for the Hamilton Education Program, where she facilitated the implementation of a Founding Era–curriculum to high school teachers and students, culminating in their attendance to the Broadway show, Hamilton. Today, MacMillan teaches AP government, American history, world cultures, and an elective on the American Civil War at Grants Pass High School in Grants Pass, Oregon.

Betty Nordengren, an English as a second language–endorsed K–8 teacher in Illinois with more than 17 years of experience, fosters inclusive dialogue in multilingual classrooms. An International Society for Technology in Education‐​certified and Guardians of Democracy Bronze Educator, she’s contributed to Sphere Education Initiatives’ civil discourse curriculum through lesson plans and webinars. Nordengren blends policy expertise with classroom practice, having presented on educational policy implementation at DePaul University, where she received a master’s in public policy in 2024. Her 2025 research revealed a gap showing that teachers overestimated student confidence in civil discourse, while students expressed the need for more support. She developed resources to bridge this gap.

Tim Stevens has spent the past two decades working in both rural and urban education. Beginning with a yearlong stint as an Americorps tutor, Stevens discovered a passion not just for the field of education but for the art of teaching students how to think deeply and communicate that thinking meaningfully. He has served in numerous capacities across multiple communities, including eight years as a classroom teacher in a small rural school district and another two as a school media specialist and special education resource teacher. He served as the assistant director of a Washington, DC, learning center and worked two years as a collegiate academic coordinator. For the past four years, Stevens has worked as a professional learning developer and training specialist, focusing primarily on social studies education. In this role, he is fortunate to be able to provide training and resources to teachers and students across multiple school districts, always with a focus on the intersection between rigorous alignment and active student engagement. Nothing brings Stevens more joy than helping teachers discover how to engage their students in complex thinking in social studies.

Bruce Stubblefield serves as data integration coach for Hamilton County Schools in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Stubblefield has 11 years of experience in public education, including serving as the high school social studies content lead (9–12), teaching economics, International Baccalaureate history of the Americas, and US history. He is president‐​elect (2025–26) of the Tennessee Council for the Social Studies and serves on the Board of Delegates for the National Council for the Social Studies. Stubblefield spearheaded the districtwide implementation of the Inquiry Design Model and received the Financial Literacy Leadership Award from the Tennessee Financial Literacy Commission in 2024. He has contributed to educational publications, including Middle Level Learning, and has coauthored position statements for the National Council for the Social Studies. He holds a BS in secondary education from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and is pursuing an MA in educational leadership from the University of Alabama.

With 28 years of experience in education, Candi Tucker has inspired thousands of students in social studies and citizenship, fostering a deep appreciation for these subjects while instilling a strong work ethic that prepares them for future success. Tucker is particularly passionate about empowering students to be active, engaged members of their communities. To this end, Tucker developed and implemented a Civics Day program, providing students with the opportunity to engage directly with elected officials. This initiative helps students build relationships with government leaders, encouraging them to recognize the value of their voices in shaping democracy. In addition to her classroom work, Tucker is committed to advancing the teaching profession. As a clinical teacher, mentor, and instructional coach, she strives to support and inspire colleagues, helping to elevate and expand the impact of educators beyond the classroom. Outside of her professional life, Tucker believes in the importance of civil discourse, even amid differing political ideologies. She and her husband, despite political differences, have been happily married for 20 years. Tucker is also the proud parent of two nearly grown children. Her daughter and she are both set to graduate from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the coming years—her daughter with a degree in drama, and Tucker with an EdD in organizational learning and leadership.

Kevin Wagner is in his 28th year of teaching, all of which has been with the Carlisle Area School District in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Wagner serves as the social studies program supervisor for grades 6–12, overseeing and coaching 26 teachers. He currently teaches AP seminar, AP research, and AP US history and is the adviser to the Model United Nations club. Wagner is a strong advocate for social studies instruction, serving on the Middle States Council for Social Studies board of directors as secretary. He has held previous positions with Historic Carlisle Inc., the PA Council for Social Studies, and the International Model United Nations Association. Wagner has also been a member for several years on the Pennsylvania Teachers Advisory Council, working with state legislatures and stakeholders to develop sound educational practices for the state of Pennsylvania. Wagner has received numerous awards in education, including the Thomas W. Holtzman Jr. Educational Leadership Award for outstanding contributions in educational administration, the National Liberty Museum’s Teacher as Hero Award, the American Historical Association’s Beveridge Family Teaching Award, the Middle States Council for Social Studies’ Harry J. Carman Award, the Gilder‐​Lehrman PA State History Teacher of the Year Award, the PA National History Day Teacher of the Year Award, and was a finalist in 2001 for the Walt Disney Teacher of the Year Award. In 2018, Wagner was named the recipient of the National Council for Social Studies’ Christa McAuliffe Reach for the Stars award grant for his development of the Silent Heroes Project, in which students complete historical research and create websites to honor Pennsylvania World War II soldiers buried in the Normandy American Cemetery. He has also led three separate groups of College in the High School students to Normandy, France, to study World War II in a program he calls The Power of Place. Wagner earned a BA in social studies certification with an emphasis in US history at Messiah University, a master’s degree in history, and a master’s degree in educational leadership and policy from Shippensburg University.