K-12 Education Advocate and Leader

Full Bio:

Wesley lives and breathes social studies! Throughout his career, he has taught various social studies courses to students from grades 7-12, at all ability levels, in both public and independent schools. He currently teaches AP Comparative Politics, Honors Diplomacy and International Relations, and World History at Collegiate School in Henrico County, just outside Richmond, Virginia. In addition to teaching, Wesley advises students, coordinates his school’s Model United Nations program, and serves on his school’s Civil Dialogue Task Force. Before his tenure at Collegiate School, he taught at James River High School in Midlothian, Virginia, and Trinity Episcopal School in Richmond.

Wesley is the 2023-2024 President of the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS), the largest association in the country dedicated to social studies education. Before being elected NCSS President, Wesley represented secondary classroom teachers on the NCSS Board of Directors from 2018-2021 and served as President of the Virginia Council for the Social Studies (VCSS) from 2014-2017. During his tenure at VCSS, the council twice earned NCSS Gold Star status. He also co-chaired the 2016 NCSS Local Arrangements Committee for the Washington, D.C. conference and twice co-chaired the Virginia Conference for Social Studies Educators, in 2014 and 2015. Later, Wesley served again as co-chair of the 2020 NCSS Local Arrangements Committee for the NCSS Virtual Conference. 

Continual growth is essential to Wesley, making professional development a vital and ongoing part of his summers away from school. He recently earned his Educational Leadership Endorsement for PreK-12 Administration and Supervision from Longwood University. In addition, he has attended AP and IB trainings and participated in learning opportunities held by the National Network of Schools in Partnership, the Korean War Legacy Foundation, Virginia Commonwealth University’s School of Education, and the University of Pennsylvania. He also received fellowships from Street Law’s Supreme Court Summer Institute for Teachers in 2018, the Goethe-Institut’s Transatlantic Outreach Program, and The Lowell Milken Center for Unsung Heroes in 2019.

In 2016, Wesley received the Trinity Episcopal School Faculty Discovery Award and traveled to Cape Town, South Africa, where he explored its history of neocolonialism and Apartheid. In 2020, he received a Collegiate School Faculty Summer Grant Award to integrate service learning into his government courses. In 2021, Wesley was honored to be nominated for the Gilder Lehrman Virginia History Teacher of the Year Award.

Locally, Wesley served on the Board of Directors of Patrick Henry School for Science and Arts, Virginia's first public elementary charter school. From 2018-2020, he served on the Academic Committee and as Board Secretary. During his tenure, the Board successfully renewed the school’s charter with the City of Richmond School Board, initiated a vigorous campaign to grow the diversity of the board, and secured multiple funding grants for school programs. Most recently, he served on the Virginia Museum of History and Culture's Teacher Advisory Council from 2021 to 2023.

After graduating from Hopewell High School in 2001, Wesley received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia, and maintains a Postgraduate Professional Teaching License from the Commonwealth of Virginia. His primary interests lie in equitable education reform, informed civic action, and effective professional development for educators. Wesley lives in Richmond's Stratford Hills neighborhood with his husband, Derek, and their two rescued hound dogs and two cats. He enjoys traveling, reading nonfiction, spending time with his niece and five nephews, and working in his garden.