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Face to Face: Tonganoxie High School’s Janie Bennett

By Shawn Linenberger - | Apr 4, 2016

Name: Janie Bennett

Born: Bennett was born in St. Louis and grew up on a farm outside Wentzville, Mo.

Family: Husband, David; two sons, Joshua, who lives just outside of Chicago, and Jason, who lives in Little Rock, Ark.

Occupation: Counselor at Tonganoxie High School.

Interesting fact: Being an “independent sort of gal,” Bennett took home birth classes. Both of her sons were born at home. Joshua was born in Spring Hill with David in attendance, and Jason was born in Atchison with the assistance of David and a midwife.

Digging deeper: After graduating from Wentzville High School, Bennett attended Northeast Missouri State University (now known as Truman State University) where she received a bachelor’s in special education. After working in Wentzville and then stops in Fort Scott and Columbus, she moved to Atchison with her husband and took a job at Atchison Middle School as a special education teacher.

She earned a master’s in counseling psychology from Kansas University during that time and within a few years took a position as high school counselor at Atchison High School. It was nine years ago that she retired from public education and started a new position as assistant professor in the education department at Benedictine College in Atchison. She also earned her doctorate in educational leadership through the University of Missouri in Columbia during that time. She left her position at BC to become the junior/senior counselor at Tonganoxie High School for the current school year.

Bennett enjoys socializing with friends, using technology, gardening and reading on her Kindle. She also likes fishing/camping in the family RV and traveling, especially to visit her two sons.