Teacher of the Year Program
The South Carolina Department of Education coordinates the State Teacher of the Year Program through the agency’s Division of Educator Quality and Leadership.
The Teacher of the Year program celebrates excellence. Since 1956, one teacher is carefully and thoughtfully selected to represent the Palmetto State’s professional educators. He or she spends a year of service as a roving ambassador providing mentoring, attending speaking engagements, working with Teacher Cadets, leading the state Teacher Forum, and serving as the state spokesperson for the education community.
Every year, the State Superintendent of Education issues an invitation to the state’s 85 school districts, the Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ), and Palmetto United to participate in the program. Participation is optional; yet yearly, over 80 districts, DJJ, and Palmetto Unified each enter an exemplary educator’s application to be considered for State Teacher of the Year. All applications are reviewed by a screening committee which narrows the field to 25 applications. A selection committee then narrows the pool to five finalists. After a series of interviews, the selection committee scores the five finalists. The State Teacher of the Year is announced at a special celebration in the spring.
The program has evolved throughout the years. In 1991, the South Carolina General Assembly provided the funding to allow the State Teacher of the Year to participate in a one-year residency with the Center for Educator Recruitment, Retention, and Advancement (CERRA). In addition, the South Carolina Teacher of the Year receives $25,000; the four Honor Roll teachers receive $10,000; and each District Teacher of the Year receives $1,000. Sponsors throughout the state and nation have donated generously towards an evening of celebration. The State Teacher also receives the use of a beautiful BMW X5 (manufactured at BMW’s South Carolina plant) during his or her year of service.
In previous years, such luminaries as former Governor and United States Secretary of Education Richard Riley, author Pat Conroy, historian Walter Edgars, the late Pulitzer-prize winner and acclaimed memoirist Frank McCourt, the 1985 South Carolina and National Teacher of the Year Dr. Terry Dozier, former United States Senator and South Carolina Governor Ernest Hollings, founder and president of the Children’s Defense Fund Marian Wright Edelman, and others have joined the South Carolina Department of Education in honoring and celebrating the state’s best teachers.
Learn more about the Teacher of the Year application process.