Ms. Ganser is Marco Island Academy’s newest SWD & English Instructor. If you haven’t seen her around, be sure to flash a smile and greet her in the hallway. Ms. Ganser hails from Chicago, Illinois. She earned her Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees from Indiana University. We don’t know what kind of adventures our first year with Ms. Ganser will entail, but we do know a little bit about some of Ms. Ganser’s firsts.

When Did You First Know You Wanted to Become a Teacher?

It was in high school when Ms. Ganser decided that teaching was her likely career path. She was the main tutor in her study hall class where she met a fellow classmate with dyslexia. Ms. Ganser began working with the student and found it increasingly rewarding to help him on his path to success. This experience led her to teaching.

What Was Your First Job?

Ms. Ganser’s first job was at a Trakehner breeding farm where she had specific responsibilities such as grooming, feeding, exercising horses, and cleaning stalls. Trakehner are large German sport horses used for competitions. The breeding farm she worked at had 70 brood mares and 3 studs. This was one of her favorite jobs because every spring, each mare would have a cute baby foal.

What Was the First Concert You Attended?

In 4th or 5th grade, Ms. Ganser attended a Tina Turner concert which she still recalls to this day. This is where her love for concerts began. She has been to over 100 concerts in her lifetime and continues to attend. 60 of the concerts were performed by The Grateful Dead and Phish. When she lived near Chicago, she could be spotted at Lollapalooza each year without fail. The last concert she attended was Nine Inch Nails and she is looking forward to a Toby Keith concert this December. She thinks of herself as having a diverse music taste.

If you see her on campus, or off-campus, be sure to say hello and ask her if she’s liking MIA so far!