After working in the SFUSD for almost 30 years, creative thinking teacher, Ms. Jackie Alacorn has gained a wealth of knowledge & experience which she continues to pass on to her students and peers.
Growing up in San Francisco, Ms. Jackie graduated from SF state university , then took a teaching class to acquire her teaching credentials that allowed her to start her journey as a teacher.
Ms. Jackie first started off at Luther Burbank Middle School, where she taught for 10 years. During her time teaching middle school, Ms. Jackie states that she enjoyed a lot of different moments. She says, “The young students were very eager to learn and easy to teach.”
However in 2005, Ms. Jackie decided to make the move to Galileo because she felt it was a better fit for her style of teaching and the pay was better. She believes that Galileo was better fit. She says, “I felt more of a connection to my high school students that was not there with the middle school students because of what I teach.”
Although she knew teaching at a high school was better for her, when Ms. Jackie first started at Galileo; it wasn’t as smooth a transition as she had hoped for. Ms. Jackie said, “My first teaching days [at Galileo] were not the easiest. It was hard with this new workload and also the few bad students. It could be unbearable at times to teach.”
However Ms. Jackie believes the few “bad apples” that she could never seem to get along with, has never stopped her from enjoying working as a teacher. She feels that the growth she has watched some students experience makes it worth it.
Ms Jackie says that she has grown attached to Galileo despite its past choice of “faulty principals” that have been put at the school. Even with that being said, she still says this place holds a special place in her life as she’s been able to watch the many generations that have come and gone over the years.
When not inside the classroom, Ms Jackie loves to spend time with family, often going on trips to lakes or somewhere outdoors. She also enjoys spending a lot of time with her mom to enjoy more moments with her.
Even with 28 years of teaching under her belt, Ms. Jackie wants to continue to grow as a teacher and continue to work until she reaches the age of 65. When her career is finally done, she believes she will be sad to leave behind something she holds dear to her, but she enjoys knowing that she did all that she could do for the school and in turn what the school has done for her.
