Albuquerque Public Schools
APS Teacher Selected for We the Teachers National Fellowship
Julie Ornelas is among 100 delegates selected nationwide.
Julie Ornelas, a secondary social studies support specialist at Albuquerque Public Schools, has been selected as a delegate to the We the Teachers: Preparing the Next Generation Through History & Civics national fellowship program at William & Mary.
Led by W&M’s Strategic Cultural Partnerships division and undertaken in partnership with the National Council for History Education (NCHE), the program is funded by a $2.89 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education — the largest such award to a Virginia institution of higher learning under the American History and Civics Education National Activities program.
“I am honored to be selected for this fellowship,” said Ornelas, a member of APS’s Teaching & Learning department. “I look forward to learning about the beginning of civics in our country in places where it all began and sharing the experience with educators from across the country. I will be looking for ways to bring back what I learned to the teachers and students in New Mexico.”
Timed to the nation’s 250th anniversary, We the Teachers reinforces the university’s national reputation for developing civic leadership and will equip teachers with evidence-based pedagogy to create stronger learning outcomes for students across the country.
“Welcoming 100 teachers from across the nation to the Historic Triangle is a remarkable opportunity,” said Mark Hofer, executive director of Strategic Cultural Partnerships and professor in the W&M School of Education. “These teacher-leaders will explore America’s founding where it happened — walking the same ground as the founders, grappling with the same questions – and prepare them to lead this work back in their home states.”
Ornelas is among 100 teacher delegates selected from all fifty states to attend the Congress of Educators, a four-day residential institute taking place in July 2026 across the Historic Triangle of Williamsburg, Jamestown and Yorktown.
“This intensive professional development experience will change teachers,” Hofer said, “and through them, how their students understand who we are as a nation — and who we will become.”
“The National Council for History Education’s mission is to champion history education and uplift history education professionals,” said Jessica Ellison, executive director of NCHE. “This We the Teachers program does exactly that! We can’t wait to convene these educators from across the country to learn with and from one another.”
Hosted at W&M and partner cultural institutions, the Congress will immerse delegates in primary source analysis, historical inquiry, civil dialogue, and evidence-based argumentation — connecting America’s founding principles to classroom-ready practice.
Fellows will return to their schools equipped with professional video recordings, facilitator guides, and classroom resources to launch local professional learning communities. The initiative aims to establish at least 100 such communities nationwide, each engaging 15 or more educators.