One Class at a Time: Bayless Elementary teacher, Lubbock Area United Way awarded $500

One Class at a Time: Bayless Elementary teacher, Lubbock Area United Way awarded $500

November 20, 2021 | KCBD

By Kase Wilbanks

Bayless Elementary teacher Kaitlyn Hadfield is the third 2021-2022 recipient of KCBD’s One Class At A Time $500 donation and recognition sponsored by Frontier Dodge and Spirit Chrysler.

“It means a lot to be nominated for this,” Hadfield said. “It shows me that people really are caring. They are paying attention and my work is being noticed. It’s just exciting. It was the last thing that I expected to happen.”

Hadfield is in her first year teaching Kindergarten at the Lubbock ISD school. She told KCBD she was inspired to become an educator by her own Kindergarten teacher.

“I wanted to be just like her at the age of seven,” Hadfield said. “She’s someone that I’ve definitely looked up to and has modeled how to appropriately teach.”

The program gives the teacher a chance to choose a charity or non-profit organization that will also receive $500. Hadfield chose Lubbock Area United Way.

“It’s such a huge thing to be selected by an educator,” VP of Marketing and Communications Amanda McAfee said. “Education is at the heart of what we do, especially when you’re talking about these little guys. Miss Hadfield teaches Kindergarten and that’s really one of our big priority areas is to make sure that kids are Kindergarten ready.”

McAfee said the Lubbock Area United Way not only works to ensure local children are ready to start school but that they maintain reading skills, especially through the first few years.

“Kids who aren’t on-point by third grade, they’ll begin falling behind in every other subject, because that’s when learning changes,” McAfee said. “That’s when kids go from learning how to read to reading to learn. You can imagine if you don’t know how to read and start falling behind everywhere else. We want to make sure that every kid in Lubbock County and the surrounding counties are ready to be third-grade readers.”

While the Lubbock Area United Way is wrapping up its annual campaign, McAfee encourages folks to continue to donate to support its programs and others.

“Whether it’s somebody who can give $5 or somebody who can give $500, that does make a really big difference for a lot of people, over 115,000 people annually in our community,” McAfee said. “It really does make a difference.”

Hadfield hopes that difference is made for her students as they begin their learning experience in her classroom.

“It’s my job to set that educational foundation since it’s their first year in school,” Hadfield said. “I want them to love school, love learning, and want to come to school.”

If you would like to nominate an educator for the One Class at a Time contest, click here.