John Cronfel has been a secondary social studies teacher at Lyons Township High School in Illinois since 2005. He has been an educator in middle school, high school, and university since 1991 in five different countries (Japan, United States, Mexico, Ecuador and Malaysia), as well as a Fellow at the Salzburg Global Seminar. His passion is guiding students to find the relevance and interest in history in relation to their own personal lives. He is especially motivated to augment the civic understanding, responsibility and participation of students, given the increasing role that technology, media and US policy have taken in the world. He holds an MEd in educational leadership from Benedictine University, an MEd in curriculum and instruction from University of Illinois, and a BA in political science from Augustana College.