The Lubbock ISD Athletics Hall of Honor would like to congratulate the inductees of the class of 2024.
Congratulations to the Class of 2024
A huge thank you to the sponsors for this year’s event.
Celestine H. Kyle
Class of 2015
Celestine H. Kyle
Pioneers in the field of sports are historically some of the most revered people in the world that we live in. For the female athlete on the high school level in the Lubbock ISD there was perhaps no more of a “pioneer spirit” than that of Celestine Hatchett Kyle, who was a science and health teacher at Dunbar High School in 1950. She later taught physical education at the school, but she is most remembered for her influence on the young women of DHS for what she introduced to them in the way of opportunities.
While serving in her role as an educator, Ms. Kyle introduced and organized girl’s athletics to the scene at Dunbar High School. She coached basketball, volleyball and tennis, while also contributing her many talents to help the pep squad, flag team, cheerleaders and band majorettes. In addition to those various efforts she made for the school, she also helped DHS band director, Roy Roberts, with the half-time performances at games. At the time when she was helping to get the girls involved there were actually no after-school activities for girls to take part in, basically because there were no organized sports or programs for young ladies.
Ms. Kyle was a 32-year member of the Lubbock ISD faculty, serving stints at four separate schools during that time: she was a teacher and coach for 16 years at Dunbar, seven years at Lubbock High, nine years at Atkins Junior High and she also was on the faculty at Arnett Elementary. During her entire career she was never hired, nor paid, for her many hours of performing her coaching duties. She used her own money to purchase basketballs. None of that, however, deterred her from a distinguished career as she led the Dunbar girls to District championships for seven years from the mid-60s to 1971 – apparently the only thing keeping that success to the local level was that there was not state participation for girls during those early years.
To say that Celestine Hatchett Kyle was an unselfish and devoted “giver” to the Lubbock ISD and the girls that she taught and coached would be somewhat of a soft-sell approach to her distinguished career. A former standout tennis player on the college level, she retired from the Lubbock ISD in 1981.
Back to class of 2015
