Voice for Honest Education Fellowship
Voices for Honest Education engages NNSTOY members (State Teachers of the Year and Finalists) passionate about teaching truth in classrooms across America. These award winning educators work to preserve access, inclusion, and meaningful content so that every student has an opportunity to succeed and thrive. Students should never have to question whether their classroom lessons are accurate, honest and inclusive of all voices. Voices for Honest Education fellows speak and write for media outlets and policy venues, conduct educator trainings, engage state legislators, and speak at events across the country about the critical importance of honest affirming education.
NNSTOY, in partnership with the Education Civil Rights Alliance (ECRA) are thrilled to announce the inaugural Voices for Honest Education Fellows!
Monica Washington is the Senior Manager of Inclusive and Responsive Educational Practices and an instructional coach for BetterLesson supporting teachers and education leaders across the country as they make positive shifts in instruction and leadership. A decorated educator of twenty-four years, Monica has received honors and awards from a wide variety of organizations for her leadership, advocacy, and classroom instruction. She is a 2015 Milken Unsung Hero Fellow and a 2015 NEA Foundation Global Fellow. In addition to instructional coaching, Monica supports educators through workshops, speaking engagements, and blogging for Education Week and Education Post. Her, “4 Things Great Principals Don’t Do,” was the most read and shared Education Week opinion post of 2017. She is passionate about creating equitable and inclusive school environments that celebrate teacher and student voice, and she serves as a Leading Educator Ambassador for Equity for the Education Civil Rights Alliance. Monica was named one of the top 21 rising women of 2021 by Brightbeam. Additionally, she serves on the Board of Directors for the National Education Association Foundation and The National Network of State Teachers of the Year. Monica is the 2014 Texas Teacher of the Year.
Tracey Nance is an education and equity advocate, and the 2020 and 2021 Georgia Teacher of the Year. Graduating from The University of Chicago’s Urban Teacher Education Program in 2009, Tracey taught third grade at a Chicago Turnaround School for three years before returning to her native Atlanta where she taught in Atlanta Public Schools as a Fourth Grade Teacher, Interventionist, and Instructional Coach. During her two-year term as Georgia Teacher of the Year, Tracey served on the Georgia School Board as an ex-officio member and traveled the state increasing awareness of both educational equity and the magnitude of teachers’ impact. Tracey continues to advocate for kids and educators through her work with non-profit organizations such as Page Turners Make Great Learners, and is currently serving as a Voices for Honest Education Fellow with the National Network of State Teachers of the Year (NNSTOY). Tracey is thrilled to spend the next year connecting with educators, communities, and policymakers across the country to help ensure that inclusion and teaching truth are central to student learning.
Writer, poet, doctoral student, and educator Gerardo A. Muñoz is the 2021 Colorado Teacher of the Year. For over twenty years, he promoted equity, student voice, and professional solidarity on the local, state, and national levels. As a middle and high school Social Studies teacher at the Denver Center for International Studies at Baker, Gerardo has been instrumental in the school’s development over most of the last twenty years. He established the school’s first Debate Team, Drama Club, Latinx Student Alliance, Black Student Alliance and middle school girls' and boys’ soccer program in his early years at DCIS. Since 2018, he has sponsored and coached his school’s chapter of the Student Board of Education and the 5280 Challenge program, through the Denver Public Schools Student Voice and Leadership program, which works to address challenges and opportunities in the school and local community through community organizing and social justice-focused policy development.
Chris Dier is a history teacher at Benjamin Franklin High School in New Orleans. He is the 2020 Louisiana Teacher of the Year and was a 2020 finalist for the National Teacher of the Year. His pedagogical scholarship and his student advocacy have been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Politico, and he has appeared on NPR, CBS, The Canadian Broadcast Corporation, and CNN. Chris is also the author of The 1868 St. Bernard Parish Massacre, published by The History Press. Dier has two master’s degrees from the University of New Orleans, and he is presently pursuing a Ph.D. in curriculum development.
Takeru “TK” Nagayoshi is the 2020 Massachusetts Teacher of the Year. A nationally recognized educator and facilitator, his work and voice has been featured in places such as This American Life, The Nation, the Smithsonian and the Federal Reserve Bank. He offers commentary and analysis on K-12 education issues, having written numerous op-eds and featuring in hundreds of panels, podcasts, and other media and speaking engagements. TK also leads training and workshops around the country on topics ranging from teacher leadership, to education policy, and to curriculum and pedagogy at the high school level.
TK has received recognitions such as the Horace Mann Award for Teaching Excellence (2021), Sue Lehmann Excellence in Teacher Leadership Award (2019), Boston University Young Alumni Award (2019), and Sontag Prize in Urban Education (2018). He graduated magna cum laude from Brown University with an honors B.A. in international relations and from Boston University an M.Ed in Curriculum and Teaching.
As a son of Japanese immigrants and a gay person of color, TK helps fight to create an inclusive learning environment that makes every child feel valued and able to reach their full potential.