The South Carolina Foundation for Educational Leadership is hosting its third annual gala on March 29. It is to celebrate Distinguished South Carolina Public School Graduates and South Carolina Educator Hall of Fame inductees.

A state educational foundation will honor 3 Lexington County people.

The SC Foundation for Educational Leadership will honor:

• Lou Kennedy, a 2019 Distinguished SC Public School Graduate.

She is a 1980 graduate of Lexington High School and CEO of Nephron Pharmaceuticals. In 2010, she helped establish the Kennedy Pharmacy Innovation Center at the USC School of Pharmacy.

• Dr. Karen Woodward will be inducted into the 2019 SC Educator Hall of Fame.

She is a former Lexington District 1 Superintendent and 1960 graduate of Greenwood High. Dr. Woodward has 31 years of experience as district superintendent in Union, Anderson and Lexington counties.

She has been honored nationally by the American Association of School Administrators with the 2014 Women in School Leadership Award.

• Dr. Cyril Busbee will be inducted (posthumously) into the 2019 SC Educator Hall of Fame. He was a former Lexington District 2 Superintendent. The Cyril Busbee Creative Arts Academy, a middle school in Cayce, is named in his honor.

Busbee was a 1924 graduate of Wagener High and was named SC Superintendent of Education 3 times. As SC superintendent from 1966–1979, Dr. Busbee oversaw the integration of public schools.

At its 3rd annual gala March 29, the foundation will celebrate the impact of public education and how it has contributed to the achievements of the honorees.

Funds raised from the gala will support leadership development programs available to school leaders throughout the state.

Other 2019 Distinguished South Carolina Public School Graduates are:

• Craig Melvin, a 1997 graduate of Columbia High. He appears on NBC News and MSNBC. Before joining NBC News, Melvin was the evening news anchor at WIS in Columbia.

• Dr. Anne Lamb Matthews, a 1960 graduate of J. Paul Truluck High in Lake City.

• Joseph Kenyon “Ken” East, a 1929 graduate of Lineville High in Lineville, AL. East will be inducted posthumously.

For more information. tickets and sponsorship opportunities, visit www.scleadershipfoundation.org .