My name is Michael Townes. I am a fourteenth-year teacher, and this is my fourth year as a Woodmont Wildcat! Prior to Woodmont, I taught in Greenville County School District's Alternative Education program for a decade. I have also taught 6th and 7th grade English at Langston Charter Middle School. I am a career-changer who came to education in my early 30s, and I now cannot imagine doing anything else with my life. I possess not only a Master's in Teaching from Clemson, but also an MBA and a BA in Journalism from the University of South Carolina (GO GAMECOCKS!) and an Ed.S in School Administration from Furman. (Basically, I collect degrees like Thanos collects Infinity Stones.) This year, in addition to teaching English here at Woodmont, I will be serving as a district evaluator of new teachers, and also assisting the administrative team with whatever I can, as I try to wear a lot of hats this year.
Before going back to school to get my teaching degree, I worked primarily in project management, marketing/advertising, and in sales/customer service. It's that experience that makes me want to strive to teach "real world" communication skills. Likewise, it's my firm belief that better overall literacy (novels, informational text, film, digital, etc.) leads to more effective communication. I will endeavor to relate most of my teaching to real-life concrete examples that students can apply in their own lives. Further, your student can expect to do MANY assignments on paper, especially major-grade assignments; previous years have shown me that students seem to prefer getting off the screens, and it helps increase accountability.
On a personal note, I am the father to two kids myself, a college junior by years (but senior by credit hours) (at USC! *sheds manly tear*) and a high school junior, ages 20 and 16. I'm married to another GCSD teacher, who works teaching US History and several IB classes at Southside High. I also have a goldendoodle named Nanaimo. He is the dumbest "smart" dog I've ever owned. If you are curious as to what "nanaimo" means, this is the Canadian dessert he's named after. In my free time, I'll often be found either at the gym, studying, decompressing in front of what must be every streaming service known to mankind (recent shows as of August 2025: Jeopardy!, The West Wing reruns, Great British Bake-Off, Shrinking, Severance, For All Mankind, and, like, all the Marvel and Star Wars Disney stuff) or my PS5 (recent games: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Dredge, No Man's Sky, Balatro, and god help me, I'm going to get a copy of NCAA Football 26), or trying to figure out good times to travel up north to visit family in Canada, where my wife is from. Because I live a life of EXCITEMENT, let me tell you.
I may or may not* be able to be bribed with gifts of Diet Coke.
*Spoiler: I can't. But the thought is always appreciated.