Prince Avenue Christian School is a ministry of Prince Avenue Baptist Church. All PACS Board members are active members of PABC and may serve up to six years of continuous service.
Brian Elrod - Chair
Brian Elrod graduated from Luther Rice Bible College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Religion and Christian Worldview. He is a commercial real estate broker with The Elrod Group. Brian married his wife, Kim, in 2000, and they currently have four children attending PACS. Brian joined the board in 2016.
Richard Frierson - Vice Chair
Richard Frierson graduated from Berry College in 1995 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science. In 1996 he married his wife, Amy, and together they came to Athens in 1997 to begin their work as full-time house parents with WinShape Homes, a long-term foster care program established by Truett Cathy, the founder of Chick-fil-A. Since that time, the Friersons have had 12 children graduate from Prince Avenue, and they currently have 6 children in the school. Richard began his service on the board in 2009.
Jan Barham - Secretary
Dr. Jan Barham serves as Associate Dean of Students and Director of the Tate Students Center for the University of Georgia. She also serves as Graduate Faculty in the College of Education, instructing courses at the masters and doctoral level.
Jan graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Communication Sciences from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She then received a Master of Science degree in Human Development and Psychological Counseling from Appalachian State University and a Ph.D. in Student Affairs Administration from the University of Georgia.
In 2004, Jan married Ed, and they have two daughters who attend Prince Avenue. Jan joined the board in July 2018.
Dianne Bahnsen
Dianne Bahnsen (Board Secretary) graduated from the University of Georgia in 1969 with a Bachelor of Science in Education and in 1975 with a Master’s of Education. Dianne married her husband, Lynn, in 1969. She previously taught in the business department at Athens Technical College, but now she enjoys being a homemaker and grandmother of seven, six of whom are currently enrolled at Prince Avenue and one graduate (’18). Dianne joined the board in 2016.
Chad Cleveland
Chad Cleveland serves as the Controller for the University of Georgia and has worked at various levels in the University’s business office since graduating from UGA in 1994 with a Bachelors in Business Administration in Accounting.
Chad married his wife, LeAnn, in 1995, and they have three sons, two of whom are currently enrolled at Prince and one who graduated (’18). Chad began his service on the board in 2010.
Daniel Gowder
Dr. Daniel W. Gowder graduated from North Georgia College and State University in 2000 with a bachelor’s degree in biology, earned his medical doctorate at the Medical College of Georgia in 2004, and completed his Emergency Medicine Residency at Palmetto Health Richland and the University of South Carolina in 2007. Dr. Gowder is American Board of Emergency Medicine certified and has worked at Piedmont Athens Regional since 2010 in the Emergency Department. He served on active duty in the United States Air Force from 2007-2010 and has continued to serve in the Air National Guard since 2010 as a physician and has deployed worldwide. Dr. Gowder married his wife, Rachel, in 2002; they have four children, three of whom are school age and attend Prince Avenue. He joined the board in 2017.
Emily Hicks
Emily Hicks graduated from the University of Georgia with a Bachelor of Arts in Speech Communication and from Piedmont College with a Master of Arts in Teaching in the field of Social Science. Emily married her husband, Joe, in 1998 and is currently on staff at Prince Avenue Baptist Church. Emily has three children attending Prince Avenue Emily joined the board in 2017.
Scott McCall
Scott McCall works at TRS Labs as Business Manager. He graduated from Liberty University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Broadcasting. Scott also achieved a Master of Business Administration from the State University of New York and a Master of Arts degree from the College of Journalism at the University of Georgia.
In 1990, Scott married his wife, Christy, who was in the first graduating class of Prince Avenue. They have two children who have graduated from Prince (’14 and ’17) and one daughter still enrolled at the school. Scott joined the board in 2018.
Tom Wells
Dr. Thomas Wells graduated from Georgia College and State University with a Bachelor of Science in Biology and a Minor in Chemistry and received his medical degree from the Medical College of Georgia. Dr. Wells has worked as an internist at Hawthorne Medical Associates since 1997. In 1994 he married his wife, Amy, and they have two children who graduated from Prince Avenue (‘16 and ’18) and two other children currently enrolled in the school. Dr. Wells began his service on the board in 2012.