Thursday, October 1, 2026
For 25 years, Baldwin High School chemistry teacher Anthony Simonelli made his students a promise: Score a perfect 100 on the chemistry Regents, and he would drive to their house and personally hand them a $100 bill.
Thousands of students came through Baldwin’s chemistry classrooms. Some came tantalizingly close to a perfect score, but Simonelli never had to open his wallet — until JoJo Yawson.
JoJo, 16, who was a sophomore during the 2025-26 school year, earned a perfect 100 on the chemistry Regents, becoming the first student in one of Simonelli’s Regents-level chemistry classes to accomplish the feat during his 25 years teaching the subject.
The achievement came as the state transitioned to a new chemistry Regents exam, making the 2025-26 test what Simonelli viewed as his final realistic opportunity to see a student fulfill his longtime challenge.
Simonelli sat with his colleagues for hours grading exams, beginning to believe his challenge would go unfulfilled. JoJo, who receives testing accommodations, had taken his exam in a separate testing room.
Then Simonelli’s supervisor appeared with one final folder.
“And in that folder is JoJo,” Simonelli recalled. “My best student that I’ve ever had.”
Because JoJo was his student, Simonelli could not grade the exam himself. He watched as other Baldwin chemistry teachers graded the test, until Rebecca Seepersad looked at him and said, “He’s got a dead-straight 100 on the Part 2.”
The teachers then checked JoJo's multiple-choice answers, and he aced that part of the exam as well, coming away with a perfect score of 100.
“There’s no way that the last kid that I’ll ever have the chance to have a 100 literally did it,” Simonelli recalled.
Then, on June 26, Simonelli fulfilled his 25-year promise, arriving at JoJo’s home with the $100 bill. The teacher signed it and encouraged his prized student to frame it as a keepsake.
“Mr. Simonelli came to my house," JoJo said. "He came over, and he showed me the $100 bill, so that’s how I knew. Before that, I didn’t know. I thought I got something wrong. I didn’t think I got the 100.”
JoJo recalled seeing his teacher’s excitement.
“He definitely was very happy, just beaming, just beaming,” he said.
Although JoJo said earning the perfect score meant a lot to him, he acknowledged that Simonelli’s $100 promise provided some extra motivation.
“Of course, it’s about the money,” JoJo said. “Getting a perfect score — if they gave me $100 for getting a 50, I would have got a 50. It’s about the money.”
JoJo has yet to decide what he will do with the $100.
“I might frame it, but I think I’ll probably go spend it on something,” he said.
JoJo took a straightforward approach to preparing for the exam. He worked through old chemistry Regents exams, sought out questions he hadn’t encountered before and used the online learning platform Castle Learning for additional review.
“I definitely believed it was possible,” JoJo said. “You know, you just have to get all the questions right. Like, it’s not impossible.”
JoJo estimated that he finished answering the questions in about 30 minutes, then spent much of his remaining time checking his work. For him, earning a perfect score was as much about avoiding mistakes as knowing the material.
“It’s mostly about just being very careful and not making any mistakes,” JoJo said. “That’s the hard part.”
The chemistry Regents was not JoJo’s first perfect science score. As a freshman, he also earned a 100 on the biology Regents, making this his second consecutive perfect score on a science Regents exam, according to his mother, Ama Karikari.
For Karikari, the back-to-back perfect scores reflect her son's determination and resilience.
“I believe that it should really inspire students with accommodations and their families to recognize that having a learning difference can mean learning with excellence,” she said.
Simonelli said JoJo’s interests extend well beyond chemistry. During free time in class, he recalled seeing JoJo read about subjects ranging from ancient Rome and Socrates to the stock market.
“This kid is incredible,” Simonelli said. “Listen, I’ve been teaching for 25 years. I’ve seen thousands of kids come through. He’s something different.”
Simonelli said JoJo made an impression on him from his first day in class, when he introduced himself with a handshake and a smile.
“He just came in with this massive smile and this aura about him that I said, ‘What is with this?’” Simonelli recalled.
JoJo’s previous science teacher had also taken notice, Simonelli said, and specifically hoped JoJo would be placed in his chemistry class because he believed the two would work well together.
Now entering his junior year, JoJo is turning his attention to a new slate of courses, including AP Statistics and AP U.S. History.
Simonelli said their conversations often ventured beyond chemistry into investing and business, further demonstrating the range of JoJo’s interests. As those interests develop, Simonelli expressed hope that JoJo will find someone who can continue challenging him intellectually.
“He needs a real mentor,” Simonelli said. “He’s outpaced every teacher we have. He’s outpaced every one of us.”
Simonelli added that he hopes telling JoJo’s story might help make that connection.
“I would like to hope that somebody reads this and has a connection to somebody big and powerful who can mentor JoJo,” Simonelli said. “He is above what we can provide.”
As JoJo begins his junior year, he isn’t ruling out another standard performance.
Asked whether he would try to reach similar milestones in his other classes, JoJo kept his answer simple.
“Break it if I can, you know,” he said.
