About Mr. Pernell

A Blackville, South Carolina native, Brence Pernell remembers his own middle and high school education well, but not for the reasons one might think. 

“I was frustrated with my own education experience,” says Mr. Pernell. “I have been determined since then to spend some part of my life educating and advocating for young people that looked like me.”

Mr. Pernell, who earned a bachelor’s degree in history from Duke University and a master’s degree in education from Harvard University, now tries to instill that same determination to succeed in his students. “The most difficult thing about teaching is working so hard to reach every single student in your class.  That takes considerable time and creativity.”

“I love to hear the insightful questions and comments from students about controversial topics and issues,” he says. “I love to challenge them to think deeper or differently and teach them how to do that for themselves and their classmates.”

Ultimately, Mr. Pernell wants to pursue a career as an advocate for low-income communities of color and other disadvantaged social groups in education. But for now, he loves to teach, in part because of the influence his high school French teacher had on him.

“My favorite teacher was my French teacher,” Mr. Pernell says. “Despite the fact that I lived in a rural, low-income community in the middle of nowhere in South Carolina, she found a way to convince me that the world was just as much as mine to take on as anyone else’s.  Through song, dance, food, and fashion, she literally made French culture alive and accessible for me.“