KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kayla McClellan admits the Kansas City Chiefs were successfully able to "pull the wool over her eyes" when they told her she was the first-ever winner of the Norma Hunt Super Bowl Champion of Education program.
Congrats on being the first ever Norma Hunt Super Bowl Champion of Education, Kayla McClellan!
— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) September 8, 2023
Thanks for all you do in the classroom, and we'll see you in Vegas for the big game 👏 pic.twitter.com/3mNZpDyUXa
McClellan, a teacher at Lincoln Middle School in the Kansas City Public Schools district, received the news during the Chiefs season opener Thursday at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium.
It all started when a district staff member told McClellan a Chiefs representative wanted to speak with her.
McClellan was invited to the Chiefs game, but as busy school teacher and volleyball coach, she didn't think much of it.
"I have gotten into such a routine, that they were able to pull the wool over my eyes very easily," she said. "I was like, 'OK, this seems simple enough. I'll go to work, I'll go to volleyball practice and coach and I'll leave a little early, I'll get to the game, I'll got to bed and do it all again.'"
But when McClellan arrived at the GEHA Field, her experience was different than prior times. She was invited to a suite and met the Hunt family.
During conversations with members of the Hunt family, McClellan began learning more about the late Norma Hunt, who passed away in June.
Norma Hunt, the matriarch of the Hunt Family, had a passion for teaching and even taught American History at her alma mater Richardson High School in Texas.
It was Norma's passion for teaching that inspired the Chiefs to create the Norman Hunt Super Bowl Champion of Education program, and the team felt McClellan was fit for the award.
"To learn that she [Norma] was an educator and that she loved kids and families and they loved her," McClellan said. "And then they would think to honor me with such an award, I was already in tears before I got to the field."
But the surprises didn't stop there.
In front of thousands of fans, Chiefs chairman and CEO Clark Hunt handed McClellan giant tickets to attend Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas.
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