The Jack Miller Center Announces Winners of the 2024 Teaching Excellence Award

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Philadelphia, PA – The Jack Miller Center has announced the winners of the 4th annual Teaching Excellence Award. Senior scholars Susan McWilliams Barndt of Pomona College and Jonathan White of Christopher Newport University, along with junior scholar Rudy Hernandez, have received the 2024 awards in higher education. Jane Highley of Devon Preparatory School won in the category of primary and secondary educators, with Sergio de Alba of R. M. Miano Elementary receiving an honorable mention. 

Each year, the Jack Miller Center celebrates the great educators who are dedicated to teaching America’s founding principles and history, by recognizing the extraordinary work of one senior scholar and one junior scholar in higher education, and one teacher in K-12 education.

Jack Miller, our founder and chairman emeritus, often says that “the battle for the soul of our country will be won or lost in our classrooms.” A republic can only survive if we pass down our principles and teach our history to each generation of citizens.

To select our annual awardees, JMC evaluates student nominations, field evaluations, and in-depth reports from the nominees themselves. Through our rigorous process, we find the best and brightest civic educators in America. It is always an experience that fills us with immense hope and demonstrates the ongoing influence great teachers have in the classroom and beyond. 

“Civic education is all about empowering students to take responsibility for self-government,” JMC president Hans Zeiger said. “These teachers and scholars help students understand the inheritance of freedom that makes America exceptional. I am always encouraged by the Teaching Excellence Award winners, but it has been particularly inspirational this year to have a chance to celebrate the real victories these honorees are winning in the classroom.” 

Senior Scholar Winners

Jonathan White is Professor of American Studies at Christopher Newport University in Virginia. He encourages his students to think critically while reading important primary texts, gaining a better understanding of America’s history and founding principles and developing as engaged and informed citizens. Aside from work on his many successful books and publications, White has a prolific record of mentoring students in their own research and publications: “…seeing the joy on their faces when they receive a real magazine, periodical or book in the mail with their name on it is extraordinarily satisfying for me as a professor.”

Aside from his work on the CNU campus, White devotes his free time outside of the school year to educating K-12 teachers in summer workshops: “When I do these sorts of programs, my goal is to give teachers historical context and understanding that they can then take back to their classrooms so that they can better train their students to be informed citizens… I find that the teachers are always very grateful for the content that I help them learn.”

From White: “I am so grateful to the Jack Miller Center for this recognition, and for all that the JMC does to promote the teaching of America’s founding principles and history. I started my career at Christopher Newport University in 2009 as a JMC postdoctoral fellow, and I know I would not be where I am today without JMC’s generous support.”

Susan McWilliams Barndt is a Professor of Politics at Pomona College in California. In an age of student cynicism and polarization, she revitalizes her students’ faith in our political system and humanizes American politics: “I want them to understand that we can disagree with others about policy questions and still be friends with them—that we can still love them, even. I am old-fashioned enough to believe that democracy rests on our willingness to love our fellow human beings, even and perhaps especially when they behave in difficult ways.”

McWilliams Barndt’s students come away from her classes with a new understanding and appreciation for America’s history and political tradition. As the semester progresses, her students find themselves caring more and more about American political thought as she connects the personal to the past.

One student gushed “This class was life-changing. The knowledge and critical thinking that I have gained solely because of this class has changed my perspective on what American politics are formally and how to have a nuanced dialogue about politics with professors, random strangers, my Mom, and my friends,” and another, “Through this course, I have learned to love America in so many new ways.” 

From McWilliams Barndt: “To say that I am honored by this award is an understatement! For 20 years, the Jack Miller Center has been setting the gold standard for excellent teaching and scholarship in American politics, history, and civics education. So to get an award for teaching from JMC is especially meaningful.”

Junior Scholar Winner

Rudy Hernandez is an Assistant Teaching Professor at the University of Missouri’s Kinder Institute on Constitutional Democracy and Department of Political Science. Hernandez skillfully pairs primary and secondary sources in a way that connects current questions of American democracy with the American political tradition. His own enthusiasm and intellectual curiosity are an inspiration to his students, who embrace the rigor of his classes and eagerly engage in fruitful classroom discussion.

Hernandez’s devotion to civic education and civil discourse are also evident beyond the college classroom. He is the original content creator and ongoing Director of the Constitutional Democracy Academy, an annual summer seminar that brings high school students to campus for in-depth study of history and political philosophy.

His efforts show that civics education is not merely something left at the classroom door, but is part of what it means to be a citizen. As his nominator and colleague noted, “In an age in which so many colleagues talk about doing things, Rudy is that refreshing colleague who just knuckles down and does things!”

From Hernandez: “I am honored and humbled to receive this award. It would not have been possible without the support I have received from the Kinder Institute on Constitutional Democracy and the Truman School of Government and Public Affairs at the University of Missouri. My love of civic education began with my middle and high school history teachers at Girard College who actualized Stephen Girard’s hope for ‘a pure attachment to our republican institutions.’ It continued with my studying the great books at St. John’s College, and the excellent graduate professors in American political thought and American politics at Louisiana State University. Lastly, I am thankful to the Jack Miller Center for the investment in civic education as it reminds me of the critical responsibility teachers of the American political tradition have to this country.”

K-12 Winner

Jane Highley is a middle and high school teacher at Devon Preparatory School in Devon, Pennsylvania where she teaches AP U.S. Government, AP Human Geography, U.S. History, AP Comparative Government, and Civics & Citizenship. She strives to create civility in a “classroom environment in which civil dialogue isn’t the norm.” With this as the standard, her students are free to ask questions that inspire discourse and a spirit of curiosity about different perspectives, rather than division.

A highlight in her teaching career was the enthusiasm of a class during a Moot Court exercise of a Supreme Court unit. Highley shares:

“The ‘lawyers’ wrote multiple drafts of their opening statements without prompting; the ‘justices’ took it upon themselves to write way more questions than they would have time to ask to ensure that they had all the information needed from both sides before they made their ruling. One of the ‘justices’ told me just before Decision Day that they didn’t want their decision to be overturned by next year’s justices, which meant that he and his Supreme Court colleagues wanted to get this right, and for good. Such fidelity to the Constitution (from a 14-year-old) was all the confirmation I needed to remember that this is my small contribution towards advancing civic education.” 

Her application of experiential learning continues to renew her love of this country, especially as an immigrant and naturalized citizen; it reminds her of the strength of our Constitution in withstanding the test of time for nearly 250 years.

From Highley: “I am ecstatic to receive this award and also humbled. Any success that I have experienced is due to the many teachers near and far who have mentored me and have generously shared their resources and classroom-tested wisdom. I’m also grateful to my students and colleagues at Devon Prep who inspire me to be a better teacher every day.”

K-12 Honorable Mention

Sergio de Alba is a 4th-6th grade teacher at R. M. Miano Elementary School in Los Banos, California, where he teaches Civil Rights and American History. De Alba makes a difference in the lives of his elementary school students, many of whom are underprivileged, by righting their misunderstandings of American government and showing them how they are a part of the American experiment. His firsthand experience proves that elementary school is not too early to begin learning about civics: “As an educational system, we need to begin civic-minded education at the elementary level, not at later stages. Throughout my career, I have shown that this topic is not too advanced for this age group and how it develops a sense of pride for students when they are given an opportunity to make a difference and have their voices heard.”

De Alba gets his students involved with civics using engaging hands-on projects, including an annual mock trial and the building of a Patriot Plaza, where American flags are flown on every patriotic holiday. He also built a Veteran’s Memorial Stage on-campus to inspire student appreciation for the sacrifices of our veterans.

As the child of farming immigrants, de Alba understands the struggles of many of his students and their families and knows how to meet them where they are:

“It is difficult to describe the impact a teacher who comes from the same type of neighborhood has on the students they serve in words. Disenfranchised communities are not always taught how understanding their civic roles allows them to achieve their greatest success. They are not shown the beauty of the United States as I once was when I first came to this country. I remember even in kindergarten, my teacher discussing George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and the freedom we have because that is who we are as Americans. I remember the ‘Promise of America’ and how it made me see how lucky my family was to live here. I teach using this same method…

My parents were also farm workers and I understand that many obstacles arise due to the poverty experienced in my community. This is why I share my struggles with my students. If I was able to make it with hard work, they could too. I have 27 three-inch binders with letters, essays, cards, and thank-you notes that I have kept as testimonials of the impact I have made on the students I serve. These binders provide great pride.”

The Jack Miller Center, now in its twentieth year, is a Philadelphia-based educational nonprofit aiming to address the civic learning deficit at both the K-12 and higher education levels. By providing professional development for social studies teachers and supporting a network of over 1,000 established and rising scholars at colleges and universities, JMC hopes to promote civic renewal, informed citizenship, and the virtues of self-government.