New FSHS AD Amanda Faunce ready for latest challenge

photo by: USD 497

Amanda Faunce, new athletic director for Free State High School.

Amanda Faunce has always been ready to embrace any challenge thrown at her.

For that reason, the prospect of being the Free State High School athletic director was one she couldn’t turn down when she was offered the position earlier this summer. Without any hesitation, Faunce accepted the offer on the spot.

“I was excited to try something new and go somewhere different,” Faunce said. “I’m not a complacent person. I felt for myself, personally and professionally, it was time for me to challenge myself. The way things happened, I felt like this was exactly what I needed to do.”

Faunce replaces Mike Hill, who chose to focus on teaching and coaching at Free State after 14 years as an assistant principal. District leaders determined that due to the size of the high schools and the demands and responsibilities of the job, high school administrators will no longer take on coaching duties.

Prior to joining FSHS, Faunce spent eight years as an assistant principal and three as an athletic director at Olathe East. She also spent nine years teaching social studies and Advancement Via Individual Determination, or AVID, program at Olathe North, which is the high school she graduated from.

“For me personally, it is the challenge of getting a fresh start somewhere and pushing myself outside of my comfort zone,” Faunce said. “When I left North to go to East, that was personally very challenging. But I had the opportunity to meet so many new people and grow, I think that this is going to be another experience for me.”

Faunce played at the collegiate level at MidAmerican Nazarene University before multiple knee surgeries ended her playing career. She coached volleyball and girls basketball at Olathe North before electing to pursue an administrative role when she decided to get her Master’s degree at Baker University.

After starting in early July, Faunce sat down with a number of Free State coaches to work on forming relationships. She said she was eager to learn the traditions of the program, though she’s seen glimpses of it from being in the Sunflower League.

“Obviously, Free State has a tremendous athletic program,” Faunce said. “I want to get to know my coaching staff and form relationships there. I want us to be a cohesive unit. That is very important to me. I want to get to know the student-athletes, which is very important to me.”

Mostly, Faunce has spent her first month on the job gathering as much information about the program during the slower summer days, so she can hit the ground running during the school year.

Once she gets settled, Faunce hopes to implement some of her own ideas to help improve a quality athletic program. She plans to start a student-athlete leadership team, a program she created at Olathe East.

“I think one of my responsibilities, as well as the coaching staff, is to ensure student-athletes are going to be successful once they do reach the end of their playing careers,” Faunce said. “I’m really excited to get to know the coaching staff and student-athletes, but also get the opportunity to put my own stamp on things.”

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