There are about 300 students at Cross High.

Kela Middleton knows every single one of them by name.

If she had to describe Cross High to a person who has never been to the school, she would describe it with one word – “love”.

This self-proclaimed “funner” is very active. She is a wife, a mom to six, and the Child Nutrition Services manager at Cross High, but she wears a bunch of additional hats, including cheerleading coach, photographer, tutor and more.

She is very much “the mother” of Cross High, where she has worked for the past 13 years, starting off as a cashier in the kitchen. She has served as the kitchen manager for six years now.

Her dedication to being a very involved member of Cross High comes from that love she carries for every child at the school – “These are my children,” she said.

Maybe not all staff members take on as much as she does, but for her, it is a calling.

“I just let the Lord guide me, and I guess the children needed me,” she said.

Middleton is a proud member of the Cross High graduating class of 1997, and she is all about anything having to do with the school and the Cross community, which is often described as tightknit.

“This is my home,” she said. “They say home is where the heart is – this is my home.”

Her day starts at around 6:50 a.m. in the cafeteria as she starts getting breakfast prepared. After serving breakfast, the cafeteria crew starts getting ready for lunch time – probably the busiest time of the day.

“You’ll hear my name being called a million times at lunch,” she said. “’Kela this’, ‘Kela that’, ‘Kela, can I have’, ‘Kela, can I do’, ‘Kela, can I get’ – oh, my gosh, it’s crazy.”

But this does not faze her much; Middleton loves any time she gets to chat with the students. She has two children, a seventh grader and a 10^thgrader, currently attending Cross High, but Middleton loves all the children at the school as if they were her own. Every day she gets to see the children of her friends, family members and former classmates.

Once lunch is complete and everything is cleaned up, Middleton gets ready for her next job, which is coaching cheerleading. Middleton is going into her fourth year as the head cheer coach.

She actually played basketball when she was a student at Cross High, so Middleton said she is not sure how cheerleading fell into place for her – “but I love it.”

“What I tell them is, ‘This is your life experience, this is something you’re going to be talking about for this for the rest of your life, so you go out there and you have fun with it,’” she said.

Cheer practice runs until 6 p.m., and then the evening time could mean a couple different things: Middleton might be at a little league football practice – she serves on the board for Cross’s recreational league – but she also might end up going to support students at another event, like a volleyball game.

“I’ve got to support my babies,” she said.

Middleton is also a photographer. She will take pictures at Cross’s sporting events, and she will also do shoots on the weekends for events such as weddings.

She makes time to help tutor students if they need it; if she has a cheerleader whose grades are slipping, then instead of going to practice, that student will hang back to work on homework.

“I make it happen for my kids because I want them to succeed,” she said.

Finally, she runs an "Adopt a Teacher" program where community members can donate gifts and supplies to teachers to show their appreciation for their commitment to education. She started that program this year (community members can contact Middleton at 843-312-6171 to adopt a teacher).

She clearly wears a lot of different hats at the school, so it is hard for Middleton to choose which specific task is her favorite. She loves seeing her cheerleaders have fun cheering, and she loves seeing shy students come out of their shell; overall, her favorite thing to do is build relationships and celebrate her students.

Middleton attributes the camaraderie of Cross High to how it is a very family-oriented school.

“We are just family,” she said.

With how much she juggles, her friends often ask how she is able to do it all. In response, Middleton said she balances everything because she believes it needs to be done. She keeps everything – sporting events, scheduled photo shoots, etc. – jotted down in a very-packed planner to help her with time management.

Middleton said she wants to be there for the student who maybe does not have a parent nearby cheering them on from the sidelines during a wrestling match or a volleyball game, and it is a driving force for her to continue being an integral part of Cross High.

“I’m here for that child who has nobody screaming their name – because I’m screaming everybody’s names,” she said. “I’m here for that child.”

Cross High

Difference Maker: Kela Middleton loves Cross High