Shelby Borst of William Penn High School is named Delaware’s 2025 Teacher of the Year.
Borst teaches high school social studies for the Colonial School District and was one of 20 nominees for Delaware’s competitive Teacher of the Year award.
The application process involves submitting a portfolio for review by staff members of the Delaware Department of Education (DOE), classroom observations by DOE and former Teachers of the Year, followed by a final round of judging.
During her acceptance speech, Borst spoke largely to her fellow educators, encouraging them to include and uplift student voices in their teachings.
“I feel honored, and I'm sure you feel honored to be in the presence of such kind and charismatic and intellectual beings. They are our future and you are our future, and they deserve to be celebrated," Borst said.
She succeeds last year’s honoree Cory Hafer, an engineering teacher at Middletown High School, and will now address community groups, legislators and educational organizations as Delaware’s representative.
Borst made it her goal to dismantle systemic barriers causing racial and socioeconomic divides between her college preparatory and Advanced Placement history classes.
She actively worked to recruit students in all levels of social studies courses and met with counselors to identify candidates for AP courses who are historically underrepresented.
Through her work, she went from teaching two AP classes, to three, to five.
“I hope to serve as a Delaware State Teacher of the Year to represent all of you who care so deeply about our students and all of our students who deserve to have their names on the walls.”
She will receive a $5,000 grant to use for the educational benefit of her students, two person grants totaling an additional $5,000 and a full doctorate program from the University of Delaware and Wilmington University.
She will now go on to represent Delaware in the National Teacher of the Year competition.
