Teacher / School Applications

Each year the Lexington One Educational Foundation sponsors the Joseph M. Bedenbaugh Administrator of the Year Award. Named in memory of Joe Bedenbaugh, who was a loyal Lexington County School District One for 36 years, serving as a middle school math teacher and principal, as well as Assistant Superintendent for Personnel and Federal Entitlement Programs before retiring in 1982.

The award is given each school year to a deserving administrator who is presently employed with Lexington District One who best exemplifies the criteria established for the award, which describes an outstanding leader and administrator. Nominations must be submitted to the Lexington One Educational Foundation in early spring and the annual award is presented in May of each year. Please refer to the award criteria and list of past recipients for details regarding this year’s award.

Foundation leaders look forward to celebrating this year’s Joseph M. Bedenbaugh Administrator of the Year Award in May!

2025-2026 Joseph M. Bedenbaugh Administrator of the Year Information:

• Bedenbaugh Nominations Information 2025-2026
• Award Overview & Criteria 2025-2026
• Bedenbaugh Admin of the Year Award Recipients

Deadline for Nominations for 2025-2026 School Year:  Thursday, March 5, 2026 at 4:00 p.m.

The Educational Foundation will award up to five grants totaling up to $5,000 per school for innovative projects that are creative, unique and benefit the majority or a good portion of the student population. Each school must guarantee a 10% cash match for the total requested dollars.

The grants were developed based on the Lexington District One’s Competency-Based Standards in the areas of Strategic and Situational Decision-Making, which includes engagement and encouragement of strategic innovations. Elementary and middle school applicants should propose a school program that addresses this area and promotes students’ paths toward college, career and citizenship preparedness.

For full details, please download the linked application.  All applications are due to the Educational Foundation Office no later than 4:00 pm on the annual deadline listed below.

Please note that all Innovation Grant applicants must make a brief presentation to the Educational Foundation’s Allocations Committee members on a date TBD at 5:00 p.m. in the Central Services Board Room. Foundation staff will publish the presentation date as soon as it is determined.

Application Deadline: January 30, 2026

Innovation Grants for K-8 Schools Application

The Lexington One Educational Foundation is fortunate to have Michelin and the Lexington, SC leadership team as a very kind friend to Lexington School District One. Each year Michelin donates to the Lexington One Educational Foundation to make the Michelin Golden Apple Teacher Grants possible. Teachers may receive up to $500 for a grant award and the foundation typically offers up to 10 grants each year. These grants strengthen student learning and support teachers and their classroom teaching each year.

Objective:

More specifically, these grants provide Lexington School District One teachers an opportunity to enhance students’ educational experiences by providing grant support for learning activities that are outside the normal scope of funding and would otherwise be unavailable. The intent of these grants is not to supplement normal school supplies, but to allow for more creative, educational learning opportunities that are not typically supported by a school’s classroom supply budget.

Criteria:

Grant activities should be those that have the most impact on students, enhance the educational experience, and/or address a particular academic weakness or focus area. Examples funded in the past include:

• STEM / Science kits
• Supplementary books to enhance classroom learning and curriculum
• Supplemental classroom instructional materials to enhance classroom learning and curriculum
• Field trips that align with classroom teaching
• Rewards to students for special recognition for academic accomplishments

The grant application is updated annually for Lexington District One teachers to access and apply for the following school year’s grant funds. Completed applications must be received via email or hand-delivered to the foundation office no later than 4:00 p.m. on June 20th. 

Michelin Golden Apple Teacher Grant Application

Starting in the 2017-2018 school year, the Educational Foundation Board of Directors chose to support and strengthen literacy efforts in Lexington County School District One via the creation of annual Bucks for Books Grants. The first two grant awards supported elementary school literacy, then middle school literacy during the second two years, and has since positively impacted first-year teachers throughout the district and high school students.

Each year the focus for these grants is determined by Educational Foundation board members working closely with Lexington District One’s Instructional Services administrators to determine where the areas of greatest need are located.

During the 2025-2026 and the prior school year, the Bucks for Books Grants totaled $53,455 and invested funds in every Lexington District One elementary school classroom via the purchase of science and social studies books for hands-on, classroom learning. The year that the grants  purchased books for high school students, the funds specifically supported ninth grade reading recovery by providing books to English 1 teachers for their students. In 2023-2024, the foundation board shifted the focus back to Lexington One elementary schools in an effort to support kindergarten teachers and their students, as every kindergarten teacher received books for their classrooms to enhance the LTRS program teaching that was recently directed by the SC State Department of Education. The past two years have focused on social studies and science literacy skills.

Due to generous support from foundation donors, the total of Bucks for Books Grants invested to date equals $213,705 in nine years. All of of the Educational Foundation’s Bucks for Books Grants aim to positively impact and strengthen students’ literacy skills in Lexington District One schools.  

These grants are derived from the Foundation’s LEAP Emergency Funds and enable our school administrators to offer a small amount of immediate assistance to their Lexington District One families in crisis. During the 2020-21 school year, close to $77,000  in Helping Hands Grants to Schools were awarded and divided among all 30 Lexington District One schools. In the spring of the following school year, the Board of Directors awarded an additional cycle of Helping Hands Grants to Schools that totaled $87,768.

Typical grant support provided to Lexington District One families has included groceries, school supplies, clothing, and shoes for students whose families are experiencing a temporary emergency and financial set back. The Educational Foundation staff become involved when a family’s situation is a more desperate one that may require additional financial support via a LEAP Emergency Grant Application.

Since the inception of these grants in 2020, a total of $247,171 in Helping Hands Grants to Schools has been awarded to support Lexington District One students and families who were struggling. Educational Foundation leaders appreciate all donors who give to support such vitally important grant funding. 

Our Educational Foundation is extremely fortunate to have Michelin as a dedicated corporate partner and a very generous supporter. In 2018 the Lexington, SC Michelin USA leadership committed $30,000 over three years to invest in our Lexington District One VEX robotics school teams. Michelin renewed this 3-year commitment in 2021 and 2024 due to Michelin executives who recognized the benefits provided to students who participate in robotics teams.

Educational Foundation leaders are thrilled to have the company continue to invest in our future engineers, programmers and architects in Lexington County School District One via this gift to support our Lexington District One VEX robotics teams and students.

The Educational Foundation offers small grants to new international teachers in an effort to help them get settled in the USA as they begin their teaching career with Lexington District One. Each year the Lexington District One Human Resources staff work with the foundation staff to identify the qualifying grant recipients. The grants are need-based, so financial need is of the utmost priority.

Each year these International Teacher Grants provide to each teacher three needed ways of support: 1) a grocery gift card for food, 2) a grant for breakfast and lunch meals at the home school’s cafeteria for the first few months, and 3) a small grant stipend towards the first month’s rent payment.

These grants are vitally important to the teachers who receive them, as they help them become financially stable as they settle in the Lexington community and Lexington District One.

The Lexington One Educational Foundation’s Health Fund Grants support Lexington District One students in a variety of ways by assisting with or supporting students’ health needs.

In 2019 the foundation awarded a $7,600 Health Fund Grant that purchased a Vision Spot Screener for the Lexington District Nurses to use in testing students’ vision. The device was originally aimed at benefitting pre-K students, students with cognitive or developmental delays, and students with limited language or speech abilities. However, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the original device was used to its fullest extent to test the vision of countless Lexington District One students.

Accordingly, in 2021 our Board of Directors awarded an additional Health Fund Grant of $25,500 to purchase three additional vision spot screeners and flash drives for all devices. This grant enabled the nursing teams to safely and efficiently test students’ vision in all areas of Lexington District One during that school year and in future school years. These devices have become critically important to quickly and efficiently increasing the numbers of students who have their vision tested, thanks to the grant support from the Educational Foundation.

In addition, the most recent Health Fund Grant purchased digital thermometers for the nursing teams to hand out to students whose families do not have thermometers at home. These devices enable these families to better monitor their children’s health in the future.

Furthermore, most recently the grants enabled the Lexington District One Student Services team to purchase albuterol inhalers and disposable chambers for every school nurse to use in emergencies. Having such lifesaving medication on hand allows schools to immediately help students who are experiencing a potentially life-threatening asthma attack.

Thanks to generous donors who care about the health and well-being of Lexington District One students, the Educational Foundation has funded more than $30,000 in Health Fund Grants that have provided vitally important medical grants to the Lexington District One nurses and the students they serve.