PORT ST. LUCIE PEOPLE
JASON ‘BILLY’ HATFIELD
Age: 41
Hometown: Port St. Lucie
Family: Wife Erika; daughter
Jocelyn, 9; extended family
includes parents and three
brothers.
Education: High school in
Alaska; undergrad in music
education Maranatha Baptist University, Watertown, Wis.;
master’s in instrumental conducting from Southern Oregon
University. Taught at Westminster Christian School and Dade
Christian in Miami.
Hobbies: Running, being out with the family and relaxing.
Who/what inspires me: “I find a lot of musicians inspire
me. My students inspire me to listen to all kinds of different
music.”
Something most people don’t know about me: “I’m a huge
guitar geek — talking about them, playing them and listening
to them.”
FORT
They are rugged individuals …when you think about it that
fits a band director pretty well.”
Over time, the Hatfields moved to the city. He loved hanging
out with his grandmother who had an accordion and an
organ. His father became a minister. Eventually, two of his
brothers joined the Air Force — one remains on active duty,
the other is retired and the last one is in Alaska on the North
Slope working on the pipeline.
He didn’t like living off the land and felt he’d rather be in
a big city. He graduated from high school in 1993 and headed
for college. “I couldn’t get out fast enough!”
He’s been a Florida resident for 20 years. His first teaching
assignments were at Westminster Christian School and Dade
Christian in Miami. He has been band director at Palm Pointe
Educational Research School at Tradition since the doors
opened in 2008. He’s come a long way from a dozen fifth-grade
students in general music — not enough to even have a band.
Real growth came with the support of Debbie Snyder, a
former principal. The music program became a priority. Now
growing a handful of performance-based programs, he is
BERNADETTE SAINT
CATHOLIC CHURCH
350 NW California Blvd.
Port St. Lucie
Rev. Victor A. Ulto, Pastor
Minstry schedules and events available
at www.stbernadetteslw.org
(772) 336-9956
parish@stbernadetteslw.org
A warm, loving
community of faith.
Port St. Lucie Magazine 59
Hatfield is Palm
Pointe’s Teacher of
the Year, an honor
he accepted with the
satisfaction of a job
well done.
>>
PIERCE
/www.stbernadetteslw.org
/www.st-lucie-ballet.com
/www.stbernadetteslw.org
link