Eric Alvarez
Glenn L. Downs Elementary
Program: We the People, & Kids Voting Arizona
Maricopa County

Eric Alvarez may also teach Algebra, but his passion lies with civic education.  Each year, Mr. Alvarez takes his student to the Federal Courthouse to participate in the annual CourtWorks program, a mock trial program hosted by the court and ASU’s Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law.  Eric also has his students showcase in the We the People hearings.  His students say that these experiences “change their lives by building confidence, tenacity and self-esteem.” Mr. Alvarez also participates with several students in the Kids Voting Student Advisory committee. He continues to keep in touch with students after they have left his class and school and is looked at as a mentor by alumni.

Joshua Guidote
Cibola High School
Program: Mock Trial
Yuma County

Normally, a teacher is not selected for the Ross memorial two years in a row, but the overwhelming amount of nomination letters and emails, especially from his students, made it hard not to honor him one more year!  Mr. Guidote has been bringing a mock trial team to the High School Mock Trial Championships for 3 years.  As one student wrote “the only reason that there is a mock trial class and program available in (Yuma’s) district is because Mr. Guidote has fought year after year to prove himself in front of the school board that he is capable of leading a group of extraordinary students to state and will continue to do so until his retirement.”

 Roger Lyman
Carson Junior High
Program: Kids Voting Arizona
Maricopa County

Roger Lyman has a passion for civic engagement which he demonstrates not only in his classroom but also to the greater student populations.  Each year, Roger invitees veterans from the Joe Foss Institute who explain the purpose and structure of the US Constitution. He has his students write letters to government leaders so that students can better understand the representative democracy.  Mr. Lyman teaches public policy by picking topics of interest to the students.  Roger also serves as a Kids Voting Leadership Council advisor for both his school and the neighboring high school and brings 4-5 students to the monthly meetings.  These are just some highlights of the a few of the civic projects Roger brings to his school and community to help these students become better citizens.

Jeremy Samoy
Tanque Verde High School
Program: Mock Trial
Pima County

 To try and boost the amount of teams participating in mock trial, Jeremy Samoy encourages schools to start teams.  He began to mentor these teams to help with technique, procedures

 or any question teachers might have – all on this own time. As part of getting more schools into Mock Trial, in addition to his mentorship, Jeremy started a practice competition a few years ago.  This competition is held in early November of each year and is open to students who are in their second year or less of competing.  This competition is run by Jeremy and his students, and each year, they put on a well-organized and fun event.  This practice round is incredibly helpful to new students to see what the process truly looks like, and with an added competition for the year, gives students something to look forward to each semester.  

Tara Bartlett
Carson Jr. High School
Program: We the People, Kids Voting & Project Citizen
Maricopa County

Ms. Bartlett has implemented the Project Citizen Program, taking a team to the Foundation’s State Showcase for the first time in May 2018. Her class also presented their Project Citizen plan to the Mesa City Council. Not all teachers who implement Project Citizen follow through with a presentation to a governing body. She has participated in the Kids Voting (KV) Program in numerous methods. She hosted a KV election on her school campus during the Foundation’s 27 Days of Kids Voting and worked with the administration to ensure the entire student body had the opportunity to vote. She recruited student poll workers and arranged to utilize the school library. Additionally, she serves as a teacher mentor for the Kids Voting Leadership Council (KVLC). She nominated 2 eighth grade students for the council and brings them to every monthly meeting so that they can be leaders in youth voting. Upon hearing that her current 2 KVLC students may not have a teacher mentor when they transition to high school next year, she offered to collaborate with the high school administration to transport the 2 students during the 2019/2020 school year so that they would not have to surrender their seat on the council. Her commitment to civic education and her students is admirable. 

 Additionally, Ms. Bartlett has been a We the People Event Coordinator for the We the People Region Competitions/Showcase for several years.   Her region is larger than the state competition and she manages both high school competitive and middle school showcase teams.  The events are always beautifully administered. For 2019-20 she has volunteered to run a separate high school competition and middle school showcase.  Her contribution as event coordinator ensures that students from throughout the east valley are able to participate in the We the People program by completing the simulated congressional hearings. 

Joshua Guidote
Cibola High School
Program: Mock Trial
Yuma County

Mr. Guidote has shown his dedication and passion for teaching students about the legal world and helps those with their heads in the clouds find a career they want to pursue, whether it be in the legal field or not. He cares so much about his job as a teacher and how he impacts his student's, lives and that really shows from his lessons and how everyone in mock trial is so close and supportive with each other. From his nomination: "Mock Trial for us, is not just a class and a club, it's a family and we can thank Mr. Guidote for making and bringing us all together as a family."

Bill Stewart
Santa Maria Middle School
Program: We the People
Maricopa County

Bill Stewart has been an 8th Grade Social Studies Teacher at Santa Maria Middle School for over 16 years.   Mr. Stewart came to Education as a second career, following a 20 year career with the United States Marine Corps.  Mr. Stewart then served as a Maricopa County Sheriff’s Deputy for a brief period before becoming a full-time educator.  During his time at Santa Maria, Mr. Stewart has worked closely with several SRO's to provide Law-Related Education to middle school students.

Mr. Stewart has been key to bringing the “We the People” program to 8th graders at Santa Maria Middle School.  Mr. Stewart participated in the first James Madison Legacy Project cohort, which allowed him to provide “We the People” textbooks for the use of all of his students.  Mr. Stewart also participated in a follow-up training this past summer in

Tombstone, Arizona to further enhance his knowledge of the program.  Mr. Stewart assisted in bringing the Kids Voting program to Santa Maria Middle School this past November, and worked diligently to help schedule a series of presentations from members of the Hispanic National Bar Association this December.  Members of the HNBA conducted a case study analysis with our 8th graders on the Fourth Amendment, and made presentations to 7th and 6th grade students on careers in the legal profession.

Richard Zamorano
Sunnyside School District 
Program: Mock Trial & We the People
Pima County

Mr. Zamorao has shown a deep passion for the curriculum provided by the We the People: the citizen and the Constitution. He has for the last four years, participated in the Congressional Region 3 Mock congressional hearings. He brings a joy, smile and consistency in bringing this amazing experience to his students.