Marlana Pressley-Wallace, a science teacher at Tates Creek Middle School (Fayette County), is one of four honorees selected by the Kentucky Commission on Women for their contributions in shaping young lives.

The commission traditionally has honored women of the past during Women’s History Month. But this March, the group opted to praise women of the present impacting women of the future. Nominations were accepted from across the state.

Pressley-Wallace, the only teacher honored, was nominated by 7th-grade student Elizabeth Currier.

“She has influenced not only me, but many people, by teaching us in a different way that really helps us learn better,” Currier wrote in her nomination.