Detterline honored for astronomy education
Peter Detterline, planetarium director and high school astronomy teacher for the Boyertown Area School District, is the 2018 recipient of the the Thomas J. Brennan Award.
The Brennan Award is given to an individual demonstrating excellence in the teaching of astronomy at the high school level in North America.
Detterline recently counted his 500,000th visitor to the district planetarium and has also been a part-time astronomy instructor at several local colleges and universities.
Several generations of stu-
dents have been inspired to a greater interest, in and involvement with, astronomy through his passion.
He has participated in and made contributions to a host of science education programs outside his area, including a robotic observatory in New Mexico, the Mars Desert Research Station, the AAVSO, and the Astronomy in Chile Educator Ambassador Program.
He has written observing and observatory manuals, research papers, newspaper columns and more.
One of his nominators described him in terms every teacher will appreciate, “Mr. Detterline is determined, concerned, inquisitive, happy, funny, tenacious, goal oriented, technologically sophisticated, and passionate about astronomy and teaching.”
It’s a list of adjectives that pays appropriate tribute to this whirlwind of educational activity.