The 10 Golden Apple Award-winning teachers for this school year in The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington have been announced. They will be honored at a May 15 awards dinner at the Hotel at the University of Maryland in College Park.
The teachers will each receive a golden apple and a monetary award of $5,000 from the Donahue Family Foundation, which sponsors the annual award for teaching excellence and dedication to Catholic education.
Jack and Rhodora Donahue, founders of the Pittsburgh-based foundation, sent their 13 children to Catholic schools. Eager to express their deep appreciation to Catholic school teachers for providing a quality academic and faith-filled education for their children, the Donahues through their foundation have established this award in five dioceses around the country.
Here are the 10 Golden Apple Award winning teachers for 2025 from Catholic schools in the archdiocese:
- Melissa Barr, a middle school social studies and language arts teacher at St. Mary’s School in Rockville, Maryland;
- Heather Campos, a kindergarten teacher at St. Jerome Academy, Hyattsville, Maryland;
- Mary Beth Cudd, a middle school math teacher at Little Flower School in Great Mills, Maryland;
- Becky Guerre, a first grade teacher at Father Andrew White, S.J. School in Leonardtown, Maryland;
- Alexandra Lopez, a Pre-K 3 teacher at St. Jude Regional Catholic School in Rockville, Maryland;
- MaryJo O’Keefe, a middle school religion teacher at St. Peter’s School in Olney, Maryland
- Andrew Price, a physical education teacher at St. Raphael School in Rockville, Maryland;
- Stephanie Smith, a fourth grade teacher at St. Mary’s School in Bryantown, Maryland;
- Shelly Taguchi, a Pre-K 3 teacher at Our Lady of Victory School in Washington, D.C.;
- Leslie True, a first grade teacher at St. Mary’s School of Piscataway in Clinton, Maryland.
A roundup article on the 2025 Golden Apple Award winning teachers will appear in the May 29 Catholic Standard newspaper.
