Tuesday, May 1st

For Teachers (See Below for More Detail):

4 p.m. Hotel and Teacher of the Year Registration begins at Hilton Columbia Center hotel. Teachers and their guests need to register here, at the hotel, for the Teacher of the Year Celebration — NOT at the convention center. (Dress for the evening is business formal.)

4:00 – 5:15 Photographer available to take commemorative photos for all TOYS.  (With 87 teachers, arriving early for your picture will ensure you have time to enjoy the Kickoff Reception!)

4:30 – 5:30 At hotel, Data Recognition Corp. hosts the Kickoff Reception for all district Teachers of the Year and their ticket-holding guests.

5:30 – Teachers of the Year move outside hotel to line up for parade.

5:45 – Teachers and former state Teachers of the Year parade to the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center for Teacher of the Year Celebration.

For All — At the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center (See Below for More Detail)

5:45 — Teachers of the Year parade from Hilton Columbia Center hotel one block down Senate Street to the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center, site of the SC Teacher of the Year Celebration.

6:00 – Donor and guest registration opens for the 2012 South Carolina Teacher of the Year Celebration. (Dress is business formal.)

6:00 — 7:00  - "Networking with Your Neighbors" reception, sponsored by BlueCross Blue Shield of South Carolina.

7:00 – 7:50 – Dinner

8:00 – 9:00 – South Carolina Teacher of the Year Celebration! 

Wednesday, May 2nd

Teachers Only:

8:00 a.m. – Breakfast at hotel sponsored by Bojangles'.

8:30 – Press conference and special announcement by Bojangles' CEO  and former South Carolina public school student Randy Kibler.

9:15 – Teachers of the Year board buses for ride to Statehouse and recognition by the House and Senate.

Around Noon – Teachers board bus for ride back to hotel. SC Teacher of the Year Celebration concludes!

————————

For teachers, the early hours of the evening revolve around the Hilton Columbia Center, where Piggly Wiggly Carolina has donated hotel rooms. Registration for teachers will occur at the hotel, and a Kick-Off reception for teachers and their guests (dinner ticket holders only, please) begins at 4:30 at the hotel, sponsored by Data Recognition Corp. Representatives from SC's Center for Educator Recruitment, Retention and Advancement will be available to greet and assist teachers. There, all district Teachers of the Year have a chance to get a complimentary photo made, and then mingle and enjoy refreshments. 

At 5:30 teachers will gather outside where plans call for a marching band to escort all current district Teachers of the Year as well as former state Teachers of the Year to the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center.

For all guests,  the parade at 5:45 is a chance to cheer on the teachers in an informal setting before the "Networking with Your Neighbors" Reception sponsored by BlueCross BlueShield begins at 6 p.m. in the convention center. There, the state’s top educators, CEOs and lawmakers have an opportunity to mingle while enjoying the complimentary open bar and free-flowing hors d’oeuvres. Registration for non-teacher donors and guests begins at 6 p.m., with the assistance of South Carolina Teaching Fellows.

Shortly before 7 p.m., dinner bells will chime and the crowd will move into an elegantly decorated ballroom where patrons will enjoy a delicious dinner. About 7:45, preparations begin for the formal part of the evening, which is taped by SCETV for re-broadcast across the TimeWarner Cable network to roughly 500,000  households.

Emcee Mark Quinn, former host of SCETV’s “The Big Picture”, kicks off the evening with introductions of all district Teachers of the Year. State Education Superintendent Dr. Mick Zais will welcome the crowd, and Futurist David Houle will deliver the keynote address sponsored by SMART Technologies.   Also appearing: the winner of  the  “This School’s  Got Talent” statewide talent search, sponsored by  and organized by SC Future Minds. The winner will be announced April 1.

The evening is scheduled to end promptly at 9 p.m. shortly after announcement of the 2012-13 South Carolina Teacher of the Year.

This year's finalists are: 

See you at the largest celebration of South Carolina public education!

For more information, email info@scfutureminds.org or call 803-741-5646.