Carbon School District Press Release
K’Lyn Hepworth loves what she does for students in Carbon School District. As the site coordinator for the after school program at Bruin Point Elementary, she said it is the simple progress she sees kids make that gives her joy.
“It’s the little things that makes my job at the school wonderful,” she said. “That’s what makes me happy.”
Recently, she was named the Carbon School District Employee of the Year.
Hepworth grew up in Fredonia, Arizona and attended schools there graduating from Fredonia High School. From there, she went to Stevens-Henagar Business School in Provo where she was awarded a Secretarial Certificate.
After she came home from the mission she served in Australia for her church, she married her husband Ryan, who now teaches at Green River High School. He was still going to school, so they moved to Cedar City for him to finish his education. Once he got his teaching degree, they moved to Daggett County for two years, then to Carbon County in 1992.
After their marriage, she was a stay-at-home mom. However, once they moved to Carbon, she started substituting at East Carbon High School. After that, she started substituting at Petersen Elementary and then later at Bruin Point. A few years ago, Alisa Morley (who is over the after school programs in Carbon) and Dina Wise, the Principal at Bruin Point, asked her if she would be interested in handling the after school program on the campus.
“We built that program from the ground floor, and not knowing how the program was supposed to work, I think we have done a pretty good job,” she said.
The program helps a lot of families, especially students from single guardian families whose parent has to work later than school operates each day. Because of the program, the kids have somewhere safe to go.
“I don’t see these kids write stories or solve math problems. Instead, I’m excited to see a child learn how to handle a pair of scissors better, learn to tie their shoes or learn how to jump rope,” she explained. “Those are the things that make my heart smile.”
Hepworth said she loves her charges and that they are “all her grandkids.” She has experience parenting since she has eight children (ages range from 33 to 14) and seven living grandchildren with two more on the way.
Hepworth takes a lot of pride in the fact that when students are asked by others what their favorite thing at school is, the after school program is often mentioned.
“Sometimes, they don’t want to go home when their parents come to pick them up because they are having such a good time,” she stated. “I think we are making a real difference in each of their lives.”
Wise has nothing but good things to say about Hepworth and what she has done at the school.
“She is an amazing person,” Wise shared. “She does such great things with the students. She really deserves this honor.”