Greenville County Schools awards 2026-27 Teacher of the Year 3%
By Nina Tran4%
8/6/2026, 10:51:45 AM
BS Summary: This article contains 7 faulty reasoning types, including Overconfidence Bias, Halo Effect, and Framing Effect, with Appeal to Authority as the most egregious example at 13% saturation with 54 hits. Analysis detected 156 faulty-reasoning hits from 416 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 7.1% and a BS Rank of 3% (29,949 of 30,584 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 97.90% of the article peer group.
Mary Grace Carson, a teacher at Carolina High and Academy, was named the 2026-27 Greenville County Schools Teacher of the Year.
The event, held at the Greenville Convention Center, also recognized three runners-up for the top teaching award.
Awards were also presented to exemplary first-year teachers and those in their second or third year of teaching.
About 700 people attended Greenville County Schools' Teacher of the Year breakfast on Thursday, Aug. 6, at the Greenville Convention Center.
Superintendent Burke Royster named Mary Grace Carson, a government and economics teacher at Carolina High and Academy, as the 2026-27 Teacher of the Year.
Upon receiving the award, Carson expressed gratitude for being selected as one of the district’s top educators.
She also thanked her husband and Carolina High School for their continued support.
“Being a teacher is such a privilege because we are able to help develop future leaders.
It is an honor to receive the support of exceptional, transformative leaders in education and our community partners,” Carson said.
“We are stronger together.
Keep investing in yourself, your craft, public education, and our local community.”
The Teacher of the Year award is an annual recognition program that honors outstanding educators across the district.
To qualify, each school selects a teacher of the year.
Those teachers then complete a comprehensive application reviewed and scored by screening committees.
A separate judging committee, made up of a former Teacher of the Year, a retired district administrator, representatives from higher education and community partners, ranks the top one-third of applicants and selects 10 finalists.
The three runner-ups for the Teacher of the Year Award include:
First runner-up: Graham Garcia, eighth grade math teacher at Lakeview Middle School.
Second runner-up: Bill Twaler, culinary arts instructor at Enoree Career Center.
Third runner-up: Jessica Yale, special education teacher at Travelers Rest High School.
The district also recognized exemplary first-year teachers.
Recipients of the First Class Awards were Makaela Letayf, third-grade teacher at Alexander Elementary School and Caleb Brown, U.S. history and human geography teacher at Riverside High School.
Outstanding teachers in their second or third year of teaching were also honored.
Lia Winters, a special education teacher at Berea Elementary School, and Lori Foley, a physical education teacher at Carolina High School and Academy, received emerging teacher of the year awards.
Nina Tran is the breaking news and education reporter for The Greenville News, part of the USA TODAY Network.
Reach her via email at ntran@usatodayco.com.
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