Kayla Janelle Hamilton Memorial Scholarship Fund
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The Kayla Hamilton Memorial Scholarship Fund is being established to honor Kayla's life and create a lasting legacy for her students and community. Kayla passed suddenly leaving a grieving daughter, dogs, parents, and countless students and teachers lost without her.
This fund will allow her to continue to help the students she cares so much about. All of the funds from this Memorial Scholarship will be distributed to college-bound high school seniors who are alumni of the schools where she taught (Theodore Roosevelt or Benito Juarez Elementary Schools). We will distribute funds to selected applicants every year until the funds are exhausted, the amount distributed and number of students will depend on both the number of applicants and the amount raised.
Please see below for more information on Kayla and her amazing life:
From the time she could walk and talk, everyone could tell that Kayla was going to be a teacher. Chances are you would find her playing school in her playhouse with the neighborhood kids. She, of course, was always the teacher.
She spent over 20 years teaching students, earning a master’s degree during that time while balancing teaching and raising me. During her time in the Anaheim Elementary School District, Theodore Roosevelt and Benito Juarez were her home where she taught almost every grade level and even served as a technology coach helping teachers to incorporate changing programs and methods into their work.
She spent extra time after school coaching her students in extracurricular academic programs, teaching them to code, and working with them one on one. With her help, the students she mentored were able to compete in academic competitions and bring home medals and awards that they will carry with them forever.
Ms. Hamilton was everything you could want in a teacher. She always said her favorite part of teaching was talking to, and getting to know, her students for the wonderful and unique people they were. She never left her students in doubt of how much she cared for them. Every student was accepted for who they were and she went out of her way to reach students who were slipping through the cracks.
You could always count on her to make the day engaging and fun. She was silly with her students, danced, sung, and gave them a place to be vulnerable and be heard. Her room was filled with joy and love. Every inch was themed after super heroes, as she knew all of her students had the potential to be whoever they wanted to be and she was their Wonder Woman.
If a student needed anything from a fun spirit day accessory to a jacket or food, she would make it happen. Even with the pandemic, she always found a way. She had three rescue dogs and the occasional foster that followed her everywhere and were always right behind her or on her lap as she taught virtually. They quickly became famous among her students.
Despite the challenges of distance learning, Kayla spent countless hours ensuring her students didn't miss out on anything. She ensured every student knew she believed in them and cared about them as a person even if she couldn’t be there in person. From gifts and notes, to distanced parades, virtual fieldtrips and more she poured her heart and soul into everything she did.
Instead of keeping her wonderful gifts to herself, she created a group where she shared them with tens of thousands of teachers, mentored them, and fostered a place where teachers could learn and grow together. She offered all of this for free to give every teacher and therefore their students tools for success.
Kayla was getting ready to head back to her favorite place to teach virtually and spend a small Thanksgiving with self-isolating family members when she had an allergic reaction complicated by asthma. She was transported by ambulance to the hospital where she spent almost a week fighting in the ICU before she passed away.
I am my Mom’s only child and I couldn’t have asked for a more supportive and loving mother. Even if my friends haven’t met her, they know of her through my many stories of dressing up together, laughing, staying up late and talking, and going on adventures both big and small. She is truly my best friend and I am devastated without her. She is my everything and we had so much more trouble to get into together.
On behalf of my Grandparents and I, we would like to thank everyone for their kindness, prayers, messages, and everything they have done so far. It has been touching to see how many lives she impacted. She had so much more life to live and was looking forward to everything that would hold. She is so deeply and truly missed. We would love to hear how she impacted your life even if you didn’t know her personally.
We have also set up a GoFundMe for Kayla’s final Expenses including the care of her rescue dogs, the Celebration of Life, and to pay her remaining expenses from her master’s degree, etc. If you would like to donate to this fund you will find more information on the GoFundMe link here .
-Lauren Hamilton
This fund will allow her to continue to help the students she cares so much about. All of the funds from this Memorial Scholarship will be distributed to college-bound high school seniors who are alumni of the schools where she taught (Theodore Roosevelt or Benito Juarez Elementary Schools). We will distribute funds to selected applicants every year until the funds are exhausted, the amount distributed and number of students will depend on both the number of applicants and the amount raised.
Please see below for more information on Kayla and her amazing life:
From the time she could walk and talk, everyone could tell that Kayla was going to be a teacher. Chances are you would find her playing school in her playhouse with the neighborhood kids. She, of course, was always the teacher.
She spent over 20 years teaching students, earning a master’s degree during that time while balancing teaching and raising me. During her time in the Anaheim Elementary School District, Theodore Roosevelt and Benito Juarez were her home where she taught almost every grade level and even served as a technology coach helping teachers to incorporate changing programs and methods into their work.
She spent extra time after school coaching her students in extracurricular academic programs, teaching them to code, and working with them one on one. With her help, the students she mentored were able to compete in academic competitions and bring home medals and awards that they will carry with them forever.
Ms. Hamilton was everything you could want in a teacher. She always said her favorite part of teaching was talking to, and getting to know, her students for the wonderful and unique people they were. She never left her students in doubt of how much she cared for them. Every student was accepted for who they were and she went out of her way to reach students who were slipping through the cracks.
You could always count on her to make the day engaging and fun. She was silly with her students, danced, sung, and gave them a place to be vulnerable and be heard. Her room was filled with joy and love. Every inch was themed after super heroes, as she knew all of her students had the potential to be whoever they wanted to be and she was their Wonder Woman.
If a student needed anything from a fun spirit day accessory to a jacket or food, she would make it happen. Even with the pandemic, she always found a way. She had three rescue dogs and the occasional foster that followed her everywhere and were always right behind her or on her lap as she taught virtually. They quickly became famous among her students.
Despite the challenges of distance learning, Kayla spent countless hours ensuring her students didn't miss out on anything. She ensured every student knew she believed in them and cared about them as a person even if she couldn’t be there in person. From gifts and notes, to distanced parades, virtual fieldtrips and more she poured her heart and soul into everything she did.
Instead of keeping her wonderful gifts to herself, she created a group where she shared them with tens of thousands of teachers, mentored them, and fostered a place where teachers could learn and grow together. She offered all of this for free to give every teacher and therefore their students tools for success.
Kayla was getting ready to head back to her favorite place to teach virtually and spend a small Thanksgiving with self-isolating family members when she had an allergic reaction complicated by asthma. She was transported by ambulance to the hospital where she spent almost a week fighting in the ICU before she passed away.
I am my Mom’s only child and I couldn’t have asked for a more supportive and loving mother. Even if my friends haven’t met her, they know of her through my many stories of dressing up together, laughing, staying up late and talking, and going on adventures both big and small. She is truly my best friend and I am devastated without her. She is my everything and we had so much more trouble to get into together.
On behalf of my Grandparents and I, we would like to thank everyone for their kindness, prayers, messages, and everything they have done so far. It has been touching to see how many lives she impacted. She had so much more life to live and was looking forward to everything that would hold. She is so deeply and truly missed. We would love to hear how she impacted your life even if you didn’t know her personally.
We have also set up a GoFundMe for Kayla’s final Expenses including the care of her rescue dogs, the Celebration of Life, and to pay her remaining expenses from her master’s degree, etc. If you would like to donate to this fund you will find more information on the GoFundMe link here .
-Lauren Hamilton
Co-organizers (4)
Lauren Hamilton
Organizer
Tustin, CA
Ken Cornelison
Co-organizer
Darla Cornelison
Co-organizer
Elizabeth Smith
Co-organizer