John Mika, a mathematics teacher at Hayfield Secondary School, and Kirsten Salonga, biology and environmental science for multilingual learners teacher and science department chair at Justice High School, have been named Virginia’s finalists for the 2025 Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching. The award — regarded as the nation’s top honor for K-12 science, technology, engineering, and mathematics teachers — recognizes educators who have both deep content knowledge of the subjects they teach and the ability to motivate and enable students to be successful in those areas.