BMW Manufacturing Presents SC Teacher of the Year With New BMW X5

Columbia, S.C. State Superintendent of Education Ellen Weaver announced on Thursday afternoon that Braden Wilson, a Social Studies teacher at Palmetto Middle School in Anderson School District One, has been named 2025 South Carolina Teacher of the Year. The event was held on the grounds of the Governor’s Mansion in Columbia, SC.

As part of the celebration, BMW Manufacturing, the program’s premier sponsor for 27 years, handed Wilson the keys to a 2024 BMW X5 xDrive40i.

“There are no words to express how honored I feel right now and how humbling it is to represent a group as amazing as South Carolina educators,” Wilson said. “I don’t think teachers get by without the help of each other. Everything I do in the classroom is because the teachers I work with at Palmetto Middle School help each other. It’s never an ‘I’ or a ‘we’ thing. People are stronger when they work together.”

“An important part of every student’s future begins in the classroom, and we understand the critical role that teachers play in the success of our youth,” said Max Metcalf, manager of Government and Community Relations at BMW Manufacturing. “We at BMW are grateful to all the state’s teachers and their commitment in providing a stimulating environment for our children’s education.”

Read the full press release here.