​​Estefania Montiel is a senior at San José State in the Liberal Studies Teacher Preparation program. 

She has led multiple local school tours in low-income areas with Hermanx de SJSU and managed a six-person committee that coordinated study halls, community service events and social gatherings. With Peer Connections, Estefania served as a peer mentor and is a supplemental instructor who locates resources and creates lesson plans to provide group tutoring services for general chemistry students. 

Estefania hopes to revolutionize STEM education by connecting to students personally as well as academically to mitigate the negative effect a lack of social-emotional learning can have on a student’s education.