Closing the gap: Kristi Stacks named Better Basics executive director

Being able to close the reading gap for a student never gets old for Better Basics’ new executive director, Kristi Stacks.

Even though this is Stacks’ first time working in a nonprofit, she has been working in education for 25 years as a teacher and an assistant principal. Just after Memorial Day, Stacks replaced Ammie Akin in her role as executive director.

Better Basics is a nonprofit focused on empowering children by reducing illiteracy in Birmingham and Fairfield city schools, as well as through summer programs in conjunction with the downtown YMCA.

“I feel like in this role as an executive director of nonprofit, I can take all the talents and skills that I have in my background and combine them to serve in this role,” Stacks said. “I know what is it to identify weaknesses that students may have. I know how you go about closing those gaps.”

Though she loves the leadership administrative experience she had developed through management in education over the years, Stacks is excited to also incorporate her first degree, mass communication and public relations from Auburn University, in her new role. 

Most importantly, though, she gets to use her background as an educator.

“So this keeps me in education, which I love, and I feel like I’m contributing to the community because I’m helping the students that are in the most need in the community,” Stacks said. 

Stacks is National Board certified, received a masters of arts in elementary education from the University of Alabama at Birmingham and an education specialist degree in instructional leadership from Samford University. She is currently pursuing an educational doctoral degree in instructional leadership at Samford University.

“What I love about working with children is it’s different every day, it’s never the same day twice. To be able to be part of seeing the lightbulb come on for a child and them to get something and not to forget it is fabulous for a teacher or an administrator,” Stacks said.

In Stacks’ new role, she said the focus is on reducing illiteracy and seeing children make strides to fully grasp the basics of reading and math. The backbone of the program, she explained, centers on reading intervention. She said the children that are in Better Basics are working to fill in gaps that they are already supposed to know by their grade level. 

“Somewhere along the way, they’ve missed something that is holding them back, so to be able to step in there and work with that child one-on-one or in a small group intensively and to close those gaps so that that child can be raised up to grade-level benchmark is exciting,” Stacks said. “I know that can change the rest of their life and the rest of their school experience.”

Better Basics also provides academic tutoring programs that incorporate homework help and STEM activities to teach kids to critically problem solve, think in different ways and communicate with each other about what they’re learning. 

To learn more about the Better Basics program, go to betterbasics.org.