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 21 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 2026 from Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Washington:
- Shannon Armsworthy, a fourth grade teacher at Father Andrew White, S.J. School in Leonardtown, Maryland;
- Mary Beth Conte, a Spanish and social studies teacher at the Cardinal Hickey Academy in Owings, Maryland;
- Nicci Falcone, a second grade teacher at Holy Cross School in Garrett Park, Maryland;
- Amanda Handy, a middle school English language arts teacher and a religion and social studies teacher at St. Michael’s School in Ridge, Maryland;
- Amber Kinnally, a third grade teacher at St. John’s School in Hollywood, Maryland;
- Sister Emmanuella Ladipo, a member of the Handmaids of the Holy Child Jesus religious order who serves as the director of religious education and a religion teacher at St. Augustine Catholic School in Washington, D.C.;
- Heather Little, a kindergarten teacher at Little Flower School in Great Mills;
- Sonja LoVecchio, a kindergarten teacher at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Elementary School in Clinton, Maryland;
- Rachele Plá, a middle school religion teacher at St. Mary of the Assumption Catholic School in Upper Marlboro, Maryland
- Julie Stinger, a sixth grade homeroom, religion and art teacher and librarian at St. Martin of Tours School in Gaithersburg, Maryland
Articles on the 2025 Golden Apple Award winning teachers will appear in an upcoming series on the Catholic Standard’s website and in the May 28 Catholic Standard newspaper.
