On Thursday, October 7th, Mrs. Andrea Derrick was named as the 2021-2022 Lexington County School District Three Teacher of the Year during a special banquet held at Southern Occasions in the historic Batesburg district.
Mrs. Derrick serves as a teacher at Batesburg-Leesville Elementary School where she specializes in the subjects of math, science and social studies. The 2021-2022 school year marks her 28th year in education, with 14 of those years having been spent in Lexington School District Three as an eighth grade teacher, Digital Coach and now as a fourth grade teacher.
Mrs. Derrick earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree from the University of South Carolina with an emphasis in Early Childhood Education and a core concentration in Science in 1993. She has also completed her Bachelor’s Plus 18 certification by taking classes at the College of Charleston, Clemson University, the University of South Carolina, and Winthrop University. Mrs. Derrick holds certifications in early childhood, elementary education, middle school math, middle school science, biology and gifted education.
Mrs. Derrick is married to Clay Derrick and has one daughter, Jill, and a son-in-law, Cole. She also has two furry children (Bailey and Callie) that are of the Catahoula dog breed. In her spare time, she enjoys being with her family, playing with her dogs, camping, exercising, and cheering on the USC Gamecocks and Batesburg-Leesville Panthers.
This is Mrs. Derrick’s second time winning the Lexington Three Teacher of the Year title. During the 2007-2008 school year, Mrs. Derrick served as the Teacher of the Year for Batesburg-Leesville Middle School and went on to be named the overall district Teacher of the Year.
Mrs. Derrick was one of four teachers vying for the title of overall 2021-2022 Lexington County School District Three Teacher of the Year. Other finalists included Jennifer Richardson from Batesburg-Leesville Primary School, Rhonda Rose from Batesburg-Leesville Middle School and Sadie Hallman from Batesburg-Leesville High School. Click here to watch a special video highlighting the four finalists.
The four Teacher of the Year finalists walked away with a host of prizes on Thursday evening courtesy of various community businesses, organizations and individuals. Lexington Three would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to the following sponsors for their support:
B-L Chamber of Commerce
Contract Construction
Debbie Taylor Jewelry Designs
Economy Furniture
Jumper, Carter, Sease Architects
Keiley’s Canvas
Kenneth Shuler Schools of Cosmetology
Kloth
Mela by Jess
Mid-Carolina Electric Cooperative
Monogram Manor
Oswald Lumber
RUSH Clothing Company
Shealy’s BBQ
Shear Pleasure Salon
Southern Fox Sweets
Swanky Fox
Sweet Simplicity
The Attic
The Nest by Cregger Company
The Spotted Bunny
Unique Image Salon
The Women’s Society of Batesburg-Leesville
Mrs. Derrick will go on to represent Lexington County School District Three in the South Carolina Teacher of the Year competition that begins in January.