Jacqueline Lafitte

Jacqueline Lafitte, Fifth Grade Teacher at Cherryland Elementary School, has been recognized by Marquis Who’s Who Top Educators for her achievements and exceptional leadership. Through STEAM (Science Technolgy Engineering Art Math) project-based learning, she is dedicated to inspiring students to solve real-world, tangible problems, while developing social-emotional health. Ms. Lafitte attributes her success to God‘s divine design. She is a spiritual being with faith and trust in God’s promises and received a vision to bring clean water to those in prayer in the Summer of 2019.

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Ms. Lafitte was recognized in the 2020 Marquis Who’s Who Extended Biographies. During the Spring of 2022, she collaborated with STEM4Real, a nonprofit organization, to create a culturally responsive and engaging lesson to develop empathy for students across the globe without access to clean water in Cameroon, Africa. The success of this project resulted in recognition as the 2022 CASE Science Teacher of the Year Award for Upper Elementary by the California Association of Science Educators (CASE). Her work with STEM4Real has also been published in CASE’s monthly newsletter, Classroom News.

In the spring of 2023, at the NSTA (National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) Conference in Atlanta, GA, Ms. Lafitte and the STEM4Real team presented their work at a workshop titled, “Science Without Borders: Collaborating to Connect Students to Africa.” The workshop allowed participants to create their own culturally responsive lessons that embedded Social Emotional Learning, empathy, and civic engagement. As a result of Ms. Lafitte’s efforts to increase awareness about water scarcity through empathy, she was recognized as a runner-up to be NSTA’S Teacher of the Year in Elementary.

Currently, Ms. Lafitte is actively inspiring her 5th-grade students to join the 100K Trees Hayward, a nonprofit organization that advocates for planting a mini forest to increase Hayward Unified School District’s campus tree canopies to 30% for shade, filter air pollutants, reduce asthma rates, decrease depression, and increase pupil attentiveness and attendance. In partnership with STEM4Real, she created another culturally responsive lesson that allowed her students to take a deep dive into the importance of trees in communities, joining other 4th and 5th-grade students in the district to plant 200 acorns and 30 buckeye seeds to start classroom nurseries. This work will be presented at the 2023 CASE Conference in Palm Springs, CA in October 2023.

This year in 2023, Ms. Lafitte is broadening her territory as an Ambassador for Humanity with Sending Hope And Rebuilding Into National Goals (SHARING) a spiritual and humanitarian nonprofit organization that is committed to helping people fund and fulfill their God-given purpose in life and was founded by Dr. Theodis Gamet. By following God’s guidance, she became one of SHARING’s students through attending free training workshops that equipped her with SHARING’s 4 Key Pillars; holistic nutrition, cryptocurrency literacy, multiple humanitarian projects, while learning how to fund it all through sharing. To find out more, visit Ms. Lafitte’s Ambassor website, www.GetWatering.com, that explains SHARING’s mission which is to even the playing field so everyone can prosper.

Ms. Lafitte’s story is myronically connected with her friend, Alysha Myronuk, who is the creator of myrony (my+irony) which is another word for sign/synchronicity and also host of “That’s Myrony” Podcast. In episode 76, you can hear how she became a SHARING Ambassador and also partnered with Robert Tyler Stark who shares a mutual vision supporting humanitarian missions toward access to clean water through education, now as a movement #GetWatering. We are a team with SHARING rooted in trust and integrity believing in all that God provides and are here to help all people globally through educational programs.

Through Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics (STEAM) project-based learning rooted in social justice and equity for all people, Ms. Lafitte is dedicated to inspiring students to solve real-world and tangible problems, while developing social-emotional health. She integrates her artisan’s heart and years of experience in clothing manufacturing and costume design in the “Art” of STEAM. She answered a call to teach elementary students at the transitional academic level using Integrated Learning and TRIBES, which promotes problem-solving and teamwork. She continues to collaborate with the nonprofit organizations, STEM4Real and 100K Trees, to create engaging classroom lessons which develop student empathy for different groups of people while growing awareness about the extensive need for potable water, both locally and across the globe. Combining her passion, purpose, and calling, she leads her students beyond the classroom, challenging them to be culturally aware and to perform solutionary actions that work to make a difference both today and in the future.