The polarized nature of our current society can make educators hesitant about bringing potentially controversial issues into the classroom. We at Facing History fundamentally believe that this is a time not to avoid those topics and conversations, but to lean into them, in order to model in our classrooms what a healthy democracy looks, sounds, and feels like. Teachers equipped with clear goals, academic resources, and discussion strategies that foster civil discourse can turn their classrooms into model democracies. In this session we will model how to build a reflective and honest classroom that is rooted in identity and belonging, we will examine critical histories and their enduring legacies, and we will practice strategies to design and hold these spaces for students and community members.