Congratulations to Corey Bedenbaugh who was named as the Lexington County School District Three overall Teacher of the Year on Tuesday, September 17th during a special banquet that was held in the front lobby of the new state-of-the-art gymnasium that was recently built on the campus of Batesburg-Leesville High School. Mr. Bedenbaugh, who is celebrating 11 years in the education profession, is an eighth grade South Carolina History teacher at Batesburg-Leesville Middle School.

A lifelong resident of Leesville and graduate of Saluda High School, Mr. Bedenbaugh earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in History from Newberry College in 2012 and a Master’s Degree in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Phoenix in 2017. Prior to joining BLMS, Mr. Bedenbaugh taught seventh grade Social Studies at Pelion Middle School, where he was honored as Teacher of the Year in 2017.

Mr. Bedenbaugh says he chose to work in Lexington Three to be part of a community that values the personal connection between educators and students. Growing up in small educational settings himself, he knew he wanted to work in an environment where he could know each student by name and be part of a closely-connected community. Since his first day in Lexington Three, Mr. Bedenbaugh says he has felt a strong sense of belonging, surrounded by supportive colleagues and engaged students. The family-like atmosphere of Lexington Three, where everyone works together to ensure student success both academically and in life, is what he believes makes this district unique.

Mr. Bedenbaugh was one of four teachers vying for the title of overall Lexington County School District Three Teacher of the Year. Other finalists included Aimee Kirkland from Batesburg-Leesville Primary School, Brittnee Milewski from Batesburg-Leesville Elementary School and William Ash from Batesburg-Leesville High School.

The four Teacher of the Year finalists walked away with a host of prizes on Tuesday evening courtesy of various businesses, organizations and individuals. Lexington Three would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to the following sponsors for their support:

-123 on Main

-Artwork by Jeni Hand

-Blair’s Bites

-B-L Chamber of Commerce

-Batesburg-Leesville High School Building Construction Class

-Batesburg-Leesville High School Welding Class

-Cedar Lane

-Contract Construction

-Debbie Taylor Jewelry Designs

-Economy Furniture

-Groucho’s

-Jumper, Carter, Sease Architects

-Kenneth Shuler Schools of Cosmetology

-Kindred Boutique

-Lexington County School District Three District Office

-Lexington County School District Three Technology Department

-Monogram Manor

-Oswald Wholesale Lumber

-Peaches ‘N Such

-RyeCorp, LLC

-Shealy’s BBQ

-Shear Pleasure Salon

-Sophisticated Rustic

-Southern Fox Sweets

-Starbucks

-Sweet Simplicity

-The Attic

-The Nest by Cregger Company

-The Nut House

-The Spotted Bunny

-The Woman’s Society of Batesburg-Leesville

-Unique Image Salon

-Wiz’s Eatery 2.0

In addition, Mr. Bedenbaugh will receive a $1,000 stipend from the SC General Assembly in April of 2025. He will also go on to represent Lexington County School District Three in the South Carolina Teacher of the Year competition that begins in January.

Click here to watch our finalists in action in their classrooms!