Susan McWilliams Barndt is a Professor of Politics at Pomona College. 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.”

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.

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: “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.”