Karalee Nakatsuka

Karalee Wong Nakatsuka, M.A. Ed., has taught U.S. History to middle school students since 1990. She is passionate about using technology to engage students, focusing on building community in her classroom, and helping students to see themselves in the story of America as they develop into empathetic and informed critical thinkers and citizens who make a difference in the world.

In 2023, Nakatsuka was recognized in a Teacher Tribute by the Ford’s Theatre Society at their Annual Gala and was also named the California Council for the Social Studies Middle School Social Studies Teacher of the Year. In 2019 she was recognized as the Gilder Lehrman History Teacher of the Year for California.

She serves on the Educating for American Democracy Teacher Leadership Taskforce, the iCivics Educator Network, the American250 Civics & America’s Future Advisory Council, and the Gilder Lehrman Teacher Advisory Council. Nakatsuka was honored to be featured in The New York Times‘ August 2022 multimedia and newspaper piece “What’s Actually Being Taught About U.S. History” and in Time Magazine’s September 2021 issue “From Teachers to Custodians, Meet the Educators Who Saved a Pandemic School Year.” She is the coauthor of “Bring History and Civics to Life, Lessons & Strategies to Cultivate Informed, Empathetic Citizens” published by International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE).