The Teacher Advisory Committee (TAC) advises IHC on our educational programming to help us do our very best to serve teachers across Idaho. These programs include our summer teacher institute, K-12 grants, Outstanding Humanities Educator Award and more during the 2024-2025 school year and summer.
The TAC is composed of at least three teachers from every region of the state. They are selected by an application process based on their commitment to humanities education and the guiding principles of the IHC.
Cindy Wilson
Chair
Cindy Wilson has been a humanities educator in Idaho for over 30 years, teaching in all regions of our state.She has taught history, government, and civics in Boise, West Ada, Orofino, Shelley, and Pierce. In her current role, Cindy is serving on the iCivics Teachers Council, mentoring new teachers and contracting with school districts to improve curriculum and pedagogy. She teaches courses on managing students discussion through deliberation skills, teaching student voice using evidence and data, discussing controversial topics in the classroom and modeling respectful dialogue. Cindy has been named a Milken National Educator for Idaho. She received the NEA Foundation Award for Teaching Excellence, the Idaho Human Rights Educator of the Year, the Idaho Humanities Council Outstanding Teaching of the Humanities Award and the Concordia Law School Leaders in Action Award. These are just a few of the many awards and recognition Cindy has received as an educator.
Clay Hatfield
Southwest Idaho
I am currently in my 21st year of teaching and my 3rd year at Ridgevue High School in the Vallivue School District where I teach Spanish 1, 2, and 3. I have also taught US History, US Government, Economics, Native American History, and Spanish 4 in the past. I am married and have three boys. Two are in the work force and one is completing his Accounting Degree at Boise State University. I have a BA in History and Political Science as well as my Secondary Education Certification from Lewis-Clark State College. I have two Master's Degrees (US History and International Relations) from American Public University. The Humanities have always been an important part of my life and career. I have had the opportunity to attend multiple IHC Summer Institutes and am very excited to be serving on the Teacher Advisory Committee. I look forward to continuing to help support and grow the Humanities both in and out of the classroom.
Cindy Montoto
Southwest Idaho
Cindy Montoto is a fourth-generation educator and first generation American to Cuban refugee parents. After moving to Boise from Miami, FL in 2011, to attend Boise State University, she graduated with honors receiving a Bachelor of Science in psychology with an emphasis in child development and a certificate in dispute resolution. It was during her time studying child development that she became fascinated and inspired by Dr. Maria Montessori. She discovered the power of the Montessori classroom environment and the Montessori hallmark of formative assessments that are specifically designed to measure understanding and mastery during teaching. Cindy teaches comprehensive Spanish (language, history, and culture) Music, and elementary Physical Education at Rose Hill Montessori School - awarded one of Boise’s Favorites in Education and Best Elementary School in 2023 by the Idaho Statesman and Best Montessori School in 2024.
Cindy has actively served on the city of Boise’s Historic Preservation Commission since 2015 where she has developed a deep passion for Treasure Valley and Idaho history. She hopes to enrich teachers and thus their students' understanding of their community's identities and foster conversations resulting in profound appreciation for the diverse cultural and human narratives that shape our communities, our state, country, and world.
John Poole
Eastern idaho
John Poole has taught in many capacities over his twenty-eight-year career. He taught English 9-12 at Hillcrest High School in Idaho Falls for nine years. He survived one year of teaching 6th and 8th grade language arts at Hobbs Middle School in Shelley, Idaho. He spent the next nine year as an alternative high school assistant principal, counselor, and teacher at Lincoln High School in Idaho Falls and at Expedition Academy in Green River, Wyoming. Since 2014, he has served as a professor of English education at BYU-Idaho. He lives in Idaho Falls with his wife, Julie. They have been married for thirty-five years and are the proud parents of six children. He is a published poet and writer of creative nonfiction and hopes to publish a book of poetry.
David Swenson
Eastern Idaho
David Swenson has been teaching Spanish at Highland High school since the 2004/2005 school year teaching beginning courses in Spanish as well as dual-enrollment classes in conjunction with Idaho State University. Prior to moving back to Pocatello, he studied Spanish Linguistics at the University of Texas at Austin (ABD) and received a Master's degree in Spanish Linguistics from the University of Colorado-Boulder. His research interests were in Spanish in the United States. He also holds two Bachelor's degrees from ISU in Spanish and Secondary Education (Spanish and Biology).
David lives in Chubbuck with his wife of 36 years; they are the parents of six children and have three grandchildren. Outside of education, David enjoys watching and, occasionally, participating in sports, reading, and the natural beauties of Idaho.
Lise Pinkham
Eastern Idaho
Lise Pinkham has been teaching for 35 years – 27 of those years in Idaho Falls. Lise teaches Advanced Placement United States history, World History, and Understanding the Holocaust to grades 9-12 at Idaho Falls High School. While not a native Idahoan, she has lived in Idaho longer than any other state in her lifetime and considers it home. She is passionate about the humanities and looks for any opportunity to learn more. Lise enjoys collecting plants, reading, attending local lectures, and taking classes in the summertime. She has two wonderful sons, an amazing husband, and three spunky four-legged children.
Michelle George
north idaho
Michelle George teaches concurrent credit English, Speech, and Drama classes at Orofino Junior - High School. She is a writer, gardener and wanna-be artist and musician. She lives in Orofino, Idaho with her husband, Brad George.
Dawn Wagner
North Idaho
Greetings, I'm Dawn Wagner...This is my 19th year teaching art. I currently teach at Boundary County Middle School, in Bonners Ferry, Idaho. To date I have taught every grade level, from K-12, at private and public schools. I am grateful to teach the subject I am most passionate about, which is visual arts. I began my teaching career in 2002, at Delta High School in Aptos, CA. I have also mentored youth in community mural projects, 4H projects and Summer Camps.
I grew up in Grass Valley, California and had the great privilege of being hired as a young artist on a community historical mural project at the age of 18, right out of high school. Many of the murals are still in existence from that project.
Allison Sletager
North Idaho
Allison Sletager was born and raised in Sandpoint, ID and has recently moved back to work at her alma mater, Sandpoint High School. This is Allison’s third year at SHS and her thirteenth year teaching overall. Currently she teaches Advanced Placement Literature and Composition, English 9, Pre-AP English 9, and Yearbook. Before teaching at SHS she taught English and Speech at Bishop Kelly High School in Boise, ID and various English and elective courses at Mountain View High School in Meridian, ID. Along with teaching Allison is also a member of the Instructional Leadership team at Lake Pend Oreille School District. In her spare time Allison enjoys traveling, cycling, drinking coffee, and hanging out with her pets.
Kelly May Richmond
southwest idaho
Kelly May Richmond is a US History teacher at North Junior High in Boise. She has taught in the Boise School district for 23 years after receiving her B.A. in secondary education from Idaho State University and her M.S. in history at Utah State University. She currently serves on the Boise City Arts and History Advisory Team and has been a summer fellow for the Idaho Humanities Council and Gilder-Lehrman Institute. She was recently the recipient of a research grant from the Schlesinger Library at the Radcliff Institute, Harvard. As a third generation Idahoan from a family of educators, she is passionate about the state and its history.
Lisa Belknap
North Idaho
Maria Elizabeth Belknap is a dedicated third-grade teacher in the Moscow School District with 27 years of experience in elementary education. A proud alumna of the University of Idaho, she holds both her B. A in Elementary Education and M.S. in Curriculum and Instruction from the U of I. Maria achieved National Board Certification from 2003 to 2013 and was honored with the Thomas C. Wright Fellowship in 2006. She believes that building community is the core of what she does as an educator and views the work of the Idaho Humanities Council as essential to enriching educational experiences and developing a deeper understanding of our shared humanity. In her free time, she enjoys traveling, reading, hiking and spending time with her family.