State Treasurer Curtis Loftis Recognizes Amanda Hannah of Dixie High School as Educator of the Month

Abbeville accountant-turned-teacher shares her love of numbers and business to equip students for life

COLUMBIA, S.C. (February 27, 2026) – South Carolina Treasurer Curtis Loftis has recognized Amanda ‘Mandy’ Hannah of Dixie High School as the February Educator of the Month for the South Carolina Financial Literacy Master Teacher Program, an initiative Loftis created to increase the number of K-12 educators teaching personal finance education across the state.

“It’s gratifying to see how creative our South Carolina Financial Literacy Master Teachers like Mandy Hannah are in developing lessons that improve students’ ability to manage their money,” Treasurer Loftis said. “Imparting these vital lessons of beneficial financial behaviors, such as saving, investing, building strong credit and repaying debt are important stepping stones students can use to secure a stronger financial future.”

The South Carolina Financial Literacy Master Teacher Program provides financial incentives to K-12 teachers who are experts in personal finance education and have a passion to share this knowledge with their peers. Since 2020, this ground-breaking program has provided specialized training and free personal finance curriculum resources that better enable them to promote financial literacy education in K-12 schools. It is sponsored by Future Scholar, South Carolina’s 529 College Savings Plan, and in partnership with SC Economics.

A Greenwood-Abbeville native, Hannah pursued a career in accounting and finance, earning an associate’s degree in accounting from Piedmont Tech and a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Lander. She briefly worked for a public accounting firm before becoming the director of finance for a local non-profit organization for more than 20 years. Hannah felt compelled to make another change and her faith led her to teaching and participated in the Teachers of Tomorrow to secure her teaching certification. Since becoming certified, she has also earned a Master of Education from Lander University. Hannah began teaching at Dixie High School in Due West as a long-term substitute for math before transitioning to business education classes. She has also led her students to participate in state and national events for Future Business Leaders of America.

“I truly enjoy teaching business education classes and often wish these types of classes had been offered when I was in high school. I firmly believe that if I had taken a personal finance class, I would have avoided some of the money mistakes I made in life,” Hannah explained. “In fact, every time I teach personal finance lesson, it reminds me to cut back in on my spending, and I hope it does the same for my students.”

 About Future Scholar

Future Scholar, South Carolina’s 529 College Savings Plan, is administered through the State Treasurer’s Office. Recent changes at the federal level have expanded the number of qualified uses for 529 funds, making it even more flexible for families to support a lifetime of learning.  For more information, visit FutureScholar.com or follow @SCStateTreasurer on Facebook. Future Scholar is self-supported and does not receive taxpayer funding.

For media inquiries, please reach out to Allison Mays at Allison.Mays@sto.sc.gov and 803.734.4478