Will Clodfelder is a teenager whose passion has him aiming for the stars.
The senior is a big-picture student at Mahomet-Seymour High School and his vision for the future is in clear focus.
It’s in astronomy.
Clodfelder has found it so fascinating, he shares with others.
Last year, he started an Astronomy Club at the high school and provided his own personal telescopes for viewings.
He also prepared the material, and presented it to a group of 13.
This year, he has had interest expressed from 60 students about joining the club when the first one-hour meeting takes place after school on Nov. 14.
As a big-picture guy, however, Clodfelder was already looking beyond this year.
He didn’t like what was coming into view.
“I was thinking I had firmly established the club as one that could continue after I leave, and that the school needs this,” Clodfelder said, “but I will have my telescopes and equipment, and the school will have nothing.
“Night-time viewings are one of the most pivotal points of the club.
That’s the ‘wow’ moment, showing people something they’ve never seen before.
“I was terrified the school might not be able to continue (the club) because there’d be no access to a telescope.”
Clodfelder took matters into his own hands and did something he’d never done before.
On Aug. 30, he wrote a letter and mailed it to Corey Lee, CEO of Celestrom, which manufactured the two telescopes he owns.
“I told him the school did not have funding and that the club had quadrupled in size,” Clodfelder said. “My concern was how do I get the school a telescope?”
The cost for good equipment is not cheap. Models like he has are in the $2,500 range. Accessories can easily add another $500.
So that the company could see that he was serious, he also mailed a photograph of himself with his two telescopes.
In his letter, Clodfelder was direct and to the point.
“I told him my concerns and asked if he could donate a telescope,” he said.
Clodfelder received an email response one day while he was in his calculus class. It came from Kevin Kawai, the marketing coordinator for Celestrom.
“He said, ‘Yes,’ “ Clodfelder related. “I almost fell out of my chair.
They are going to send it relatively soon.”
After it arrives, and Clodfelder gets it put together, he plans to attend a school board meeting and officially present to the district a CGEM 800 8-inch HD computerized telescope.
“It’s comparable to my larger one,” he said, “but this one has nicer optics and a mount.”
M-S principal Shannon Cheek was impressed that Clodfelder was not intimidated in seeking such a donation.
“For him to take the initiative is huge,” Cheek said. “He’s quite passionate and knowledgeable.
“I’ve had conversations with him about what I see (in the sky), getting his perspective. What an example he sets for all of our kids.”
Clodfelder was confident in one aspect of his endeavor.
“I knew they would respond,” he said, “but I didn’t know if they might just say they would discount one.
“I was expecting a much smaller one. That’s a very nice one, especially to be donated.”
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An only child, Clodfelder’s interest started in fourth grade when he began reading books about space and astronomy.
The more he read, the more he learned and the more he found to his liking.
“It kept blowing my mind,” he said. “By the end of sixth grade, I’d read every book (on the subject) in the junior high library.
“It spiraled into an obsession and then a hobby. Now inevitably, it will be my career.”
He received his first telescope when he was a freshman. It’s a Celestron 8-inch.
Two years later, near Christmas, Clodfelder got a Celestron 11-inch.
“Three inches is an enormous deal,” he said. “The optics almost double.”
The equipment has helped Clodfelder jump-start his career path.
“In 10 to 15 years, I’d like to have my PhD in astrophysics,” he said.
“Ultimately, I see myself doing research in astronomy, but I don’t know what the hot topic will be 15 years from now.”
His experience standing in front of his peers at club meetings has also presented another possibility.
“I wouldn’t mind being a professor,” Clodfelder said. “I like teaching, but it would have to be at a college. There aren’t a ton of astronomy classes at high school.”
Before the Astronomy Club became a reality last year, Clodfelder had to do more than suggest it.
“He had to get a sponsor, talk about the purpose and what they are trying to do,” Cheek said.
Clodfelder arranged for Rhonda Ehrecke to serve as the sponsor. He is also working on the group’s first field trip, to Parkland’s Staerkel Planetarium, which is the state’s second largest planetarium.
“This is giving me a taste of what I’ll be doing,” Clodfelder said. “My goal is to open people’s eyes to the universe above them.
“I wish I’d started it my freshman or sophomore year.”
He’s comfortable talking to an audience of his peers.
“I have no problem speaking in front of people,” Clodfelder said. “That’s probably my favorite part.”
Close behind is the educational part.
“I like showing people planets,” Clodfelder said. “If you show Saturn, a lot of people’s jaws drop.
“They don’t realize that point of light in the sky is a planet and when they look at that point of light, they are seeing another world.”
