Following the recent departure of Dr. Alyssa Smith, a new Columbia Assistant Superintendent of Schools has already hit the ground running this month, bringing almost two decades of experience in education with her.

Born and raised in Mascoutah, Dr. Amanda Ganey still resides in the community alongside her husband and two sons.

After high school, she attended McKendree University for a degree in elementary education, quickly jumping into a teaching career that lasted for 12 years.

Ganey said her initial interest in education came from her own love of school as well as her passion for seeing young people learn.

“I was the first in my family to go into the education field,” Ganey said. “It was really my love for learning at a very young age and my love for watching children learn that really spearheaded my direction for where I ended up today.”

Though her first year as a teacher was spent at Belleville West Junior High School, the bulk of her time as a teacher was spent at Mascoutah Elementary School. In her time there, she also began graduate work at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, receiving her master’s degree in curriculum and instruction.

Ganey continued her education back at McKendree for an administrative leadership degree in her efforts to be a principal, closing out her personal academic career at Saint Louis University by getting her superintendent specialist degree and doctorate in educational leadership.

She explained that her shift toward education administration didn’t come from an exhaustion with classroom teaching but rather a desire to have a broader impact in her schools by leading and contributing to the curriculum.

“I didn’t leave the classroom because I was tired of teaching,” Ganey said. “I left because I had such a passion for instruction and instructional practices in the classroom that I felt I could make a bigger impact as a leader, and that’s why I’ve kind of done a leadership journey. In every place I’ve been, I have impacted the district as an instructional leader.”

Her administrative career has seen her serving in a number of positions in different districts, acting as an assistant principal in O’Fallon for two years, principal in West Washington County for two years and superintendent in Lebanon for a year.

In her time as an assistant principal, Ganey said she worked closely with students and developed a better understanding of special education practices and response to intervention practices – assisting struggling students early on in their academic career.

Stepping into the role of principal provided her with a “global view” of instruction and learning – a perspective which further expanded as she became a superintendent and recognized the school district as a major part of a community.

Ganey mentioned the sense of satisfaction having this sort of broad impact and view can provide.

“I would say, both as a principal and a superintendent, one of the most exciting things about it instructionally is seeing those students start in kindergarten and then seeing them graduate and sitting in on their graduation and knowing that I had some sort of impact in their transition to post-secondary life,” Ganey said.

As she takes the next step in her career, she explained her interest in Columbia stemmed from a number of sources, including family connections in the area that have given her a familiarity with the community.

Columbia being a fairly large school district, Ganey said she was interested in returning to the type of school setting where she started out as a teacher.

“As a principal and my first year as a superintendent, I was in very small districts,” Ganey said. “My heart is much more in a bigger district where I served the majority of my time as a teacher. And with my love for instruction, I definitely thought that this assistant superintendent position, directly related and incorporating curriculum in the district, was definitely a step in the direction that I wanted to move.”

Ganey began in the district at the start of July and was officially welcomed at her first school board meeting in the community last week.

Columbia Superintendent of Schools Chris Grode said in the meeting that she has already been hard at work just a few weeks into her position.

“She’s been an administrator for some time, and we’re really looking forward to her continuing the things that we’ve been doing in the district,” Grode said.

Ganey said the past month has been enjoyable, with warm welcomes as she’s gotten to know folks at the district office as well as the schools.

“As of right now, I am very excited to be a Columbia Eagle and to continue the excellence that has been set forth here,” Ganey said.