Erin McCarthy has a passion for helping every individual feel like an integral part of America’s history. McCarthy teaches 8th grade social studies at Greendale Middle School in Greendale, Wisconsin. She developed a whole-child focused approach over her eight years of teaching, empowering students to “Turn up the volume!” on the untold stories of history. Her mission is to ensure each student sees themselves visibly and personally reflected in studying history and as an engaged citizen of the world. McCarthy’s approach to teaching history using a comprehensive, personalized approach took shape while engaging diverse audiences as a public historian and museum educator. Witnessing the look of delight on the faces of first-generation immigrants who were empowered to be “experts” for their classmates at the Children’s Museum of Immigration in Chicago catalyzed her journey to become a history teacher, where she has served since 2011. McCarthy believes all students demonstrate curiosity when they are given choice in their learning. Her students are highly self-directed, as she nurtures curiosity and empathy through inquiry and she coaches students to become activists by connecting past to present. By taking learning beyond the classroom, she helps students become social justice influencers. Erin models that citizenship is not a "spectator sport" in her role as a Board Member for the Milwaukee League of Women Voters. McCarthy is a National Board certified teacher candidate for 2019, with a bachelor of arts in history from Roosevelt University and master of arts in public history from Loyola University Chicago.