LANETT — Everyone wants to make an impact during their life and Lanett Junior High School teacher Kristina Story has done just that.

Story is the enrichment teacher for the 7th and 8th grade classes. She describes her classes as a place for of academic and social intervention.

“I help with low test scores and students who need help,” she said. “There’s math and reading and character building.”

Story points to her work, along with the work of many other teachers, as the reason the Lanett City School System was recently taken off the state failing school’s list.

She’s been teaching at the junior high for the past four years and she was at the elementary school for two years before that.

“I love it,” Story said. “I have some great kids. I’m glad I get to inspire them.”

She describes her teaching style as “hands-on” with a lot a projects.

“The children learn better when they can see what they’re doing,” she said, giving fractions as a good example of a lesson where being hands-on is better. “They’re a hard concept without visuals and a lot of demonstrations.”

Last year her students were learning about similes and metaphors. As a way to help them wrap their heads around those concepts, Story took them outside and had them perform the mannequin challenge, where people act out a scene while standing as still as possible.

“I wanted them to come up with a way to perform a metaphor and simile,” she said. “They acted out the phrase ‘Life is a field of dreams.’”

Story is also the head volleyball coach for Lanett High School, the assistant girls high school basketball coach and the aquamom for the high school football team.

“I really enjoy it,” she said. “It has an additional impact on the students.”

Story is very proud of her time at the school.

“I have an amazing administrator in Donna Bell,” she said. “She’s pushed me beyond what I thought was possible and encouraged me to believe. She inspired me to be an inspiration.”

Story is married to Clifford Story and the two have three boys: Clifford ‘Tre’ the Third who recently finished his freshman year at the University of Richmond, Kristian ‘Ken Ken’ who is a 10th grader at Lanett High School and Kaden, an 8th grader at the junior high.

“It was fun teaching them,” she said.

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