Washington County native receives Lilly Teacher Fellowship

Derek Chastain has always been interested in astronomy and loved gazing at the night sky in awe and wonder. This was something Chastain and his father did together when he was a young boy. He still has his first book about astronomy and fondly recalls his fascination about the stars and constellations on its pages. The stargazing with his dad and reading a book titled, Stars, all played a part in growing his hobby. Chastain already had a few telescopes and wanted a larger one in order to see fainter objects that were farther away. He enjoys finding and observing star clusters, nebulae, and distant galaxies.

It was this fascination with the night sky and his desire for a larger telescope that prompted Chastain to write a project proposal essay to apply for the 2017 Lilly Teacher Creativity Fellowship. The award is sponsored by the Eli Lilly Endowment Inc. This site has the guidelines and requirements he used to apply: http://teachercreativity.org/downloads/flyer2017.pdf

Derek Chastain had plenty of credentials to apply. He teaches at Columbus East High School in the biological sciences. Among the subjects he teaches are: Biology 1, Humans Genetics, AP Biology, and Dual Credit Biology through IU Bloomington. He also teaches night classes in biology at IUPUC as an adjunct professor.

When I asked him if there had been a special mentor to encourage him, he said, “Although I had always heard about the Lilly Teacher Creativity Grants, my science department chairman at East specifically encouraged me to apply for this award. He thought I had a good idea and helped me develop my application to showcase my true passion for astronomy and commitment to see the project to completion.”

Chastain explained that the telescope came in a kit known as the TeleKit manufactured by AstroSystems out of La Salle Colorado. Basically all the wood components were cut out and shipped to him for assembly, sanding, and finishing. His family—wife, Jennifer, and sons, Joshua and Daniel, often watched him work with the parts laid out all over his garage.

The project was intended to be completed during the summer break and last between four and six weeks. Chastain started the telescope in late May and finished in late July. 

The telescope belongs to Chastain and he will largely use the telescope for personal observation of the night sky. But he also intends to host star parties near Columbus for students and colleagues to observe. He often invites friends and neighbors over when he has the telescope out. The author said she was invited to one of the first showings and as they waited for him to get everything in place, she heard his six-year-old son, Daniel, say, “I’m just so proud of my dad; I’m so proud!”  

Chastain is the son of Glen and Judy Chastain.

Article written by Janet Teitsort

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