Faculty Gallery

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. 

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.

Heidi M. Clement-Owens has been an instructor of world languages, with certification in French/German/ESOL for over 14 years.  Just moved to Greenville, South Carolina from Central Texas.  She has spent most of her life living abroad and grew up in Germany. She spent two years studying in Bordeaux, France as part of the BA foreign study program at University of Kansas, KS.  Later, she completed a Master of Education in World Language Instruction through Concordia College in Moorhead, MN.  She has taken several students to further their language skills in French and German to Concordia Language Village at Bemidji, MN and has been selected Teacher of the Year by Texas Foreign Language Association (TFLA) for two years.  She received a Texas Senate Proclamation for her excellent teaching contribution in both public and private education in the state of Texas.

Her Teaching Philosophy
One of her primary goals of teaching languages is to help students build a solid foundation in the language learning process as well as help them develop free critical thinking skills. She believes in creating an active learning environment that has meaning. Her teaching style is dynamic, active, and creative as well as a fun learning environment for her students. Being actively engaged in the learning, helps students remain connected to the language being learned and at the same time makes the content more comprehensible and real. Many of her lessons are based on dialogue and discussion which foster life-long learning. 

Originally from Atlanta, Georgia, Nancy DeYoung attended Clemson University and received her BA in Secondary Education and Spanish and her M.Ed. in Secondary Administration and Supervision.  She has worked at various schools in different capacities across the Upstate of South Carolina, but loves teaching young adults and sharing her love of Hispanic culture and the Spanish language. When not at school, Nancy enjoys spending time with her family, friends, and puppies, gardening, and traveling.

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.
 

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 joined the faculty of the South Carolina Governor's School for the Arts and Humanities in 2020 after six years at Wade Hampton High School in Greenville County.

Ms. Mangle has a passion and zeal for teaching social studies and has created a classroom where students can learn about United States Government, AP Government and Politics, Economics and Personal Finance, and United States History and the Constitution in a compelling and creative way as she guides them on a journey of personal civic duty, finance and community understanding.

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 once she became a teacher. She is honored to serve as a faculty member and Chair of the Faculty Council consisting of arts and academic faculty.    

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. She also serves on several committees in Greenville, and is on the Board of Directors for Homes of Hope, Public Education Partners and Lead Collective.   

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.

Mrs. Styer grew up in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

She received her undergraduate degree in Economics with a minor in Business from Penn State University, Post-Baccalaureate in Math Education from Millersville University, and Master’s in Administration from Southern Wesleyan University.

Mrs. Styer taught math for a year at Spring Valley HS in Columbia, SC and then for eight years at Fort Dorchester HS in North Charleston, SC. She taught IB Math while at Fort Dorchester and served as the school's AP coordinator for three years before moving to Greenville, SC in 2019. From 2019-2023 Ms. Styer served as the Advanced Studies Coordinator at Woodmont High School. She also was part of the instructional team and worked with Algebra 1, AP, and IB courses. She lives with her husband, daughter, and two dogs, Yoda and Nuke.

She is excited to be back in the classroom teaching at SCGSAH!

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.