Informed & Inspired

Get to know the 10 San Diego State University College of Education students who earned the title of 2021 Outstanding Graduate, as selected by their department, school or program.

Amid early news reports about a deadly new virus in China in early 2020, Dr. Cynthia Park gathered her Pre-College Institute (PCI) team and delivered a simple message. This will soon be here, it’s going to impact us and we need to be ready.

Leading off at Petco Park for San Diego State University’s Commencement 2021 ... the College of Education!

Tasha Irianto says it’s the little moments she’s missed the most. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the San Diego State University teaching credential student went months without seeing her second graders outside of a Zoom window. 

In a role many associate with punishment and discipline, Bell Middle School principal Precious Jackson-Hubbard is making a difference in one San Diego community by offering students something else entirely: love. It’s a love that comes from a place of profound understanding.

In the aftermath of the police killing of George Floyd last spring, a group of Black faculty in the San Diego State University College of Education met virtually to share their grief, vent their frustration — and strategize what to do about it.

Alumna Phet Pease named finalist for presidential STEM award in recognition for her work to spark a passion for science among students in her home community.

In her spare time while earning a teaching credential at San Diego State University, Angelique Gianas would often livestream on the popular video game broadcasting platform Twitch. Yet when she was subsequently hired as a teacher at Helix Charter High School in La Mesa, the lifelong gamer decided it was probably time to pull the plug.

Natasha Sebestyen remembers the feeling of shock. It was March 13 — a Friday — and the first wave of the COVID-19 outbreak was about to crest in the U.S. An instructional assistant in a second and third grade combined class in Irvine, Sebestyen checked her email to find a clear message from her school district: Get ready to send your students home with all their things. There will be no school for at least three weeks.