A high school student from Long Island earned $100 after achieving a perfect score on the chemistry Regents exam, successfully meeting a challenge that has stood for 25 years. Jojo Yawson, a student at Baldwin High School, surprised his teachers when his end-of-year exam, the last graded in June, returned with a score of 100.

The challenge, initiated by Anthony Simonelli, a veteran chemistry teacher at the school, offered a $100 reward to any student who could earn a perfect score on what is widely regarded as one of New York’s most difficult Regents exams. Simonelli has maintained this incentive as a motivational tool for a quarter of a century, personally delivering the cash prize to successful students’ homes.

“When it came back with 100, my jaw almost hit the floor. Literally the last kid to be graded,” Simonelli said, reflecting on Yawson’s accomplishment. The state of New York is currently transitioning to a new format for Regents exams while planning to phase out high school diploma testing requirements altogether by 2028.

Yawson, then a sophomore, credited the prize money for his determination. “I definitely believed it was possible,” he said, emphasizing that the key to success was careful attention to avoid any mistakes. “It’s mostly about just being very careful and not making any mistakes. That’s the hard part,” he added.

Despite earning a perfect score, Yawson admitted he initially thought he had performed poorly on the test and was surprised upon learning of his success. “I thought I did terrible. I went home dejected,” he said. He also acknowledged the role the financial reward played as motivation, noting, “Of course, it’s about the money. Getting a perfect score — if they gave me $100 for getting a 50, I would have got a 50.”

The achievement highlights the ongoing challenges and pressures students face with standardized testing in New York, even as education officials consider reforms and the eventual elimination of such requirements for graduation.