
The six teachers have been named finalists for the PAEMST recognition. (Clockwise, from top left: David Eroh, Shellee Wong, Dasianee Gavin, Jacalyn Jenkins, Sarah Leonard, Katie Menhart).
The Delaware Department of Education has announced six exceptional educators as the state finalists for the 2025 Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST), the highest honor for K-12 STEM educators in the United States.
These finalists’ applications will now advance to the national level, where the final 2025 PAEMST National Awardees will be selected.
The teachers who 2025 Delaware state finalists are:
- David Eroh, science, Brandywine High School, Brandywine School District
- Dasianee Gavin, science, Middle School of Excellence, Capital School District
- Sarah Leonard, science, Louis L. Redding Middle School, Appoquinimink School District
- Jacalyn Jenkins, mathematics, Smyrna Middle School, Smyrna School District
- Katie Menhart, mathematics, Smyrna High School, Smyrna School District
- Shellee Wong, mathematics, Odessa High School, Appoquinimink School District
The PAEMST award, which alternates between honoring teachers of kindergarten through 6th grade and those teaching 7th through 12th grades, aims to recognize the highest standards of excellence in teaching STEM subjects, including technology, engineering, and computer science.
“Ideas are gifts we all bring to the shared playground of the classroom,” Wong said. “Each one arrives carefully wrapped in the textures of lived experience and the act of unwrapping – layer by thoughtful layer – is a beautiful work of learning. This recognition is not mine alone. It is the culmination of countless gifts given, unwrapped, and reimagined in the space of the classroom – offered by students I have had the privilege to teach, mentors who believed in me, and administrators who supported my growth. It is, in every way, a repurposed gift. I am excited to share it with the very community that helped me wrap it so beautifully.”
READ: BioConnect DE launches to strengthen Delaware’s life sciences workforce
The award not only highlights individual achievement but also seeks to inspire educators and improve STEM education nationwide.
Each year, up to three mathematics teachers and three science teachers from every state are selected as finalists.
A national selection committee will now review their applications and select up to one awardee in each content area for every state.
Those chosen as national awardees will be invited to Washington, D.C., for a week of professional development and networking activities, and each will receive a $10,000 award from the National Science Foundation.
The PAEMST program aims to celebrate educators who have made significant contributions to the teaching and learning of mathematics and science, empowering students to achieve excellence in these critical subjects.
“I’m truly honored to be named a finalist for this prestigious award, but it is not mine alone,” Leonard said. “It would not have been possible without the invaluable support of my colleagues, mentors, and students who have shaped me into the teacher I am today and continue to inspire the educator I strive to be. I’m grateful for the opportunity to teach PLTW (STEM) at Louis L. Redding Middle School and guide our incredible students as they critical think, solve, innovate, collaborate, grow, and most importantly, have fun through the process while solving real-world problems.”

Raised in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, Jarek earned a B.A. in journalism and a B.A. in political science from Temple University in 2021. After running CNN’s Michael Smerconish’s YouTube channel, Jarek became a reporter for the Bucks County Herald before joining Delaware LIVE News.
Jarek can be reached by email at [email protected] or by phone at (215) 450-9982. Follow him on Twitter @jarekrutz and on LinkedIn.
Share this Post