Welcome to UnMASKing with Male Educators. As we close out the year, we’re revisiting some of our most impactful, most downloaded, and most transformative conversations of the season. This episode with Nicholas Ward is one we continue to hear about from teachers around the country, practical, personal, and packed with wisdom. It represents exactly why we started this podcast.

Nicholas Ward is a middle school history teacher and Athletic Director in East Oakland, where he has spent the last seven years making U.S. and world history meaningful, relevant, and empowering for students from underserved communities. Beyond the classroom, he is committed to mentorship, student leadership, and using sports and community-building to help young people grow.

As we look ahead to a new season of UnMASKing with Male Educators, returning in January with fresh conversations from inspiring educators around the globe, we invite you to slow down, take notes, and enjoy one of our community’s favorite episodes.

Wishing you a joyful holiday season.

In this conversation, we dive into teaching with intention, leading with love, and building systems that help every student feel seen. You’ll hear:

• How becoming a father has impacted Nicholas’s work as a teacher

• How Nicholas is intentional and consistent with his 1 on 1 check-ins with students outside of the classroom

• The mentorship program that Nicholas piloted in his school to empower students across grade levels

• How he instills the idea that “rigor is love” with his students and parents at the beginning of the year

• How Nicholas teaches history, media literacy, and primary sources in the era of “fake news”, AI, and smartphone devices

• The principles and practices that Nicholas implements to start every school year

(2:45 ) Nicholas introduces himself.

(4:30 ) Nicholas and Ashanti share their “teacher personas”

(13:00 ) Being both a father and a male educator

(18:30 ) Building relationships at the beginning of the school year

(19:00 ) The perfect notebook for educators

(24:50 ) The special mentorship program Nicholas piloted at his school

(26:20 ) Communicating to students and parents how “rigor is love”; pushing students to demonstrate what they’ve learned in multiple modalities

(31:55 ) Teaching history in the era of disinformation

(36:10 ) Tying civic engagement to history

(40:45 ) How mentorship breaks down walls - student to student, teacher to teacher, and student to teacher

(45:00 ) How to start the school year according to an expert

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Connect with Nicholas Ward:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/captovader/

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Join/Contribute to our Young Men’s Conference: https://everforwardclub.org/global-young-mens-conference-2025 

Join our Skool Community: https://www.skool.com/efc-young-mens-advocates-2345 

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Email us questions and comments at totmpod100@gmail.com 

Create your own mask anonymously at https://millionmask.org/ 

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Connect with Ashanti Branch:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/branchspeaks/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BranchSpeaks

Twitter: https://twitter.com/BranchSpeaks

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashantibranch/

Website: https://www.branchspeaks.com/

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Support the podcast and the work of the Ever Forward Club: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/branch-speaks/support 

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Connect with Ever Forward Club:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/everforwardclub

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/everforwardclub

Twitter: https://twitter.com/everforwardclub

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-ever-forward-club/

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