Faculty Gallery

Harrison Brookie graduated from Clemson University where he obtained a Bachelor’s in Secondary Education and Master’s in Economics. Before coming to the Governor’s School, Harrison was a social studies teacher for 15 years in traditional, International Baccalaureate, and Charter high schools.

He has taught every required high school social studies course, as well as AP U.S. History and AP Microeconomics. This has given him a deep appreciation of how multiple fields of study connect to each other and to the real world students live in. Harrison loves an active classroom where everyone is encouraged to speak up and deeply listen.

As the owner and Executive Director of the Alchemy Comedy Theater, he’s also an artist. Harrison teaches and performs improv weekly here in Greenville, SC.

Katie Byrd grew up in North Carolina and earned a B.S. in Earth and Ocean Sciences and a Master of Arts in Teaching from Duke University. She was a National Science Foundation Robert Noyce Senior Fellow as a master's student. After graduation, Katie relocated to New York City and taught for five years at the James Baldwin School in Manhattan. At Baldwin, Katie wrote and taught curriculum in climate change, urban ecology, nutrition, and astrobiology. She also developed and hosted the annual STEAM Nite, created fieldwork, and student research opportunities in collaboration with the NYC Department of Environmental Protection (How Healthy is the Gowanus Canal? 2014), the American Museum of Natural History (extremophile investigation, 2015), and NASA (How Can NYC Become More Climate Resilient? 2015-2016).

In 2015, Katie was awarded the Math for America Master Science Teacher Fellowship and in 2016 was a NASA Climate Change Research Initiative Teacher Fellow at the NASA GISS research center. Then, in her words, she got tired. And she quit. And she traveled to 32 countries over the course of a year. In 2017, Katie and her husband Sonny (a Govie alum) moved to South Carolina and she began teaching again. Now in her tenth year of teaching she thinks she has the best job in the world, talking about science (and life) with young people, who are just the perfect amount of weird and special.

Bridget is a proud South Carolina native, dedicated school counselor, and Greenville newbie as of July 2021.  She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology with a minor in elementary education from the University of South Carolina-Columbia, a Master of Education in Counselor Education from South Carolina State University, and a Master of Education in Educational Leadership from Winthrop University.  She served as a school counselor at Northwestern High School in Rock Hill, SC, for the past 16 years and acted as the Director of School Counseling her last two years. 

Bridget is excited about learning a new school and a new city.  Most importantly, she is excited to serve as a listening ear, cheerleader and advisor to her students. Her hobbies include journaling, thrift shopping and anything that involves HGTV or the Hallmark channel.  Her mantra is “Believe you can, and you will” (Author unknown). 

Anna Katherine Freeland completed her BA In English at Converse College and earned her MFA from Pacific University. She co-founded The Writers Block Project and taught literature and creative writing in maximum security prisons for nine years. Her prose has appeared in Didn’t See It Coming, The Emrys Journal, Talk, AtHome, and recently, her poetry has appeared in Prospectus Literary Journal, Emrys Journal, and Passengers Journal. She teaches AP English Language, serves as the Chair of the Academic Department, and directs the Creative Writing summer programs. 

A.K. also coaches runners for half marathons and marathons. She has run 24 marathons and ultramarathons and completed Grand to Grand, a 170 mile, seven day stage race.

A.K. reads, writes, and evangelizes about poems and finds teaching at SCGSAH nothing short of magical. 

Marion Grier has been an instructor of world languages, with certification in French/German/ESOL, for over 25 years.  Originally from Detroit, she spent one year studying in Clermont-Ferrand, France as part of the BA foreign study program at Kalamazoo College, Kalamazoo, MI.  She later completed an MBA at Clemson University while working in the accounting, marketing, and language lab departments of the Michelin Tire Corporation.  She has conducted several student exchange programs in Germany and has been selected to participate in a wide variety of language seminars and programs:

2018 - Selected by AATG as a Chaperone for its Summer Study Program, Kiel, Germany.

2015 – Bundesministerium für Frauen, Summer Seminar Erzähl Mir Was (Digital Storytelling in German), Vienna, Austria.

2014 – National Endowment of the Humanities, Summer Seminar, “France’s Legacy - WWI and WWII”, Paris and Caen, France.

2011 – US Department of State, “Teacher Excellence & Achievement Program,” Stara Zagora, Bulgaria.

2007 – AATG Award; “Immersion Methodologies,” Summer Seminar, Concordia Language Villages, MN.

2004 – Koscuisko Foundation; English Immersion Summer Camp, July, Limanova, Poland.

2003 – AATG Award; Goethe Institute, Summer Seminar, Kunst & Kultur (Art & Culture) Berlin, Germany.

Rose Jenkins comes to the Governor's School from Midlands Technical College where she has taught mathematics for 22 years. She is an alumna of Spelman College where she earned a B.S. degree in mathematics. Jenkins also holds masters degrees in Mathematical Sciences from Clemson University and in Educational Technology from the University of South Carolina. Jenkins is the mother of Michaela Jenkins, a rising senior at Kenyon College and a 2015 graduate of the Governor's School.

Justin Koury has been teaching in South Carolina for 10 years, most recently at Lake View High School in the Pee Dee. He graduated with a degree in Economics and Business from the University of South Florida and a Masters in Instructional Technology from Coastal Carolina University. He typically takes a course in something over the summer along with reading, traveling, and relaxing. He also participated in crafting the support documents for South Carolina's mathematics standards. He is eager to share his love of learning and the beauty of mathematics with students during the new school-year.
 

Sandra holds a bachelor's degree in German from Ohio State University and a master’s degree from Kent State University in Spanish translation and interpretation. Her love for learning languages started in high school when she was a Rotary exchange student in Basel, Switzerland. She studied at the Universität in Hamburg, Germany and taught English in Valencia, Spain, where she met and married her husband, Antonio. 

After teaching Spanish at a Montessori school in Ohio, she and her family moved to Lexington, South Carolina in 2008, where she earned her teaching certificate through PACE for Lexington One School District. Sandra taught Spanish and German elementary immersion classes as well as high school. She moved to Greenville last year and was an adjunct instructor at Greenville Technical College. 

She enjoys discovering the talents and curiosity of each student. Her favorite things about teaching are opening the minds of others to world languages and guiding them to embrace cultures around the world. 
Sandra looks forward to working with students from Governor's School and  engaging their curiosity in language learning! 
 

Charnise Mangle is an extraordinary social studies teacher and certified literacy teacher and coach. Ms. Mangle is a Greenville native and attended Clemson University, where she earned her Bachelor’s of Science in Secondary History of the Social Sciences in 2012. When she understood the need for teachers to incorporate content specific literacy strategies in their classrooms for student content understanding, she began studying literacy. In 2019, she earned a Master’s of Arts in Education with a concentration in Literacy from Furman University. She will join the faculty of the South Carolina Governor's School for the Arts and Humanities for her first year this fall after six years at Wade Hampton High School in Greenville.

Ms. Mangle has a passion and zeal for teaching social studies and has created a classroom where students can learn about United States History and the Constitution in a compelling and creative way as she guides them on a journey of personal civic duty and community understanding. She will also be teaching United States government and economics and is excited to create new and engaging lessons. She believes she has been called to raise the next generation to become critical thinkers and people of progress. She has been working with high school students since 2009 through YoungLife, student ministry, mentoring, tutoring and teaching.

In 2014, Ms. Mangle worked as a Residential Life Coordinator for the Governor’s School and enjoyed the experience so much she dreamed of being a part of the academic faculty in the future; she is so excited that the dream is coming true this school year.  

Ms. Mangle is also a published author of her ebook, Understanding Race and Racism in America: A Collection of Resources on Race in the United States of America for Self-Exploration, released in 2020.  

According to Mrs. Rita Pierson, the educator who has profoundly impacted Ms. Mangle, "every child deserves a champion -- an adult who will never give up on them, who understands the power of connection and insists that they become the best they can possibly be."

Mark Sibley-Jones taught at USC-Columbia for fifteen years before coming to the Governor's School. From 2002 to 2006 he taught English Literature at the South Carolina Honors College and advised students across a number of academic disciplines. He is thrilled to be teaching juniors in English III, English IV, and AP English Literature at the Governor's School.

Desiree has spent most of her professional career mentoring and counseling students and adults. She earned a Bachelor of Social Work from Albany State University in Albany, GA and a Master of Arts in Human Services Counseling-Marriage & Family from Liberty University in Lynchburg, VA.  Prior to joining the SC Governor's School for the Arts and Humanities, Desiree served the state of South Carolina as a Licensed Addiction Counselor for 11 years and Greenville County School District as a Special Education Teacher for 3 years.

She is passionate about coaching students to make healthy, informed decisions in order to experience maximum personal and academic success. 

Desiree enjoys spending time with family, playing basketball and board games, and engaging in outdoor activities.