Perth Amboy Native Makes History with Election

20 Year Old Gets Sworn In To Board Of Education

Perth Amboy, NJ, January 3rd- At just 20 years old, Perth Amboy native Stephanie Márquez-Villafañe has just become the youngest female elected official in the State of New Jersey and is presumed to be the youngest disabled elected official in the United States.

Stephanie won a seat on her local Board of Education this past November where she ran with the two incumbents- Anton J. Massopust and Kenneth J. Puccio- and acted as the campaign’s manager. All three candidates won the election.

Born and raised in Perth Amboy, Stephanie credits her life success to her parents and those who pushed her to never give up by always following her dreams. She also credits the strong foundation both her parents and her elementary school (Dr. Herbert N. Richardson School of the Perth Amboy district) built for her at an early age. “I remember my teachers and my mom having a very open and honest communication line. When something was happening, both worked closely to make sure I stayed on track with my school work and always encouraged me to expand on my curiosities and never stop learning,” states Márquez-Villafañe.

Before suffering a life-altering injury, Stephanie was an active athlete. She played soccer and picked up dancing shortly before her injury. Just before starting her freshman year of high school, Stephanie suffered a knee dislocation which would move on to progress to continuous spontaneous dislocations in both knees. Due to her injury and lack of school accessibility, Stephanie was forced to continue her education through home instruction. After finding herself having to teach herself the honors course material, she decided to do some research on laws that protected the education of handicapped students.

Márquez-Villafañe recalls the experience as “no easy task”. She adds that “having to deal with my health and then teaching myself AP and honors course work without knowing who my teachers were, who my classmates were or when I’d finally be able to see the inside of my high school building was challenging, and at times, discouraging. Being able to see my school through my window, I fell into the habit of following the school schedule based off of when I saw students crossing the street. I know that crossing the street for them meant it was time for a new class which meant I would stop working on the previous class’ assignments to move on to the next class. I would eat lunch at the same time my classmates ate lunch and took a break any time there was a fire drill. It was unhealthy and frustrating.”

Taking what she learned early on about resiliency and the importance of self-advocacy, Stephanie met with the superintendent of schools. As a result of the meeting, Márquez-Villafañe forced herself to do what her doctors advised her not to: climb several flights of stairs just to get a chance to go to school. Her injuries got worse and she was forced to return to home instruction. That’s when Stephanie realized she had one more avenue: her local Board of Education meetings.

Stephanie began advocating for her educational and accessibility needs at the Board meetings. The experience helped expand her knowledge on what was happening within the school district and learned that her fight was the fight of too many students in the district. That same year ended with the superintendent moving towards removing all honors courses in the district with the intention of having mixed level classrooms. Stephanie gathered some of her classmates and together they fought for the courses to remain district wide. Not only were they successful in keeping the courses, the movement also pushed for initiation of updating the curriculum.

Through these experiences and others, Stephanie founded a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization called United Messengers of Peace in 2013 with the help of her parents. She has since offered free tutoring to students in grades K-12 and launched a lung cancer awareness initiative.

Stephanie has continued to be a strong advocate of bettering the Perth Amboy education system and overall city. She has religiously continued to attend the Board of Education and City Council meetings.

Her new role as a Board Member seemed like the natural next step. Of the new role Márquez-Villafañe comments, “I am ready to step in as the newest Board of Education member and play an active role in moving the district in a positive direction”. Of her history making election, Márquez-Villafañe claims she knew nothing until after the election and states that this will only act as motivation to continue doing the great work she has done. Márquez-Villafañe hopes other people across all ages will look at her story as an inspiration to get involved and self-advocate.

“If we don’t help us, no one will. We are the voice that drives our government and respective changes. If we don’t speak up for ourselves and others we will simply live life not reaching our greatest potentials,” speaks Márquez-Villafañe.

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