During closed session on April 19, the Gasconade County R-2 Board of Education hired Megan Young to be the new Owensville Elementary School (OES) assistant principal.

Superintendent Dr. Jeri Kay Hardy said Young has been in the school district for five years.

“She will continue to be a great asset to the district,” Hardy said. “She is an Owensville graduate. When we look at experience in administration, she has over 300 hours that she has logged covering administrative duties and assisting with duties in our district alone.”

Young, who is excited to begin her administrative career, currently teaches sixth-grade English and language arts.

“I am excited because I feel I’m a systems person — I improve systems to improve outcomes,” Young said about her work. “My passions are for reading and behavior interventions.”

She feels that transferring to the elementary school and working as an administrator help impact a larger group of students than just the ones in her classroom.

“It is better to intervene early at the elementary school level,” Young said. “I want to make the greatest impact with my skills.”

During her five years in the district, Young worked at Gerald Elementary School (GES) as a second-grade teacher for one year and a fourth-grade teacher for two years before transferring to OMS and teaching sixth-grade language arts for two years.

“ELA has a flexibility to the content,” she said. “There is a science to teaching reading; how to read data to help kids overcome (obstacles).”

Young said by helping other teachers understand the system better, they can make a bigger impact and help more kids.

“Through teaching, I’ve gotten to teach the same kids multiple times with jumps from different grades and between buildings,” Young said. “I will miss forming the close bonds with the students, but I am looking forward to administration and improving systems.”

Young added that she doesn’t plan to leave the district as she and her husband are both Owensville alumni and their families live locally.

“My mom is the school nurse at OES, so I get to go work with my mom,” Young joked. “Long-term, I would like to move up and do curriculum leadership as well. I am excited to work with Tricia (Ridder, OES principal) and get my feet wet as an administrator.”

Young is married to Ron Young of Owensville. The couple recently welcomed a son, three-month-old Rory Young.

Young enjoys nature and the outdoors. She has previously helped to coach cross country. She has two classroom turtles, Fred and Aldo.

”There are things I will miss about teaching, but it is neat that I have been at GES, OES and OMS and now back to OES,” she said. “It gives me an opportunity to see the diversity in the district.”

Young received her degree in education with a minor in music from Lindenwood University. She also received her master’s degree from Missouri Baptist.

“She is going to be great and will do amazing things for kids,” Hardy said. “The thing that is exciting when we are doing interviews is that our candidates stand out above candidates from other places. Young was the only internal candidate that applied for the position.”

Young will take over the OES assistant principal position on July 1, when the current assistant, Brad Royle, moves to Gerald to take over the principal position there from Jared Tharp who is leaving the district for a position in Fulton.