Blaney Elementary teacher Randi Ray named 2025 KCSD Teacher of the Year; North Central High teacher Emily Densmore to serve as first alternate

Blaney Elementary Teacher Randi Ray was named 2025 Kershaw County School District (KCSD) Teacher of the Year at a celebration tonight, while North Central High Teacher Emily Densmore was chosen as first alternate.

All 18 Kershaw County schools selected teachers of the year. Ray and Desnmore were two of five honor roll teachers selected as finalists for the district award. Other honor roll teachers are Stacy Gullard, Midway Elementary; Megan Robson, Pine Tree Hill Elementary; and Eric Jones, Woolard Technology Center.

An educator for seven years, Ray is dedicated to fostering strong, meaningful connections with students and their families to support and enhance student success. She believes that “every student can learn and grow when they know they are loved, believed in and cared for.”

Ray earned a bachelor of arts degree in early childhood education and a master of education degree in divergent learning from Columbia College, and earned her National Board for Professional Teaching Standards certification. 

Her principal Adele Dixon says, “Randi embodies the Blaney motto of caring for others, aiming to be great and thinking positively. Preparation, data analysis and quality instruction are keys to Randi’s achievements as a teacher.”

Also honored during the evening’s celebration was Pine Tree Hill Elementary’s first grade teacher Jasmine Kirkland who was named as the district’s Outstanding First Year Teacher.

Jasmine Kirkland is the 17th KCSD educator to receive the district’s award to honor first year teachers. The judges were impressed with Ms. Kirkland’s, “clear modeling, practical application, and lively, kinesthetic group activities that maintained order while promoting fun in the classroom. Her infectious positivity about teaching was inspiring.”

Other Outstanding First Year Teacher honor roll finalists are Hanna Cargill, Doby’s Mill Elementary and Abigail Tate, Doby’s Mill Elementary. 

Camden Middle Principal Casey Faulkenberry was recognized as the district’s 2025 Principal of the Year.

Casey Faulkenberry was named the principal of Camden Middle School in 2022. He previously served as the district’s Director of Alternative Education for the Continuous Learning Center and Virtual Academy, as an assistant principal at Stover Middle, and as a high school teacher at Camden High School. In 2014-15, he was named as CHS Teacher of the Year and was one of five finalists that school year for the District Teacher of the Year. He was also one of four honor roll finalists for KCSD’s Outstanding First Year Teacher in 2011. He earned a bachelor of arts degree from Newberry College and a master’s degree in Administration from the University of South Carolina.

All of the 2025 local school teachers of the year were honored at the celebration. They are:

• Blaney Elementary School – Randi Ray
• Camden Elementary School – Meagan Miles
• Camden High School – Stacey McGee 
• Camden Middle School – Austin Spolski
• Continuous Learning Center – Frances Goodwin
• Doby’s Mill Elementary School – Amy Way
• Jackson School – Elizabeth Davis 
• Lugoff Elementary School – Erin Teague
• Lugoff-Elgin High School – Jessica “jess” King
• Lugoff-Elgin Middle School – Crystal Blanton
• Midway Elementary School – Stacy Gullard
• North Central Elementary School – April Mangum
• North Central High School – Emily Densmore
• North Central Middle School – Savannah Fenner
• Pine Tree Hill Elementary School – Megan Robson
• Stover Middle School – Levi Stoker 
• Wateree Elementary School – Mary Ann McPheeters
• Woolard Technology Center – Eric Jones 

During the celebration, the Kershaw County Teacher Forum also awarded the $1,500 Mary Ann Blaskowitz Education Scholarship to Lugoff-Elgin High School senior Kyndall Peake. 

This scholarship is named for Teacher Forum Member Mary Ann Blaskowitz, who was the first Kershaw County Teacher of the Year to be named South Carolina Teacher of the Year.