The Gananda Central School Board celebrated the 50th anniversary of the district’s founding on January 10th, 2023. A special ceremony was held prior to the regular board meeting, where former board members were honored with photos, scrapbooks, cake, and a big thank you for their service. The inaugural members of the Gananda Board of Education were: Reverend Paul Cauvel, Richard Mann, Sharon Stanton, William Miller, Martha Mantel, Edward Lonneville, and Fred Switzer.
Former members of the school board who attended the ceremony included Fred Switzer, Martha Mantel Preston, Joyce Rothfuss, Charles “Chip” Rieck, Richard Reese, Chuck Rothfuss, Lena Corleto, Mark Smorol, Steve Nims, Tom Wesley, Lynda Dermady, and Greg Whitney. They reminisced about the events that occurred during their tenures and celebrated the fact that, 50 years and 3 school buildings later, the district is going strong.
A video presentation was shown to remember the history of the district from 1973 to present. The first Superintendent of Schools was Dr. Larry Pedersen, who served from 1974 until 1997. The district began in the building located on Dayspring Ridge, known as the “Neighborhood Center”, and later the “Middle School”. The school building would house grades K-12 for years. With the growing student population, an Elementary School, named after original board member Richard Mann, was completed in 1988.
As the student population continued to grow, the High School Building, named for early School Board member Ruben Cirillo, was completed in 2002. Gananda now educates students from Pre-K through Grade 12 and has graduating classes of about 60 students. The district is proud to have come a long way from its first graduating class of 25 students in 1982.
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