Myrtle Beach resident gives a lesson in going viral on TikTok. Check out her content
Editor’s note: This story is being updated to correct the last name of Kaitlyn Biernacki. (Updated 11:05 a.m. June 10, 2025)
Despite it being the second-to-last day of school with everything packed up, Kaitlyn Biernacki’s classroom still radiated color and light.
Her desk had a rainbow cover, and underneath her whiteboard was a row of stuffed animals tailored to children’s interests. There were stuffies of Greg Heffley from “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” and Captain Underpants.
These same classroom decorations can be seen online in Biernacki’s TikTok videos.
Biernacki, a second-grade teacher at Palmetto Academy of Learning and Success, a charter school in Horry County, started posting videos when working as a student teacher and attending Coastal Carolina University. Her account has grown at an exponential rate. Today, Biernacki has over 860,000 followers on her TikTok account titled “My Classroom Diaries.”
The account has grown enough that content creation has become her primary source of income, Biernacki said.
“I’m just very thankful for the platform that’s growing and the community that I’ve built,” Biernacki said. “I had no idea my silly little TikToks in the beginning would ever turn out to be something that I get paid for.”
How Biernacki got into social media
Biernackigot her first viral stint when she posted a video of outfits she wore as a student teacher. At the time, she was making silly videos about being a teacher, but then her first big video started gaining attention.
Soon after, boutiques and other companies began offering to send her clothes to wear on video. At first she was hesitant, as she did not want to give out her address, but soon agreed.
As Biernacki finished college, she started to take content creation more seriously. It became bigger once her first school year started. She created videos of her moving into her classroom that became a hit.
“It was like, oh my goodness, this is gonna be even bigger than my teaching job,” Biernacki said. “So I was like, ‘Let’s lock in and do it,’ as my second graders would say.”
Since then she has signed with a management company and has gone on to create partnerships with Sam’s Club, Target and Kidz Bop. Biernacki also collaborates with Oriental Trading Co. to decorate her classroom. The party and craft store will send Biernacki supplies so she can adorn her classroom for a specific holiday or activity.
Biernackitook off June 6, 2025, the last day of the school year, for her participation in a national brand deal with a major retailer.
“A lot of teachers, you know, will put things up and they’ll just stay there. But (Biernacki) plans ahead and she’ll decorate her classroom just to kind of relate to the month or the holiday coming up,” said kindergarten teacher Morgan Loyd. “It was either Earth Day or St. Patrick’s Day, she had so many cute little goodies and activities for her students to do.”
Biernackiis careful to keep students out of her videos, opting instead to post videos about her classroom and life as a teacher. Her series include “Before the Bell” and “Clean My Class,” where she shows herself getting ready for the day and cleaning up after the kids leave for the day.
Despite content creation playing a big role in her life, Biernacki remains dedicated to her students and strives to be a stellar teacher.
“Her kids really love her because she creates a really positive environment that is more of like a little community in her classroom, which is really important for our school setting,” said Tiffany Nichols, Palmetto Academy’s assistant principal.
Creating an accepting community on and offline
One of Biernacki’s favorite parts of content creation has been the community she found. She has made teacher friends whom she sees in person when she attends events like Get Your Teach On, which she has emceed in the past.
She has also become a local legend at Coastal Carolina University, Nichols said. Student teachers will come to Palmetto Academy and get excited to work with Biernacki.
When Biernacki publicly came out as gay online, she said she lost tens of thousands of followers. But the video had a larger impact.
“It made me realize how helpful it was that I posted that, because so many people reached out to me,” Biernacki said. This included gay student teachers who were afraid of how their sexuality would impact their teaching career.
Content creation has allowed her to be open about her sexuality without addressing the topic directly in the classroom. Biernacki said her students will watch her videos with their parents and be able to start conversations at home.
“I’m very thankful for the parents that I’ve had,” Biernacki said. “I’m very thankful for just like, how it comes across that it’s just kindness, that it’s just loving each other.”
This story was originally published June 9, 2025 at 6:00 AM.
