Ann Clark Kanie was born February 28, 1959 and was raised in Las Vegas, Nevada. She attended Lincoln Elementary when her mother taught there, Jim Bridger Junior High, Rancho High School, and then graduated from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) in elementary education. She began teaching, like her mother, at Lincoln Elementary in North Las Vegas but later changed to Wasden Elementary. Kanie married her husband, Kyle, on August 31, 1985. Her only son chose to follow his mother’s footsteps in education, graduated from UNLV in English education, and taught and coached at Cimarron-Memorial High School.