A nationally recognized astronomy teacher is helping incarcerated students see stars.

The result of his lofty pursuit? One top pupil is becoming a rising academic star himself.

Kenneth Ziegler has earned national acclaim as both a NASA MESSENGER Educator Fellow and as a 2007 recipient of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific's Thomas J. Brennan Award. With credentials like these, it would seem likely to find Ziegler teaching at a posh private academy or a prestigious college preparatory.

Ziegler has chosen a radically different path -- he is committed to educating incarcerated youth at Buckeye's Eagle Point School, operated by the Arizona Department of Juvenile Corrections. While a foreboding fence consistently surrounds his students and reminds them of challenged pasts, Ziegler is more focused on helping students create promising futures.

"Just because our students are in secure care doesn't mean they can't reach out and explore the universe, and it doesn't imply they don't have the desire to do so," Ziegler explained.

One student reaching out to exciting new heights is Joseph Brown. Under Ziegler's tutelage, Brown has been transformed from a "...lackluster student with little or no interest in school...," according to Ziegler into an ".excited learner who is thinking about his newly won college tuition."

That's right - college tuition. Brown's star shined bright this past March at the Central Arizona Regional Science and Engineering Fair (CARSEF). He placed first in the Earth and Planetary Sciences Division and earned a full-tuition scholarship at Arizona State University (ASU) for his research project: "Global Evidence of Groundwater or Permafost on Mars." His project also caught the eye of the Arizona Hydrological Society, which awarded him second place.

Brown chose the ASU scholarship over an $8,000 scholarship offer from Embry Riddle Aeronautical University. He is currently studying Geology, with an emphasis on planetary geology, at ASU's Polytec Campus.

The fact that Brown presented his project at CARSEF at all is a testament to Ziegler. Brown's project was one of four presented by six participating Eagle Point students. Prior to this year, no student from a juvenile correctional facility had ever attended the science and engineering fair.

Ziegler plans to continue stimulation young minds at Eagle Point. Utilizing two telescopes at the facility, future planned research projects will find Eagle Point students measuring rotational patterns of distant asteroids and measuring distances to star clusters.

With stimulating projects such as these, it's safe to assume that Zeigler and his students will make an impact at future CARSEF gatherings for years to come!