MONCKS CORNER, S.C. — Berkeley High School special services teacher Alex Wharton has been named the 2025 Berkeley County School District Teacher of the Year, district officials announced Friday.
Wharton, who has served students for 33 years, was honored during the district’s annual Teacher of the Year Breakfast at Trident Technical College. The event, sponsored by the Berkeley County Chamber of Commerce and Santee Cooper, recognized outstanding educators from across the district.
Known for her dedication to building life skills and confidence in her students, Wharton was praised for going beyond the curriculum to offer what she called a “life-giving connection” for students.
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“Sometimes, what a student needs most isn’t a better test score or a new strategy,” Wharton said during her remarks. “What they need is someone who becomes, even for a season, an umbilical cord — a life-giving connection that supplies them with what they may not yet produce on their own: motivation, encouragement, confidence and hope.”
Wharton was joined at the ceremony by her son, Berkeley High senior John Wharton, along with fellow school-level Teachers of the Year, principals, district leaders and local elected officials.
Berkeley High Principal Heather Ducker praised Wharton’s deep commitment to her students.
“Mrs. Wharton loves all kids,” Ducker said. “She leads through God and her heart. She teaches some of our most vulnerable students, and they just cling to her. I learn from her daily, our faculty learns from her daily, and we’re just really blessed to have her.”
Wharton was selected from among three finalists, including Tanya Hanchon of Boulder Bluff Elementary and Peter Wright of Cane Bay High.
All of BCSD’s Teachers of the Year were celebrated during Friday morning’s program. View list of all 2025 Teachers of the Year.
