Introducing Anna Foltz!

 Hello everyone! My name is Anna Foltz and I am an instructor in the Early Care and Education Department. I teach the future teachers. 

I grew up in Columbia, S.C (as an undercover Clemson fan) but have been in the upstate for 5 years. I got my Bachelors of Science in Early Childhood Education from Winthrop University and my Master's in Learning and Teaching with a Specialty in Literacy Instruction from Coastal Carolina University. I have taught in the public school setting for 10 years (4K, 5K, and 1st grade), so teaching is not new to me, just teaching bigger people!

          

When I am not teaching, I am running around with my two girls (2 and almost 5). We love to travel to Lake Lure as much as we can, read a lot of books together, and play outside as much as possible. They keep life very exciting and busy.

I really enjoy cooking a good meal for people, reading light-hearted books, and am actively involved in the worship department at my church. 

Fun fact: I lived in California for 3 months one summer cooking fried food and cotton candy at a boardwalk. 

Introducing Professor Caz!

Hello everyone, I'm Matthew Cazessus and I am a sociology instructor at Greenville Technical College. I moved to Greenville about 10 years ago after I finished my graduate courses at the University of South Carolina - Columbia.

When I'm not teaching sociology and leadership courses I play board games, read science fiction, and volunteer in Boy Scouts with my two sons (age 11 and 14). The parks, access to mountains, and community around Greenville seem to be a great fit for having "high energy" kids like these two. 

Beyond parenting and gaming, I love to travel - internationally if possible. My favorite recent trips were to Istanbul, Turkey in Spring 2013 and London, England in 2019. I cannot recommend international travel enough: you learn just as much about yourself and your own culture as you learn about the new place you visit.

My favorite picture from Istanbul - a lamp vendor

One thing that people find interesting about me is that in between undergraduate and graduate school, I worked at a crisis shelter counseling homeless and at-risk youth in Orlando, Florida. Providing case management to young people who were suffering through serious issues was a tremendous inspiration, but as you can guess it is terribly draining emotionally. After about four years of that work, I felt ready to try to go back to school and see if I couldn't study the homelessness issue from an academic rather than personal angle.

I'm looking forward to hearing from you and introducing you to a greater understanding of our teaching opportunities. I hope you enjoy the class and the blogging experience. Let me know if I can ever give you some assistance with any of your coursework by sending me a message through Blackboard, emailing me at cazesmc@my.gvltec.edu, or just talking after class!