<em>Photo above:&nbsp;Ashton Converse (right) is named Bridges Prep Teacher of the Year.</em>

Ashton Converse is the Bridges Prep Teacher of the Year following voting by staff at the state charter school. He teaches computer science, computer applications and digital multimedia.

Board Chair Dee Matthews surprised Converse in his classroom with balloons and a certificate recently.

“I know he is a wonderful teacher and is very much a part of what makes Bridges Prep so special,” Matthews said. “We are very proud of the work he has done and will continue to do for our students.”

Converse teaches all students from kindergarten through ninth grade at Bridges Prep. Previously, he taught in Henan, China, at Sias International University.&nbsp;

Converse graduated from Bowling Green State University through a dual major program of business education and marketing education with the Bachelor of Science in Education degree.

“We can teach students … through several means, but who we are to them is more important than how we teach them,” Converse wrote in his Teacher of the Year application. “Interactions with students will define the degree with which a student trusts a teacher.

“Teaching is the way we prepare the next generation of dependable leaders, innovative inventors, diligent workers and productive citizens,” he said.

As Bridges Prep’s Teacher of the Year, his next step will be to submit paperwork for the S.C. Charter School District statewide Teacher of the Year.

To learn more about Bridges Preparatory School, visit www.bridgesprep.org or call 843-982-7737.