Teachers & Assistants

Michael Carpenter

Civics and World History

Extension: 6142

 Email: [email protected]

I am a native of Cleveland County, and a graduate of Burns High School. I attended UNC Charlotte, where I was a North Carolina Teaching Fellow and met my wife Amber. Throughout my career, I have had the opportunity to teach social studies to students from grades 5 to 12 in Gaston, Rutherford, and Cleveland counties. I have a son named Everett, and I love sports, spending time outdoors, and traveling with my family. I have a passion for history and education, and I am blessed to have the privilege to work with the awesome staff and students of CECHS.


Kamie Champion

English II & English IV

Extension: 6153

 Email: [email protected]

I am a life long resident of Cleveland County and a graduate of Kings Mountain High School. Being a teacher was not my chosen profession, but God knew better and opened the door for me to begin my career at my alma mater. After 22 years of teaching English at KMHS, I am excited to be at CECHS. I received a BA in Journalism/Mass Communication from UNC-Chapel Hill, an MA in Secondary English Education from Gardner-Webb, and have been a National Board Certified English teacher since 2003.

Walking, reading (favorite novels: To Kill a Mockingbird and Where the Crawdads Sing), hanging with my forever friends, traveling, and spending time at any beach are just a few of the things I enjoy. I love my people; they include Kevin, my sweet husband of 30 years; my boys-Chan(his wife, Whitney) and KC; and my daddy.


Dennis Elliott

Math 1 & Math 2

Extension: 6141

 Email: [email protected]

I am a Cleveland County native and a graduate of Burns High School. I graduated from N.C. State University – Go Pack! - with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. I have spent 13 years in pharmaceutical and automotive manufacturing, and am now enjoying working in two of my passions – teaching and math!

 In my off time, I love spending time with my wife, Diana and three wonderful kids. I also enjoy traveling, reading, sports, hiking, and playing board games.


Edie Greenlee

Career Coach
English III

Extension: 6154

Email: [email protected]

 I am a Cleveland County native and graduated from Kings Mountain High School. I have a BA in English Communications, Master’s in Reading Literacy and National Board Certification in Secondary English. I love learning new things, taking classes and continuing my education. I began my career in pharmaceutical sales and after 15 years made the decision to do what I love and teach high school English. This is my fourth year at Cleveland Early College.

I have one daughter and three grandpuppies. I am also Mom to Jackson, a Yorkie and my cats, Beckham and Andy. I enjoy reading, thrift shopping and travel.


Amy Kratzer

English I 

Extension: 6140

 Email: [email protected]

Originally from South Carolina, I graduated from the University of Georgia, School of Journalism with a BA in Public Relations. After working in corporate and non-profit public relations for several years, I discovered my passion for teaching. I have been an educator since 2000 and have a deep love for reading and writing, and helping students discover their creative potential. I am married with four children and enjoy traveling with my family, reading psychological thrillers, and watching TV. I’m a huge “Stranger Things” fan and love Broadway musicals.


Mitch Lipscomb

Math 2 & Math 3

Extension: 6150

 Email: mlipscomb@clevelandcountyschools.org

I was born and raised here in Cleveland County. I graduated from Crest High School and entered UNCC with the intention of completing a degree in computer engineering. I soon discovered that it was the mathematics in engineering that attracted me to that major. So, after a slight change of direction and four years later, I graduated with a degree in mathematics and a minor in psychology. I began my teaching career at Burns High School where I taught math for 30 great years. While there, I completed and then renewed my National Board Certification, earned my masters degree in Instructional Technology, and taught everything from PreAlgebra to AP Calculus. I retired from teaching in 2018, but...teaching had not retired from me.

In addition to being a teacher, I am Sharon's blessed husband of 32 years and Bethany and Abigail's very proud father. I love to read and watch Sci-Fi and listen to music from the 80s. I have a Far Side sense of humor, specialize in puns, talk to our three dogs, and I rarely turn down a cup of coffee.

I am fascinated and amazed by the mathematical interconnectedness of the world around us and was created with a desire to share that awareness with young minds.


Molly Ludwick

Earth Science & Biology

Extension: 6149

 Email: moludwick@clevelandcountyschools.org

I am originally from the world’s tiniest town in the middle-of-nowhere Pennsylvania, which is where my love for the science of nature began because there was literally nothing else to do! I always wanted to be a teacher, at least until it was time to go to college. I took the long route to education by first earning my Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Travel and Tourism from Mansfield University. Upon graduating, I immediately started taking classes to become certified to teach Earth and Space Science and pursue my true passion which is learning and teaching science. I have been teaching for six years now, primarily 8th grade science, which I loved because I got to teach a little bit of all the sciences. I am so excited to be joining the CREW at CECHS this year! I am looking forward to doing lots of lab experiments and hands-on activities, as well as helping my students discover their inner scientist!

In my free time, I enjoy being one with nature and going on adventures with my husband and three daughters. I have a huge appreciation for music and will listen to just about anything! I love to travel almost as much as I love science, so I usually manage to convince my family to go on science-related vacations. I also love to learn, so I spend a lot of my personal time doing professional development. Most recently, I had the opportunity to learn about scientific ocean drilling through the IODP School of Rock and I am also creating digital materials and resources for National Geographic as part of a grant I received. I am your typical crazy science teacher who wears punny science shirts and laughs at my own terrible jokes. I can’t wait to work and learn with you all this year!


Beverly Owens

Chemistry

 Extension: 6151

 Email: bsowens@clevelandcountyschools.org

From dinosaur digs in Wyoming, to exploring deep-sea habitats at the bottom of the ocean, exploring science is where I want to be! I love science, and I enjoy sharing science with my students.

 I have studied subseafloor sedimentology in Hawaii, Ancestral Puebloan culture in Colorado, tropical ecology in Belize, archaeology in Montana, space physics and instrumentation on board MAVEN with NASA, engineering at the US Naval Academy, Indigenous Peoples of North Carolina as a UNC World View Global Fellow, and Information Communication Technology with Fulbright Japan. As a Kenan Fellow, I conducted an internship with American Zinc Products, the only facility in the world that produces high-grade zinc made from recycled sources, to learn about sustainability and the application of zinc products.

 I have participated in several at-sea research expeditions, including studying deep-sea coral habitats in the Atlantic Ocean on the R/V Ronald H Brown, and ground-truthing deepwater canyons off the Northeastern coast of the US on board the FSV Henry B Bigelow. I also served as a Science Communication Fellow on Titanic discoverer Dr. Robert Ballard’s research ship the E/V Nautilus, where we explored brine pools in the Gulf of Mexico and transited through the Panama Canal. As a NEA Foundation Global Learning Fellow, I conducted a field study in Peru exploring culture, history, and traditions of the Quechuan people, and hiking at several archaeological sites, including the ancient fortress of Ollantaytambo and the sacred city of Machu Picchu.

I have been an educator since 2003, including teaching in Cleveland County Schools, working part-time as a Program Specialist at the Schiele Museum of Natural History, and serving as the Program Manager of Professional Development at the Discovery Place Education Studio. I received my Associate’s degree from Cleveland Community College, and my Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from Gardner-Webb University. I have certificates in Painting Studies and Natural Science Illustration from the Rhode Island School of Design.

I am a National Board Certified Teacher, and also hold NC Environmental Education certification, MakerBot Curriculum Creator certification, and National Geographic Educator certification. I serve on the Board of Directors for the North Carolina Science Leadership Association, and have received teaching distinctions including the NCSTA Outstanding Science Teacher Award, NCSMT Outstanding K – 8 Educator Award, and the NC Outstanding Earth Science Teacher Award. I am also a recipient of the Burroughs Wellcome Fund Career Award for Science and Mathematics Teachers.

In my down time I enjoy reading, painting, spending time with my family, and exploring nature with my daughter.


Claudia Phillips

Teacher Assistant

 Extension: 6131

 Email: crphillips@clevelandcountyschools.org

I love CECHS!! The Viking family is awesome and being at school is truly my happy place. I am a native of Cleveland County and love to give back through my role as Teaching Assistant. My students are everything to me and I am constantly rewarded by their smiles, achievements and triumphs! Their success is my success. They enrich my life and I am honored to partner in the education of our young people. They are our future.

 I have a lifelong passion for SPANISH! I’ve been studying, learning, and practicing since I was 12 and teaching for 15 years. I instruct Conversational Spanish for Cleveland Community College and help a lot with Spanish here at CECHS.

 I have seven children of my own, three boys and four girls! I had the immense blessing of adopting 6 of them. They range in age from 10-30! And now I am so lucky to have my first grandchild who is a year old! I also have my own jewelry business which I adore. I am passionate about serving and bringing SPARKLE into the lives of others! I am a people person and enjoy anything social, travel, cooking, entertaining (which I mostly do with food lol), music, singing, dancing, laughing, and anything shiny! Oh yes and I am crazy about bees and affectionately call my classroom "The Hive!"  


Jordan Willis

 American History and Civics

Extension: 6148

 Email: [email protected]

I am a transplant to Cleveland County as my family hails from Cowpens, South Carolina. I also spent many formative years in Union, SC. My college years were spent majoring in History and Religious Studies at the University of South Carolina and I also completed a significantly large number of graduate hours there in Religious Studies and Philosophy before obtaining my MA with a History concentration at UNC-Wilmington.

As I am lucky enough to work within my vocation, my down time is still spent reading through dense academic texts, writing, researching, and continued contemplation of the big questions of life. I am also something of a weightlifter and enjoy communing with nature. I am part of the Nintendo faithful. I have an on/off relationship with comic books, cartoons, and anime. I am a devoted fan of dialogue heavy sitcoms, silent films, and British television. I’m a fan of just about any type of music, but chances are high that my car radio is tuned in to WDAV, the NPR Classical station. Lastly, as a father, I love introducing these things to my two children, Mycroft and Zelda.

I have been with CCS since 2015 and have spent the majority of my time teaching seventh grade social studies at Shelby Middle School. During my time there I piloted a few middle school level classes in African American Studies, Latin American Studies, and Philosophy. I am very excited to be a part of the CECHS family.