Trailblazing STEM Educator Award

Recognition

$5,000 award to the educator
$5,000 award to the educator’s school or organization
A trip to Washington, D.C. to be honored at the AIAA Awards Gala
Free access to Challenger Center’s STEM education programs
Opportunity to attend a future space launch experience

Nomination Requirements

Nominee must be a K-12 educator who brings real-world STEM experiences to students

All recipients must be or become an AIAA Educator Associate member

Preference will be given to teachers who demonstrate active use of AIAA and Challenger Center resources in their classroom

Two letters of endorsement must be provided, including one by the principal of the nominee’s school or the educator's supervisor

2025 Awardees

Challenger Center and AIAA are proud to present Kelsy Achtenberg, Allan Miller, and Kevin L. Simmons with the 2025 Trailblazing STEM Educator Award. The nominations demonstrate the incredible efforts teachers make every day to empower underserved and underrepresented students in STEM while using unique strategies, tools, and lessons in and out of the classroom to further energize students.

Kelsy Achtenberg

STEM coordinator, math lead, and Dean of Students at The Innovation School, Bismarck, North Dakota

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

Applied STEM and Design Technology teacher at Williston Central School, Williston, Vermont

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

Founder of the Wolfpack CubeSat Development Team (WCDT) and Aerospace and Innovation Academy, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida

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.