MERNA—After only a few weeks in the area, newly hired Anselmo-Merna Superintendent Logan Lightfoot said Custer County is starting to feel like home. Lightfoot began his new job this week after having previously served as the high school assistant principal for Excelsior Springs, which is north of Kansas City.
Lightfoot was born in Texas but claims Elkhorn, Nebraska as his home. After growing up in Nebraska, he graduated from Northwest Missouri State and earned his doctorate and educational specialist from St. Louis University. Lightfoot taught high school English, coached, and led various student activities before transitioning to administration.
Having enjoyed working for a smaller school system in Weston, Missouri before moving to Excelsior Springs, he and his wife began talking about moving to a smaller town.
“We came up here in November of 2017, of last year, and you know, we kind of fell in love with the place. We came up and Anselmo-Merna has just got beautiful facilities in their school and [I] got to meet a couple of the students, got to meet our board of education, and wow. I mean, you couldn’t hope for a better place to land,” Lightfoot said.
Logan and his wife Leanna have two children, Landry and Lyla. He says the transition has been a whirlwind but that the family is excited to put down some roots and grow as a family.
“We have just been overwhelmed in a very good way about the support we’ve gotten and just the open arms we’ve received since we’ve been here so, definitely been a good ride so far,” Lightfoot said.
Lightfoot told KCNI/KBBN his office door is open and encourages patrons and students to come in, say hi, and talk about future plans for Anselmo-Merna. He is getting to know the board, teachers and staff, and the students, and is grateful for the student-focused team he will work with. Logan said he is grateful there are no major fires to be put out and when asked about future plans for the school, he said he hopes to be as strategic as possible. A school board retreat is scheduled for later in July.
“We want to make sure we’re really good stewards of our resources. It’s not just a plan two or three months down the road, but really kind of looking what’s going to be long-term needs for our kids. What can we really do to really benefit our kids, one, two, three, five years down the road? Those are tough questions but that’s kind of the fun stuff I think,” Lightfoot said.
