Michael Townes is a middle school English Language Arts and Social Studies teacher at the J. Harley Bonds Middle School Alternative Program in Greenville (SC) County School District. After a brief stint in a charter school early in his career, Michael has been in Alternative education since 2013, at two different GCSD Alternative program locations. As a career-changer from the private sector, Michael’s focus is always on practical, real-world solutions regarding trauma-informed skills that can be applied either in or out of school by both students and educators alike.