John Camardella is a secondary school educator who has pioneered a cultural studies approach to teaching about religion in his own school and district. He is a teacher at Prospect High School of two world religion courses for dual credit through Eastern Illinois University. RPL Education Program Fellow and contributor to "Religious Studies Companion Document" published by the National Council for Social Studies. He earned his B.A. in History from Illinois Wesleyan, has two graduate degrees from St. Xavier University in Chicago and earned his Master in Religion and Public Life in 2022. In 2016, John was part of the team to author the “Religious Studies Companion Document” for the C3 Framework. 

For his Master of Religion and Public Life final project, "Reimagining Religion in the Public School Classroom," John authored a collection of resources for public school administrators and educators to promote this teaching method as a critical component of advancing culturally responsive practices in the classroom. The corresponding webinar featured a brief history of John's work in the field, a detailed description of his four learning modules, and a call to action for all stakeholders. Dr. Diane Moore of Harvard Divinity School and Benjamin Marcus of Yale Law School offered introductory comments, with concluding remarks from Dr. David Schuler, Superintendent of District 214.