About Us
Andrea Bishop - Founder & Owner of Upstate Literacy, LLC
Hello! I am Andrea Bishop the founder and owner of Upstate Literacy. I am also the lead literacy specialist here.
My passion for teaching struggling readers to read came through my very own journey with my youngest son. We recognized early on that he had a struggle recognizing letters, connecting letters to sounds, sequencing, etc. After a professional evaluation, we learned that he was severely dyslexic and needed a structured literacy approach to learn to read. This set this mama on a mission, not just for my son, but for all struggling readers.
I went back to college as a mama of 2 to earn an education degree from USC Upstate, became a certified South Carolina teacher, and have taken many additional certification courses to grow in my knowledge of how the brain learns best to read, the most efficient and effective strategies to help our students, etc.
We are always learning here at Upstate Literacy!
Not all of our students have a formal diagnosis of dyslexia. If you have a child who struggles to learn to read and they're just not "getting it" in their current learning environment, we'd love to be a small part of their journey and help them become successful readers.
Buiding relationships and confidence then breaking the code to reading!
I love Jesus. I am married to my best friend and we have two cool kiddos. We love to spend time with our big family and go on adventures together.
Romans 8:37-39
Ashley Schell - Reading Specialist
Hi! My name is Ashley Schell and I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to work at Upstate Literacy! I have worked with children of all ages, but have mostly worked with pre-K up to 2nd grade students. For a little over 13 years I served the military community overseas in Germany as a civilian teaching students. It was such a great experience to serve families from all over the world, and to guide them not only by teaching but by helping them through different life experiences that the military life brings. While overseas I took as many face-to-face college courses that were offered on base through Central Texas College in elementary education, and then finished my degree with Liberty University and obtained my bachelor’s degree. I have been back in the Upstate since 2017. I have 3 fur babies Lex, Reesie, and Maverick who are always keeping me on the go! I currently teach 2nd grade at a Chinese immersion school in Greenville which is perfect for me since I love to learn about different countries and languages! I look forward to meeting all of you soon and guiding your little ones on their road to becoming stronger readers!
Kristen Burgess - Reading Specialist & Kickstart to K5 Teacher
Hi! My name is Kristen Burgess and I am blessed to join the Upstate Literacy team. I have a B.S from Lander University and M.Ed. from Western Carolina University. I am a recently retired reading interventionist with Greenville County Schools and also have taught in K4-K5 classrooms in Beaufort County. I am excited to have the opportunity to work with older grade levels as well at Upstate Literacy.
My husband Gary and I are both from the upstate. I am from Woodruff and he is from the Berea area of Greenville. We have two grown daughters, Cayce and Carey, and two grandchildren. I love to spend time with friends and family, read and travel with my favorite vacation spot being Key West. I look forward to working with my tutoring students to be an encouraging and supportive partner in their growth and love for reading!
Gene Kearse - Homeschool Support Teacher
My name is Gena Kearse and I am so excited to be working with Upstate Literacy under Andrea Bishop's leadership. Louisiana State University is my alma mater and other teaching certifications I received at Clemson. I have training and experience in structured literacy and have been a special education teacher for 20 years and am passionate about teaching children in reading, writing or math.
My husband and I live in Landrum and on weekends we enjoy exploring new areas to ride bikes. I have recently retired from the public school system and have a list of so many things I have been waiting to do ”once I have time”. I do have 12 grandchildren with tons of energy so I’m sure they will be waiting for me to take them swimming, hiking and mountain biking!
Dr. Erica Tate - Reading Specialist
I am so excited to have joined the Upstate Literacy Team! I’m Dr. Erica Tate and I’m very passionate about teaching reading and building reading fluency for all ages. I have taught all grades at the elementary level from K5-5th! I also have taught remedial English and Reading at the collegiate level.
In addition to teaching, I mentor 1st and 2nd year teachers, and those entering the teaching profession from an alternate licensure path. I am a one-time nominee for the Distinguished Teacher of Literacy award from the Palmetto State Literacy Association. Proudly, I am a LETRS graduate, which is an accredited reading teacher program of methodology and instruction by the International Dyslexia Association. I received my B.A. from Clemson University, go Tigers, and my M.Ed. and Ed.D from Southern Wesleyan University, go Trojans!
I live in the country with my husband and two of our daughters. My oldest daughter and son-in-law live out of state with our grandson. I love being a grandma and try to spend as much time as I can with our precious grandchild! We all love the outdoors and live for summertime!
“Love one Another as Jesus loves you. Try to show kindness in all that you do. Be gentle and loving in deed and in thought, for these are the things Jesus taught” John 13:15, 34
Elizabeth Acho - Reading Specialist
My name is Elizabeth Acho. I am so excited to join Upstate Literacy this year! have taught in public and private settings for the past 11 years. While I was teaching middle school ELA, I realized many of my students were missing many fundamental reading skills, and I became interested in exploring literacy. I have a B.S. in Elementary Education and Early Childhood from Anderson University and an M.Ed in Learning Disabilities from North Greenville University. Recently I obtained certification to teach Spanish and Secondary English.
My husband, David, is a pastor, and we minister to the Hispanic population in Pickens County. We have three children, and one of my favorite things to do is read with them. I also enjoy walking, reading, learning languages, and a good cup of coffee! I am looking forward to a great year!
Specialized Trainings...
All of our tutors are trained and experienced in a structured linguistics approach (aka: speech-to-print). Our approach is very effective for beginning readers, and struggling readers, including those with dyslexia and/or dysgraphia or other language-based learning differences. This is the approach we use with all of our students.
Mrs. Andrea has completed 95 hours of training in Orton-Gillingham under a Fellow of the Orton Academy. She also has extensive teaching experience with the OG method for struggling readers at the first public school in SC explicitly for dyslexic students and/or the characteristics of it.*
Trained in Lively Letters™ with Reading with TLC. Lively Letters™ is a research-based and clinically-proven, multi-sensory reading program that uses: embedded Imagery; mouth, hand, and body cues, music; and funny Mnemonic stories to help teach individual and multi-letter sounds and names, and takes students into reading and spelling.