If you walk into the Activities Office during lunch, you’re sure to see a swarm of students around Activities Director Michelle Russell.
Students come to ask questions related to the many Krop activities she runs, ranging from questions about senior bundt cakes sales, to parking decals and more in between.
Aside from being the Activities Director, Russell is also the sponsor for the Class of 2026 and 2027, STAR Academy Magnet Lead Teacher and head of the National Honor Society (NHS), Student Government Association (SGA) and Inter-Club Council (ICC). To fulfill all of these roles, Russell usually works around 10-hour work days, stays after hours at Krop and is often one of the few staff members left in the building by the end of the day.
Growing up near North Miami, she attended Miami Norland Senior High School, where she got involved in different student activities. She served as a member of many academic honor societies, helped with the soccer teams, played volleyball and served as president of one of the school’s community service clubs.
“There was always a part of me that felt that I needed to give back,” Russell said. “That was always the culture in my family, giving back to other people.”
She attended Florida State University (FSU) for college, majoring in Health Education and Biology, before moving back to South Florida and beginning a lengthy career as an educator.
“I actually have wanted to be a teacher my entire life. I feel like I was put on this planet to affect the lives of students,” Russell said.
The young educator would briefly work at Thomas Jefferson Middle School for three years, before joining Krop during its inaugural year in 1998. She then taught Anatomy & Physiology and became very involved in Krop, becoming sponsor of NHS and sponsoring many classes, starting with the Class of 2009. After the Activities Director at Krop retired in 2011, the principal at the time offered Russell the position.
Upon becoming Activities Director, she took over as SGA sponsor, and later created the ICC, a monthly meeting of all the club presidents, all while sponsoring other classes.
“I do love being a sponsor of a class because it allows me to follow the kids from freshman year and I think it’s a really cool thing to be able to get to know kids from the time they walk into the building to the time that they leave,” Russell said.
Many students in the classes Russell sponsored have also appreciated the experience.
“She’s always open minded, takes feedback from a lot of the students, and she always has a lot going on, but she balances it out,” junior and Class of 2026 President Simon Tchira said. “Class of 2026 is very lucky to have her as a sponsor. If we’re doing an activity and it’s at 70 percent, she always wants to make it 110 percent so it goes smoothly.”
Russell has continued to take on more responsibilities, becoming Magnet lead teacher last school year, helping to advertise the STAR Magnet program and to organize anything else related to it. She’s taken on these responsibilities due to a desire to help students.
“Our kids deserve it. Even through the most difficult times that I’ve had in this building, I’ve put on my blinders and focused on our kids,” Russell said. “Our kids are fabulous and unbelievable, and that’s why I do what I do. It’s always about my kids. I just think they have such amazingly bright futures and I want to do everything that I can to support them in reaching their goals.”
This year, Russell has focused on encouraging school spirit. She has attempted to do this by hosting events that aim to bring the school together, such as the Be Our Guest event on Oct. 29, which brought students together to discuss different cultural and school issues. She’s also had SGA host various games during lunch, in order to engage the student body
In addition to this, Russell is also focused on encouraging diversity at Krop, and getting students from different cliques to interact with each other. In particular, she’s worked to make sure that the organizations she runs have a diverse population.
“If you could paint a picture of the perfect person to do the job that she does, that would be her,” Science teacher Lolithia Otero said.