For 25 long years, one Long Island chemistry teacher had been waiting for a student to beat his 100-point, perfect score challenge. More than two decades — and countless Regents exams later — one Black student came along and did what nobody else could.
Jojo Yawson left his teacher’s jaw on the floor when he scored a perfect 100 on his end-of-year exam in June, a feat that caught everyone by surprise. Because of the exam’s incredible difficulty, Yawson’s teacher, Anthony Simonelli, put a $100 cash prize on the line hoping students would aim higher. And well, that finally paid off big.
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Although Yawson took months to prepare for the New York State Chemistry Regents, he still didn’t believe he’d ace the test. Furthermore, his teacher — who offered the cash prize year after year — didn’t expect to cough up the cash that day either.
“I said, all right, here’s some motivation. I’ll give you 100 bucks. Any kid who gets 100,” Simonelli proposed, per CBS News. “We had graded all the exams. Every single one. We were done,” he added. “When it came back with 100, my jaw almost hit the floor. Literally the last kid,” Simonelli said of grading Yawson’s winning exam.
Unabashedly celebrating his student’s win, Yawson’s teacher pointed out that it took thousands of students to finally hit the jackpot. “You’re the first and only kid! 3,700 kids had gone through and not gotten 100. Jojo,” he pointed, “Thank you!”
While his teacher was jumping for joy, Yawson initially thought he’d missed the mark. And while he understood that getting “all the questions right” wasn’t impossible, he went home unsure of what the results would be.
“I thought I did terrible,” Yawson admitted. “I went home dejected. I thought, I don’t know, I thought I missed at least a few questions,” he said.
To the contrary, he scored 100 percent on every single section of the exam, impressing both himself and he veteran educator. Was it about the money? Yes, and according to him — it was totally worth every dollar.
“It did matter a lot. It wasn’t in the back of my mind; it was in the front of my mind,” Yawson said of the cash prize. “Of course, it’s about the money,” the then-sophomore student explained. “Getting a perfect score — if they gave me $100 for getting a 50, I would have got a 50. It’s about the money.”
The successful outcome of this chemistry challenge goes way beyond the cash prize alone, according to Yawson’s mother, Ama K. Karikari, who described her son as a gifted teen who’s had to overcome differences in learning, including being homeschooled for several years.
“I said, listen, money will come to you. Let’s put [the $100 bill] in a frame so that those moments of challenge … [he’ll] know that he’s being well supported,” Karikari told CBS News.
Simonelli hand-delivered Yawson’s $100 bill with a big “Thank you” written next to his signature. The Baldwin chemistry teacher said he hopes Yawson will find mentors to support his future goals, as he seeks to pursue a career in civil engineering.
“Jojo is meant to change the world,” Simonelli said. “He is really exceptional.”
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