Youth Voices and Perspectives on the American Revolution

Representation isn’t just a principle. It determines who gets heard, who gets help, and who gets left behind. As America celebrates its 250th anniversary, we are reminded that the Declaration of Independence placed representative government at the center of the new American nation. WHYY, McNeil Center for Early American Studies at Penn and the National Constitution Center have come together to explore early American life in the context of ongoing debates about representation and its significance in civic life. An expert panel has been assembled to discuss representation not only as a system of elections and institutions, but as a lived experience shaped by ethnicity, gender, class and access to power. Drawing on history and present-day experience, this conversation will center youth perspectives on the American dream and its ideals. Held at the National Constitution Center, this gathering situates questions of representation in a space dedicated to the ideals and contradictions of American democracy. This event is made possible thanks to the generous support of the Philadelphia Funder Collaborative for the Semiquincentennial.

DATE & TIME

Wednesday, May 27, 2026

5:30 PM - 8:30 PM

LOCATION

The National Constitution Center

525 Arch Street

Philadelphia, PA 19106

SARAH GLOVER, MODERATOR

Sarah Glover is the Vice President of News & Civic Dialogue at WHYY in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She has worked in local news for three decades and is the former managing editor at MPR News, Minnesota Public Radio. She also previously worked as a social media manager at NBC Owned Television Stations and NBC10 Philadelphia. She started her career as a staff photojournalist at The Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News. Over the course of her career as a photojournalist, editor and executive producer, she has championed telling community-focused, untold stories representing the tapestry of people where she has lived and worked. Glover received an MBA from Temple University Fox School of Business, a master’s degree from PennWest University and a dual-bachelor’s degree from Syracuse University's S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. She was a 2021 Visiting Fellow at the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University.

LEON SMITH, PANELIST

Leon Smith, the 2026 National Teacher of the Year, serves Pennsylvania’s Haverford High School as an Advanced Placement (AP) United States history and AP African American studies teacher, emphasizing critical thinking, civic engagement and creating spaces for students to find their voices and flourish.

Smith has more than two decades of experience as an educator, leader and mentor. He believes students are most successful when their classrooms foster connection. Whether it’s through a morning circle, individualized feedback or engaging lessons, students feel confident to meet high expectations because Smith sees in them what they can’t always see in themselves. Smith teaches students how to think critically. He creates opportunities for his students to contend with complex ideas and big questions with dignity and curiosity. Smith listens to his students. It was listening to them that became a catalyst for bringing the first-ever AP African American studies course to Haverford.

Smith is deliberate in connecting students with community. As part of AP Advocacy Day, Smith takes students to the Pennsylvania State Capitol to interact with AP scholars from all over the state and meet with their local legislators to share the impact of AP courses on their lives. Students engage with policymakers, asking questions and learning the basics of storytelling to build empathy and understanding.

His leadership extends to championing the recruitment and retention of teachers. Not only does he speak passionately about the profession, he created an Educators Rising chapter in his high school so students can begin to see themselves as teachers too. Above all, he carries the belief that “it is a great power to be in education; it’s something we should have a reverence for.” Smith earned a Bachelor of Arts in secondary social studies education from the University of Maryland at College Park, a Master of Education in instructional systems from Pennsylvania State University and a PK–12 principal certification from Cabrini University. He has coached freshman basketball for more than 20 years.

SOPHIE GALA, PANELIST

Sophie Gala is a junior studying history at the University of Pennsylvania and an accelerated master’s student at Penn Graduate School of Education’s Urban Teaching Residency program. She is a graduate of Philadelphia public schools and an aspiring Philly public school teacher. As a former Student Success Coach through the Americorps programs City Year, Sophie worked full-time for a year as a classroom assistant and small-group facilitator at Tanner G. Duckrey School in North Philadelphia. She also works as a Community Engagement Intern through Penn Libraries to help facilitate elementary school library programming and make in-school library spaces more organized and accessible for students. Sophie has experience working with elementary, middle, and high school students in a variety of academic settings, and believes in the importance of collaborative, strengths-based learning environments. She is also a research assistant to Professor Jared Farmer in Penn’s History Department, where her research focuses on Dr. Farmer’s ongoing project, a people’s history of transitions in energy use in Philadelphia. She is a former intern at the National Constitution Center, the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Black Lives Matter at School, and National History Day Pennsylvania.

MAYA B. IZZARD, PANELIST

Maya B. Izzard is n 11th-grade student at CAPA High School in Philadelphia, where she is majoring in the MDTV (Media, Design, TV, Video) program. Maya has always been an advoicate for those who can't speak up for themself, especially around issues of identitiy, class, and belonging. Maya began her advocacy journey in middle school, where she served as student president and began her path of community volunteer work.

CAPA High School is where Maya discovered her love for media. She has collaborated on and pitched concepts for competitions such as the 2025 Tiger Woods Foundation Graphic Design Challenge and the Klein College 2026 Mock Pitch or the 76ers. She is also a part of the team that won Klein College Pretzel Factory Mock Pitch Challenege. Maya's interest in media extends beyond graphic design. She is the co-winner of the 1st place Documentary Film: The Impact of Music.

As of 2025, she is committed PA Youth Vote Ambassador, which is a nonpartison collaboration of youth, educators, and organizers to amplify youth voices, improve public school civic education, and empower youth as civic actors. Maya plans on continuing to express her passion for media and activism by combining them into civic arts.

MALAYA ULAN, YOUTH ARTIST

Malaya Ulan served as the 2024-2025 Youth Poet Laureate of Philadelphia. Ulan is a community-based multidisciplinary poet whose identity as a Filipino American shapes her craft. She has recently delivered a TEDx Talk at TEDxPenn’s 2025 Conference: Volta on poetry as activism and healing. Ulan has spoken at the United Nations Headquarters during the Fourth Review Conference of the Programme of Action on Small Arms and Light Weapons. She is the co-founder of the performance collective AniMalayaWorks—a 2025 NEFA National Theatre Project and 2022 MAPFund awardee. Ulan’s poetic documentary “Something About These Waters” was also featured in the Color Congress: Resistance and Joy National Film Festival and the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival. Ulan hopes to continue her work bridging communities through storytelling and poetry as the 2025 Northeast Regional Youth Poet Laureate.

Free Ticket

A ticket with no entrance fee.

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Additional Donation

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