SC Teacher of the Year seeks to strengthen ties in small town. Bow ties, that is
Corey Bedenbaugh is proud to be South Carolina’s Teacher of the Year for 2025. But his win means that he’ll actually be out of the classroom well into 2026.
“It really is kind of bittersweet leaving my classroom,” said Bedenbaugh, who teaches social studies to eighth graders at Batesburg-Leesville Middle School. “When I came back that Friday [after the award gala], all of my kids were upset because they thought that meant I was out of the classroom right then. They went, ‘So, like, you’re finishing the year with us, right?’”
The 13-year veteran educator was named the Palmetto State’s top teacher in a ceremony on April 24. He found out he was one of five finalists when a surprise delegation came into his small middle school classroom to make the announcement.
“[S.C. Superintendent Ellen] Weaver and the state department and our school board came and surprised me in my classroom,” Bedenbaugh said. “It was 30 kids and 15 adults.”
The honor comes with several perks. Bedenbaugh will receive a $25,000 cash prize, a chance to earn a tuition-free graduate degree from the University of South Carolina, a set of Michelin tires, $2,500 from Bojangles plus $500 in gift cards, and the use of a BMW for a year.
But the new title means he will be taking a break from the teaching he does so well for the next year as he travels to work with and represent educators across the state. It also means temporarily stepping away from the young boys he takes extra time to mentor in his small community on the west side of Lexington County.
“I know several seventh graders that I kind of mentor,” he said. “They’ve been coming by my room, wanting to know if I’m going to be teaching them next year. It’s kind of sad to think you won’t be teaching them, but I am still going to be visible in the school, coming in and seeing everybody.”
Bedenbaugh grew up in the Batesburg-Leesville area, attending school in nearby Saluda. He went to Newberry College, planning to become a lawyer, but then his plans began to change.
“I think I realized early on, probably after that first semester, really, when I began starting to pick classes for the next semester, that those classes really didn’t, I guess, inspire me,” Bedenbaugh said. “My college advisor suggested, since I really enjoyed history, he suggested maybe trying taking some education classes to kind of bring in that history piece to teaching. And it really didn’t take long for me to really see that the teaching profession truly was my calling.”
Bedenbaugh thinks his background allows him to connect with the boys in his classes, some of whom may lack a strong male role model in their lives. A few years after starting his teaching career at Pelion Elementary in 2013, he began his “Bow Ties with Bedenbaugh” program to mentor young boys, inspired by his own penchant for the fancy neckwear and his similarly bow tie-clad Newberry College professor Jesse Scott. He brought the concept with him to Batesburg-Leesville in 2017.
“That really kind of fueled my mentorship fire, to really, you know, get to know my students, to really get to know their stories, their interests, and really what makes them unique,” he said. “So I think that’s an important piece of education. I’ve always been a big believer that when students know that you care about them, they care as well.”
Each year, there are several students Bedenbaugh will have come in a little early for some one-on-one time with students who could benefit from some more guidance.
“Whenever we do meet, we really focus on their grades, their behavior, and we really, most importantly, really try to celebrate those successes that they have had,” Bedenbaugh said. “Because I think those successes are really what kind of inspires them, and kind of lights their lights, the sparks to really motivate them.”
If he thinks it will give them a little boost of confidence and inspiration, Bedenbaugh teaches them to tie their own bow tie. He’s even had several donated over the years.
Bedenbaugh admits that part of their appeal is he finds them easier to tie than a long neck tie.
“There’s really an opportunity to try to bridge their home life and their school, to really encourage them and really provide that support they need to really be the best versions of themselves,” he says. “And middle school is an awkward age for so many. I think I’ve blacked out most of my middle school career myself.”
Now after earning the state’s top honor, Bedenbaugh has thought back to the teachers who once inspired him, like his second grade teacher Shirley Smith at Hollywood Elementary, or science teacher Deborah Minnick at Saluda High. He hopes he can be a similar figure for the students in his classes today.
”It’s important for them to see, I think, people from small towns being successful, so that they know that they can achieve anything that they want in life as well,” Bedenbaugh said. “They know that just because they’re from a small town doesn’t mean they don’t have great potential and won’t achieve great things in life.”
This story was originally published May 27, 2025 at 8:36 AM.
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