2021 ACADEMIC POLARIS WINNERS These teachers have been recognized because they have been the brightest stars and guiding lights for this distinguished group of scholars throughout their education Gayla is married to Rick Hatfield and has three children, Erin Jordan married to Alex Jordan in Massachusetts, Naomi Morelli, married to Brian Morelli in Massachusetts, and Kyle Hatfield married to Shaylee Hatfield in Enid. She has eight (8) grandchildren, (Rachel, August, Amelia, and Sammy Jordan, Sophia, Teddy, Evelyn, and Lillian Morelli). Gayla comes from a line of teachers as both of her parents taught on the Navajo Reservation in New Mexico and Arizona and her aunt Mabel (Benson) Jackson who taught in Okemah. Gayla has two brothers (Merle and Roger) and one sister (Olivia) who are or have been teachers also. She has one brother Mike, deceased, who served in the Navy. She graduated from Gallup High School in Gallup, New Mexico and then attended college at East Central University in Ada, Oklahoma, where she earned a Bachelor’s of Science Degree in Home Economics and a minor in Science and during her Junior Year was a ECU Homecoming Queen Finalist. She later returned to ECU and earned her Master’s degree in Computer Science Education. Gayla has attended many summer workshops and activities including one summer working with NASA in Langley, Virginia, TOPS (an educational group working with Los Alamos National Labs in Los Alamos, New Mexico), and the Oklahoma Medical Foundation. She is involved in OERB organization sponsored by the Oklahoma Oil Producers and many other science education organizations. She enjoys learning new things and concepts. Gayla has enjoyed all of her “babes” at Okemah Middle School for the last 21 years and has been proud of the accomplishments they have done both in high school and after graduation. Gayla will be retiring at the end of this school year and plans to spend time relaxing, working with sewing crafts, and visiting grandchildren. G ayla (Zunigha) Hatfield began teaching on January 21, 1978, in Thoreau, New Mexico. She taught Home Economics and Physical Science until June of 1981 then moved to Evanston, Wyoming, where she worked in retail and started raising her family. In 1985, she moved back to Thoreau and worked as a Home Economics and Middle School Science Teacher at Thoreau High/Middle School. She had multiple students qualify for State and National competitions in FHA-HERO from 1985 to 1996. She moved to Okemah (her birth place) in 1996 and worked as an aide for one year then started teaching middle school science until 2011. She then went to Ringling, Oklahoma and taught Computer Science, Physical Science, and Yearbook for four years. In 2015 she returned to Okemah and continued teaching 7th and 8th grade science until May of 2021, for a total of 40 years. GAYLA HATFIELD
