Trailblazing STEM Educator Award

• Nominee must be a K-12 educator who brings real-world STEM experiences to students
• Past recipients are ineligible for future consideration
• Preference will be given to teachers who demonstrate active use of AIAA and Challenger Center resources in their classroom
• Self-nominations are not permitted
• Nominator is not required to be a current AIAA member
• Nominator may not serve as a reference
• References are not required to be current AIAA members
• One signed letter of endorsement from someone with intimate/recent knowledge of the educator and their work. Preferably a principal or supervisor. Finalist candidates may be asked to provide a second letter or endorsement.
• Nominations must be submitted using the online database

Nomination materials must include:

Page 1: NOMINATION FORM

Page 2: NOMINEE BIOGRAPHY

Must include:

• The nominee’s teaching experience
• Professional activities
• Formal and continuing education
• Awards and publications (if any)
• A brief summary of personal teaching philosophy

Page 3: NOMINATION BASIS

Describe in detail how the educator:

• Introduces young students to STEM careers that could be relevant to future space exploration or aerospace innovation.
• Sparks students’ imaginations about what will or could be the future – where humans are living and working in space.
• Engages students and gets them excited about our country’s future.

Where applicable, all nominations should also describe how the educator:

• Promotes active learning and successfully encourages students to think imaginatively, critically, and independently.
• Demonstrates instructional techniques that are appropriate for and effective with a variety of different learning styles.
• Interacts enthusiastically and effectively with students beyond the classroom, using all opportunities productively to promote learning and address individual student needs.
• Motivates and impacts students, colleagues, and the community with their engaging and inspiring presence.
• Achieves exemplary educational accomplishments beyond the classroom that provide models of excellence for the profession.
• Demonstrates active use of AIAA and/or Challenger Center resources within the classroom.

Page 4: LETTER OF ENDORSEMENT

• One signed letter of endorsement from someone with intimate/recent knowledge of the educator and their work. Preferably a principal or supervisor. Finalist candidates may be asked to provide a second letter or endorsement.

Winners will be announced in March.

• 

  Kelsy Achtenberg

  School: The Innovation School

  Citation: With 13 years of teaching experience, Kelsy has spent the past eight focused on STEM education. During this time, she guided The Innovation School to become a Yass Prize quarterfinalist, a VELA grant recipient, and a Canopy Project school. Her excellence in teaching has earned nominations for Junior Achievement Teacher of the Year, LifeChanger of the Year, Chamber of Commerce Teacher of the Year, and the prestigious Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching. Holding a Master of Education in Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment, she crafts innovative, hands-on, project-based lessons. Her commitment to inclusivity in STEM shines through many of her initiatives, including a school makerspace designed specifically for students with dyslexia.

• 

  Allan Miller

  School: Williston Central School

  Citation: A distinguished educator with 40 years of experience, Allan currently guides 3rd-8th graders through project-based experiences focusing on hands-on STEM activities. He spent 25 years teaching in Alaska, beginning at a Tlingit community school in Yakutat. Now a NASA Solar System Ambassador, Allan has been a Mercury Messenger Fellow, Explorer School Project Leader, and helped establish the Educator Astronaut Teacher corps. His career extends beyond the classroom: as a 1989 Reagan/Gorbachev Fellow, he taught in a Soviet school; as a 2007 Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellow, he coordinated international projects for the National Science Foundation; and as a 2020 Fulbright Distinguished Educator Fellow, he trained over 500 Uzbekistan teachers on STEM education best practices. In 2023 and 2025, he led a Fulbright project in Nha Trang, Vietnam, training faculty and students at a teacher’s college on building problem-solving skills through STEM. His awards include the 2005 Alaska Challenger Center Teacher of the Year, 2008 NSTA Mohling Aerospace Educator Award, and 2013 UVM Tarrant Foundation Educational Leadership Award; he is a 2022 Vermont nominee for the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science and Mathematics.

• 

  Kevin L. Simmons

  School: Wolfpack CubeSat Development Team and Aerospace and Innovation Academy

  Citation: Kevin brings 21 years of educator experience to engage middle and high school students in aerospace and STEM education. His WCDT program empowers students aged 10–18 to design, build, and launch CubeSats—two have already flown, with a third set for 2025 via Firefly Aerospace’s DREAM 2.0. Under his leadership, WCDT students have produced over 110 technical papers and presented at major conferences such as the International Astronautical Congress and SmallSat. Kevin also works with his team to create educational resources—such as children’s books and podcasts— to make space science accessible to a wider audience. His accolades include induction into the Space Worker Hall of Fame and the AIAA Educator Achievement Award, and he co-found the annual SmallSat Education Conference at NASA Kennedy Space Center. Kevin also is an advocate, mentoring students who have participated in AIAA Congressional Visits Day and Florida Space Day, helping them learn how to advocate for accessible STEM policies and connect with leaders.

• 

  Jenn Donais

  School: Amesbury Middle School

  Citation: With 15 years of education experience, Donais prepares students for STEM careers through innovative STEM curricula, immersive STEM days, and career fairs. As an international STEM trainer, she has facilitated professional development sessions in the United Arab Emirates, collaborated with schools nationwide on STEM development, and has contributed to journals and other platforms to improve STEM engagement. In collaboration with Challenger Learning Center at the Christa McAuliffe Center, Framingham State University, Donais founded the Massachusetts Teacher STEM Fair, providing students and teachers with STEM engagement opportunities. She is a Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching awardee, Project Lead The Way Lead Launch Teacher, and Google Certified Coach.

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  Sarah Leonard

  School: Redding Middle School

  Citation: As an educator for 12 years, with Project Lead The Way certification, Leonard creates inclusive and equitable learning environments for all students. This school year, Leonard organized STEM Connection Stations for the district’s Education Showcase Night, collaborated with NASA Johnson Space Center to secure the loan of an authentic NASA model for the school, and will be participating in the Civil Air Patrol’s Educator Flight program. She serves as advisor for the National Junior Honor Society and the STEM Connect Club, and she is a member of the Association for Career and Technical Education, AIAA, and Civil Air Patrol. She has been honored with the Delaware STEM Educator Award and 2024 Delaware District 2 VFW Teacher of the Year Award.

• 

  Darryl Newhouse

  School: Foshay Learning Center

  For more than 25 years, Newhouse has been igniting students’ passion and building excitement about STEM through robotics and technology. He established an engineering pathway for middle school and high school students, and successfully implemented an academically rigorous program using Project Lead The Way curriculum. As lead coach for the school’s FIRST Robotics team, he emphasizes not only technical skills, but 21st-century skills like problem-solving, critical thinking, and team building, as well as community service. Through project-based learning activities, he has made math and science more meaningful to students, preparing underrepresented and disadvantaged youth for post-secondary opportunities and STEM careers.

• 

  Caroline Little

  School: Visitation School

  Citation: For creatively breaking down complex STEM principles into easy-to-understand lessons and connects her students to real-world examples through personal experiences. She is also a Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum Teacher Innovator Institute Fellow, DiscoverE Girl Day ambassador, and an advisor for several national STEM-based educational programs.

• 

  Aymette Medina

  School: Odyssey Academy Galveston

  Citation: For connecting students’ learning experiences within the classroom to the real world through her role as a Space Foundation teacher liaison and an ambassador for both Space Explorers and SeaPerch (Robonation).

• 

  Taylor Whisenant

  School: Athens Renaissance School (ARS)

  Citation: For developing a robotics program with eight FIRST® Robotics teams spanning the K-12 age groups. The program has grown to 14 teams now.

• 

  Jackie Blumer

  School: Greenville Jr. High School

  Citation: For embedding engineering challenges and current aerospace activities into the class curriculum, as well as serving as the AIAA St. Louis Section STEM Chair.

• 

  Jennifer Cheesman

  School: Zuni Hills Elementary

  Citation: For exceptional skill in taking high-level concepts and implementing them in fun and engaging ways with inclusive teaching strategies.

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  Kellie Taylor

  School: Hawthorne Elementary

  Citation: For sharing a passion for hands-on STEM education with students and colleagues, connecting them to space education through real-world STEM experiences.

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  Cedric Turner

  School: Brockton High School

  Citation: For tireless work at Ashfield, South, and North Middle Schools, and Brockton High School, providing inspiration and STEM education to minority and underrepresented students.

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  Katrina Harden Williams

  School: Ames Middle School

  Citation: For enthusiastic pursuit of out-of-this-world K-12 educational experiences, and ingenious connections between real-world STEM topics, classroom education, and students’ imaginations, appealing particularly to underrepresented groups.