Mrs. Kristal Harris may spend her days in the classroom, but she is just as comfortable on her family’s 600 acre farm, Harris Farm.

Mrs. Harris teaches Business, Accounting, Teachers For Tomorrow, Personal Finance, Computer Information Systems, and Economics. She has been teaching business classes for eleven years. Mrs. Harris attended Danville Community College and Averett University, finishing with an Associate Degree in Applied Science, a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration, and a Master’s Degree in Business Administration.

While preparing to be an educator, one challenge Mrs. Harris faced was working forty hours a week and also attending classes two or three nights a week from 6 to 10 p.m.  Once she completed her degree, Mrs. Harris had to wait patiently for a business teaching position to open. “Business positions do not come open very often and I did not want to leave the area,” said Harris. While Mrs. Harris waited on a job, she worked as the budget analyst at Averett University.

Harris said, “I wanted to teach in an area that the students would learn a life skill and be able to use it in the real world.” Harris also said, “I feel that I am preparing students for college and real life by teaching Accounting, Economics and Finance, and Computer Information Systems.”

Harris likes to add her own style of teaching in her classroom by incorporating real life scenarios and hands-on activities. Some examples of these activities would be a Mock Trail and Accounting Monopoly. “These projects give the students a real life look at the topics I teach. I think it helps students relate and prepare for the real world.”

She is also in charge of FBLA. Mrs. Harris’ favorite aspect of FBLA is taking the students to Longwood University for leadership conferences and attending the state leadership conference in Reston, Virginia.

Outside of school Mrs. Harris enjoys watching her children play softball and baseball during the summer. She also loves reading and spending time with her family.

Outside of school Mrs. Harris helps run Harris Farm where her husband runs the farm full time. They have approximately 15,000 birds, which means Mrs. Harris gets up between 5:30-6:30 in the morning to feed, check for dead animals, and maintain the biosecurity controls set in place by Purdue. They also have a beef cattle herd, grew flue cured tobacco, hay, and small grains on the 600 acre farm.