Carolina Forest High School is lucky enough to have hard-working, compassionate and inspiring teachers. Each year, the faculty is asked to nominate a teacher who has exceeded expectations in and out of the classroom. Mr. Brennan Allen, a ninth and tenth grade co-English teacher, was chosen as 2022-23 Teacher of the Year.

Allen is an alumni of Conway High School. After obtaining his Associates in the Arts at USC Sumter, he received his Bachelors in Special Education from College of Charleston. He just recently received his Masters in Administration from Arkansas State University. Allen taught at Forestbrook Middle School for five years before coming to The Forest. 

Students and teachers have nothing but nice things to say about the Allen family. Despite only being at CF the past four years, Mr. Allen has made his mark. 

Allen states, “ I watched my father teach and coach for 30 years, interacting with students and athletes and saw the difference he made in their lives firsthand. He taught me to ‘Treat the custodian the same as you would treat the CEO,’ Meaning everybody deserves respect and that I should never think I am better than anybody else because of a job title. Then you have my mother. She was a teacher, a curriculum coach, an assistant principal, a head principal, and now she is under the Superintendent in the district office. Watching her work so hard and become successful has been an inspiration. My sister, Mrs. Mason is also outstanding. The work ethic she has shown and provided for us and her family is impeccable.” [Mrs. Mason is a CFHS assistant principal.]

Growing up with teachers all around him, Allen has all of the personality traits that makes him a teacher to remember. 

He relays that his main goal is to have his students know that he cares about them. He wants to be able to help them as much as possible with all of their needs and that he genuinely respects them. As a student, that is all we can ask for in a teacher. 

Allen adds, “ I love meeting and working with new students within our CF community. Moving to the high school setting has been the best decision of my life. I get to joke around, give nicknames, get nicknames, “pick on” students, and really connect with them. Students are the main reason I became a teacher. I have been giving everything I have ever needed and wanted. Teaching allows me to give back, be a role model, a mentor, and maybe change someone’s life.” 

Outside of school, Allen enjoys golfing with his friends, spending time with his niece and nephew and cooking new recipes for his girlfriend, Alexis. 

A huge congratulations to Mr. Brennan Allen for receiving this accomplishment. Good luck and keep up the great work!