Fifth-grade teacher Chaurice Lartigue's students at Oak Creek Elementary School in Colorado Springs consistently achieve the highest standardized test scores in the school. This is due in part to Mrs. Lartigue's innovative teaching strategies, including manipulatives, writing portfolios and creative book reports. She empowers students with a sense of ownership in their education by having them lead parent-teacher conferences and invite guest speakers to the school. Mrs. Lartigue provided students with an opportunity to take a role in designing and planning the landscaping for the school's new environmentally safe outdoor amphitheatre, one in which she was a driving force in creating. She is a member of the Eisenhower Project Connect team, with whom she develops the district's math and science curriculum and assessments.
1972 Colorado College, B.A.