Gary Bastien, a graduate of SIUC, has been a math teacher for five years. He currently teaches Integrated Math I and II, Advanced Math, Geometry, Algebra II, and Trigonometry. Mr. Bastien has been teaching at Astoria High School for two years now, and he absolutely loves the faculty and students as well as the town.

As a teacher, Mr. Bastien strives for his students to succeed and try their best. One of the reasons he became a teacher was to become a role model to his students. He feels as though high school is the transition to adulthood, and students need someone that will help make a positive change to their life. He also believes that math is one of the most important things that will help you in life and that learning math will help each and every student succeed in his or her future.

Although this selection was somewhat unexpected, Mr. Bastien was very honored to have been chosen as the high school employee of the month for April. He believes that he was chosen due to his dedication in the activities he is involved in. Outside the classroom, Mr. Bastien is a sophomore class sponsor, is in charge of game films for varsity football, and is the head coach for Junior High and High School Scholastic Bowl.