WYTeacherCon25

Joe Schmidt is the founder of Joe Schmidt Social Studies LLC and the co-author of two
books: Civil Discourse: Classroom Conversations for Stronger Communities and The
Social Studies FIELD Guide. His experience spans pre-K through college, fostering
connection among social studies educators across grade levels, content areas, and
geographic locations. He has collaborated with and served advisory roles with Colonial
Williamsburg, Learning for Justice, the National Council for Geographic Education,
iCivics, Jump$tart, ThinkerAnalytix, National Geographic, and the Alliance for Decision
Education.
Joe served as a high school social studies classroom teacher for nine years in rural
Wisconsin before leaving the classroom to be the Social Studies Teacher Leader for the
Madison Metropolitan School District for three years. He was the Social Studies
Specialist for the Maine Department of Education for five years and is currently the
Senior Director of Teacher Programs for the Bill of Rights Institute, a 501(c)3 non-profit
based out of Arlington, Virginia. Joe has served on the state social studies council
executive boards in Wisconsin and Maine.
Additionally, Joe is currently the Vice President for the National Council for the Social
Studies (NCSS) and will serve a one-year term as NCSS president starting on July 1,
2026. As a leader for NCSS he is currently or has served as chair or co-chair for the
Government and Public Relations Committee, the Advocacy Task Force, the C3
Framework Task Force, the 2020 Summer Leadership Institute, the 2025 Virtual
Summer Conference on Civil Discourse, the Task Force on Inquiry, the Task Force on
Innovation, the Committees Review Task Force, the FASSE Committee, and the select
subcommittee for the Social Education Journal.
As a speaker, Joe is a frequent presenter at state, regional, and national conferences
with presentations focusing on civil discourse, disciplinary literacy, inquiry, assessment,
and the use of primary sources among others. He has presented for or consulted with
organizations and school districts in states representing more than half the country,
including giving featured talks at conferences in Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware,
Florida, Hawaii, Kansas, Maine, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee,
Texas, and Wisconsin. Joe has won awards for his service to social studies education
from the Middle States Council for the Social Studies, the Wisconsin Council for the
Social Studies, and the Maine Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy.
Joe lives in Maine with his wife Peggy and is a dad to two adult children and one
teenager. He can be found on almost all social media @madisonteacher. Learn more
about his work at joeschmidtsocialstudies.com and socialstudiesfieldguide.com.