Hinsdale Alum at Stanford Creates Pre-Professional Society

Stanford University junior Julia Quintero, pursuing majors in
history and human biology, formed a campus club for
undergraduates who aspire to careers in K-12 education, particularly
teaching. Photo by Chris Kenrick.

Hinsdale Alum Julia Quintero (HC '11) is already making headlines.  She is the founder of the Stanford Pre-Education Society (SPREES).  The debut event of SPREES, held Tuesday, focused on how to attract students (especially the best and the brightest students) to a career in education.  

According to an article published last week in The Stanford Daily, Quintero anticipated the event would generate a new discussion surrounding education reform.

“I want this event to create [a] really important conversation that is not being had about education reform,” Quintero said.

The Palo Alto Weekly published an article about the conference and Quintero's leadership.  It reported: 

Stanford junior Julia Quintero, an aspiring teacher who formed an undergraduate pre-teaching club on campus last year. 

Quintero, who is pursuing majors in both history and human biology, said, "I was in the human bio core, which is mostly pre-meds, and everything was pre-med this and pre-med that and I thought, 'Why not pre-ed?' 

She said her organization is "trying to spark a national movement towards drawing the most talented college graduates into careers in education, particularly teaching."

Hinsdale Central teacher Jared Friebel, who served as Quintero's teacher for two years, was invited by Quintero to Stanford to participate in the event.  Quintero references Friebel in the Palo Alto Weekly article:

Quintero said she initially dismissed the idea of teaching when Jared Friebel, her English teacher at Hinsdale (Ill.) Central High School, suggested she consider it as a career. 

"He helped me realize that the reasons I was brushing it aside weren't good reasons, like: 'Why should I go to Stanford just to become a teacher?' 'Why would I waste this degree to become a teacher?' 

"It just comes from pressure from society. You go to an elite school and teaching just doesn't have any prestige," she said. 

"If I say I study public policy in education, that sounds really prestigious, like, 'Wow, you're making a huge difference.' And it's true. Policymakers do make a big difference, but I've come to alter my views on that. 

"It's teachers that really make the biggest difference. Studies show that, and any student could tell you that. What matters most in a successful class, hands down, is the teacher. It's not technology, and funding's important, but at the end of the day it's really the teacher that matters most."