2023 Recipients-Civil Rights/Liberties Award-- Young Samaritans
Young Samaritans is a student-led community action organization that currently has 54 members, representing approximately 18% of the total student body. They have done some amazing work in their communities, including assisting with the Merry and Bright holiday lights setup and serving hot chocolate, participating in the Belleville Giving Tree program for those that are less fortunate, crafting & caroling at the Senior Center, creating a peer-tutoring program for students at the high school and middle school, working with food service to improve efficiency of the lunch line, hand making tie-blankets to donate to the Humane Societies of Dane and Green County for pet adoptions, cleaning the campus in the spring after the winter thaw, and planting trees to "green up" the school campus. In addition, 10 students have volunteered to serve as election inspectors in the upcoming spring and fall elections. The Young Samaritans have clearly demonstrated the core principles of social studies by promoting the common good, honoring diversity, and improving the quality of life for others.
2023 Recipients-Civil Rights/Liberties Award-- George Dalbo
George Dalbo is a high school social studies teacher in Clinton, Wisconsin, a rural community in the south-central part of the state. In his 17th year of teaching, George has taught social studies at every grade from 5th through 12th in public, charter, and private schools in urban, suburban, and rural communities in Wisconsin and Minnesota, as well as two years in Vienna, Austria. George has also taught social studies methods courses and supervised student teaching for pre-service teachers. George completed his Ph,D. in Social Studies Education at the University of Minnesota, where his research focused on genocide education in K-12 classrooms and curricula. George is working with Wisconsin’s Department of Public Instruction, the Holocaust Education Resource Center in Milwaukee, and the Wisconsin Council for the Social Studies to promote Holocaust and genocide education across the state.
2022 Recipients-Civil Rights/Liberties Award--Erin McCarthy
Erin McCarthy is a National Board Certified 8th grade social studies teacher at Greendale Middle School. She is the 2020 Wisconsin Teacher of the Year. During her 10th year teaching in 2022 she took a leave of absence to complete research in Greece as a Fulbright Distinguished Awards in Teaching Research Grantee investigating how education ecosystems welcome and create a sense of belonging groups who are often excluded.
2021 Lack of Recipient due to Beyond-ference and Outside Circumstances
2020 Recipients-Civil Rights/Liberties Award--Erich Utrie
Erich Utrie is in his 26th year teaching 8th grade social studies at Jefferson Middle School in Jefferson, Wisconsin. Like most teachers, Erich wears many different "hats" in his building and also works part-time for the JEDI Virtual School facilitating American History and AP U.S. History courses. Erich's love for civics, history and economics is evidenced by his involvement with the iCivics Educator Network, EconomicsWisconsin Educator Advisory Council and the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. Simulations, role-playing and active decision-making are at the center of civics instruction in Erich's classroom. Students face the challenges of passing bills through Congress, running presidential campaigns, arguing cases in front of the Supreme Court and participating in multiple mock trials. For more than a decade, Erich has worked with local judges, lawyers and other court officials to facilitate a job shadowing experience for select 8th grade students at the local courthouse. Erich is also a practitioner of "content cross-pollination" in the area of staff development. While serving as a Peer Facilitator at the Colonial Williamsburg Teacher Institute or presenting at an EconomicsWisconsin conference, Erich finds a way to promote iCivics and other great resources to his colleagues. A representative democracy, market economy and learning all depend on the free exchange of ideas for mutual enrichment!
2019 recipient
Civil Rights/Liberties Award— David Olson (Madison)
David Olson teaches at James Madison Memorial High School in Madison, WI. Beyond teaching AP U.S. Government and Politics and Criminal Justice, David helps spread his passion for civic education by serving on the iCivics Educator Network, the Teacher Advisory Board for the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, and the Wisconsin Council for the Social Studies (WCSS) Board. In 2017, David was chosen as the WCSS High School Teacher of the Year and as a PBS Digital Innovator and Innovator All-Star in 2017 and 2018.
David graduated with degrees in Government and International Affairs and Secondary Education from Augustana College in Sioux Falls, SD and later received his Masters Degree in Political Science from the University of WisconsinMadison. He has presented at the Midwest Political Science Association Conference, the WCSS Conference, the NCSS Conference, and the Wisconsin Public Television Education Innovation Summit. He also regularly serves as an AP Reader. David is honored to help spread his passion for Civil Liberties and the Constitution (his students can tell you he always carries a pocket Constitution in his bag).
Within his classroom, David focuses on helping students understand their Constitutional Rights. He created a Criminal Justice class, and started the AP U.S. Government and Politics course at Madison Memorial. His students grapple with their rights through Supreme Court simulations, mock elections, and interaction with professionals in the criminal justice community. David was also part of community group that evaluated the School Resource Officer program in the Madison schools and made recommendations for how to build positive relationships between students and law enforcement.
2018 Recipient-Justin Glodowski
Justin Glodowski has been challenging students to think about civil liberties and civil rights since he started teaching just seven years ago. Currently, Justin is a social studies teacher at Marshfield High School and teaches government and politics all day with classes of Ap Government and Politics, AP Comparative Politics, and Crime, Justice and Law (a class he essentially built into its current form) His passion for teaching about these tough topics goes back to why he went into this profession. “I want to help future generation to learn how to communicate and solve the complex problems of their generation in a democratic way.”
With the philosophy in mind, Justin spends a good chunk of his time building Socratic seminars and debates on thought provoking topics and modeling how to have mature conversation with others about political and social issues.
“One of my favorite units throughout the year is when we discuss solitary confinement and capital punishment in Crime, Justice and Law. Students are handed the tough topic of deciding what really equates cruel and unusual punishment. Through videos and podcasts, my students are able to see inside solitary confinement. Through stories and news analysis, my students are brought to the forefront of what we do about these issues. We finish it off with a scored discussion where they are discussing it with each other as adults that are going to be shaping policy someday. For many students, this is their last experience in a social studies class in high school and we leave them with on a powerful not.”
Aside from his work in Crim, Justice, and Law, students in Justin’s AP US Government class gets the experience of taking on real, current court cases and discussion the rights and liberties should be protected and what can be interpreted from the meaning of the Constitution and framers. Students engage and debate the topics to determine what way they should decide. It really helps students to understand the liberties and rights issues surrounding the case and also understand the complexities of the job Supreme Court justices.
Young Samaritans is a student-led community action organization that currently has 54 members, representing approximately 18% of the total student body. They have done some amazing work in their communities, including assisting with the Merry and Bright holiday lights setup and serving hot chocolate, participating in the Belleville Giving Tree program for those that are less fortunate, crafting & caroling at the Senior Center, creating a peer-tutoring program for students at the high school and middle school, working with food service to improve efficiency of the lunch line, hand making tie-blankets to donate to the Humane Societies of Dane and Green County for pet adoptions, cleaning the campus in the spring after the winter thaw, and planting trees to "green up" the school campus. In addition, 10 students have volunteered to serve as election inspectors in the upcoming spring and fall elections. The Young Samaritans have clearly demonstrated the core principles of social studies by promoting the common good, honoring diversity, and improving the quality of life for others.
2023 Recipients-Civil Rights/Liberties Award-- George Dalbo
George Dalbo is a high school social studies teacher in Clinton, Wisconsin, a rural community in the south-central part of the state. In his 17th year of teaching, George has taught social studies at every grade from 5th through 12th in public, charter, and private schools in urban, suburban, and rural communities in Wisconsin and Minnesota, as well as two years in Vienna, Austria. George has also taught social studies methods courses and supervised student teaching for pre-service teachers. George completed his Ph,D. in Social Studies Education at the University of Minnesota, where his research focused on genocide education in K-12 classrooms and curricula. George is working with Wisconsin’s Department of Public Instruction, the Holocaust Education Resource Center in Milwaukee, and the Wisconsin Council for the Social Studies to promote Holocaust and genocide education across the state.
2022 Recipients-Civil Rights/Liberties Award--Erin McCarthy
Erin McCarthy is a National Board Certified 8th grade social studies teacher at Greendale Middle School. She is the 2020 Wisconsin Teacher of the Year. During her 10th year teaching in 2022 she took a leave of absence to complete research in Greece as a Fulbright Distinguished Awards in Teaching Research Grantee investigating how education ecosystems welcome and create a sense of belonging groups who are often excluded.
2021 Lack of Recipient due to Beyond-ference and Outside Circumstances
2020 Recipients-Civil Rights/Liberties Award--Erich Utrie
Erich Utrie is in his 26th year teaching 8th grade social studies at Jefferson Middle School in Jefferson, Wisconsin. Like most teachers, Erich wears many different "hats" in his building and also works part-time for the JEDI Virtual School facilitating American History and AP U.S. History courses. Erich's love for civics, history and economics is evidenced by his involvement with the iCivics Educator Network, EconomicsWisconsin Educator Advisory Council and the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. Simulations, role-playing and active decision-making are at the center of civics instruction in Erich's classroom. Students face the challenges of passing bills through Congress, running presidential campaigns, arguing cases in front of the Supreme Court and participating in multiple mock trials. For more than a decade, Erich has worked with local judges, lawyers and other court officials to facilitate a job shadowing experience for select 8th grade students at the local courthouse. Erich is also a practitioner of "content cross-pollination" in the area of staff development. While serving as a Peer Facilitator at the Colonial Williamsburg Teacher Institute or presenting at an EconomicsWisconsin conference, Erich finds a way to promote iCivics and other great resources to his colleagues. A representative democracy, market economy and learning all depend on the free exchange of ideas for mutual enrichment!
2019 recipient
Civil Rights/Liberties Award— David Olson (Madison)
David Olson teaches at James Madison Memorial High School in Madison, WI. Beyond teaching AP U.S. Government and Politics and Criminal Justice, David helps spread his passion for civic education by serving on the iCivics Educator Network, the Teacher Advisory Board for the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, and the Wisconsin Council for the Social Studies (WCSS) Board. In 2017, David was chosen as the WCSS High School Teacher of the Year and as a PBS Digital Innovator and Innovator All-Star in 2017 and 2018.
David graduated with degrees in Government and International Affairs and Secondary Education from Augustana College in Sioux Falls, SD and later received his Masters Degree in Political Science from the University of WisconsinMadison. He has presented at the Midwest Political Science Association Conference, the WCSS Conference, the NCSS Conference, and the Wisconsin Public Television Education Innovation Summit. He also regularly serves as an AP Reader. David is honored to help spread his passion for Civil Liberties and the Constitution (his students can tell you he always carries a pocket Constitution in his bag).
Within his classroom, David focuses on helping students understand their Constitutional Rights. He created a Criminal Justice class, and started the AP U.S. Government and Politics course at Madison Memorial. His students grapple with their rights through Supreme Court simulations, mock elections, and interaction with professionals in the criminal justice community. David was also part of community group that evaluated the School Resource Officer program in the Madison schools and made recommendations for how to build positive relationships between students and law enforcement.
2018 Recipient-Justin Glodowski
Justin Glodowski has been challenging students to think about civil liberties and civil rights since he started teaching just seven years ago. Currently, Justin is a social studies teacher at Marshfield High School and teaches government and politics all day with classes of Ap Government and Politics, AP Comparative Politics, and Crime, Justice and Law (a class he essentially built into its current form) His passion for teaching about these tough topics goes back to why he went into this profession. “I want to help future generation to learn how to communicate and solve the complex problems of their generation in a democratic way.”
With the philosophy in mind, Justin spends a good chunk of his time building Socratic seminars and debates on thought provoking topics and modeling how to have mature conversation with others about political and social issues.
“One of my favorite units throughout the year is when we discuss solitary confinement and capital punishment in Crime, Justice and Law. Students are handed the tough topic of deciding what really equates cruel and unusual punishment. Through videos and podcasts, my students are able to see inside solitary confinement. Through stories and news analysis, my students are brought to the forefront of what we do about these issues. We finish it off with a scored discussion where they are discussing it with each other as adults that are going to be shaping policy someday. For many students, this is their last experience in a social studies class in high school and we leave them with on a powerful not.”
Aside from his work in Crim, Justice, and Law, students in Justin’s AP US Government class gets the experience of taking on real, current court cases and discussion the rights and liberties should be protected and what can be interpreted from the meaning of the Constitution and framers. Students engage and debate the topics to determine what way they should decide. It really helps students to understand the liberties and rights issues surrounding the case and also understand the complexities of the job Supreme Court justices.