Thus one journeys to the stars
A simple gummy bear, when dropped into potassium chlorate, triggers a chemical reaction that lives up to its name: the exploding gummy bear experiment. A bright fire erupts from the test tube before going dark, and in that fleeting moment, every student in the lab is hooked.
For senior adolescence to young adult education major Dylan Lewis, the experiment is more than a crowd-pleaser. It’s a statement to his teaching philosophy: learning should ignite something in students — literally and figuratively.
Student teaching in a chemistry and physics classroom at West Carrollton High School, about 15 minutes from UD’s campus, Lewis distinguishes himself through genuine relationship-building and by cultivating joy in the science classroom.
He lives by the Latin phrase Sic itur ad astra — “thus one journeys to the stars” — a reminder of his belief in every student’s potential and his commitment to leaving a mark of care and support in their lives.
“You can tell when it clicks for a student when they’re happy and confident, and there’s no greater feeling as an educator,” Lewis said.
He recalled a student who was quiet in class but wrote on an exit ticket (a common end-of-class questionnaire teachers use to gauge understanding and give space for feedback) that she was too nervous to speak up when confused. Lewis seized the moment to uplift all student voices, emphasizing that asking questions helps not only the individual but everyone in the classroom. Afterward, he saw class participation increase significantly.
“Creating space for open communication with my students has been a huge help in building trust,” Lewis said.
“Creating space for open communication with my students has been a huge help in building trust.”
Another student, planning to go to trade school, was resistant to fully participate in class.
“I pulled this student aside after class and expressed my confidence in his intelligence and ability to answer questions correctly,” Lewis explained. He soon noticed a clear shift in the student’s engagement and improvement on exit tickets and assessments.
Lewis described the internal ear-to-ear grin he gets when the material is landing — explanations click, rapport deepens and students believe in themselves as much as he believes in them.
Inspired by his own teachers who encouraged him to apply himself and embrace new opportunities, Lewis now pays that forward.
“Just today, two students came up to me and said, ‘We want our future teachers to be like you, Mr. Lewis,’” he said, a grin spreading across his face. “That was a huge ‘I made it’ moment.”
With student trust earned through intentional relationship building, Lewis and his students are journeying to the stars together, one exploding gummy bear at a time.
Photographs by Sylvia Stahl ’18