The Making of a Star

Win or lose, Anwar Robinson is an "American Idol" to his students and colleagues at Edison Middle School in West Orange, New Jersey.

Photo courtesy of American Idol

Anwar Robinson was a hit at Edison Middle School long before the rest of America discovered him on TV's red-hot American Idol. The soft-spoken vocalist and school choir director is lauded there for his teaching as much as his talent.

In case you haven't been glued to your television, Idol is the top-rated reality series in which singers compete for a recording contract with a major label. Robinson beat the odds by making it past the initial cut of 100,000 hopefuls to become one of the 12 finalists who ended up as household names—whether or not they take the top prize. As NEA Today went to press, eight contestants were left and Robinson was still standing. He was eliminated from the competition shortly after. If it were up to his fans at Edison, Robinson would've make it all the way.

Robinson, who studied classical music at Westminster Choir College of Rider University in Princeton, New Jersey, radiates a "fresh style," says school band director Jay Gitter. "When Anwar introduces a new piece of music, he sings the song to the kids to heighten their interest. Then he'll explain what it's about and break it down so they'll get the musical elements."

Photo by AP/Marko Georgiev

"The students definitely bought into what Robinson was teaching because they could tell he was genuine," adds Joe Romano, who teaches sixth-grade band and plays trumpet. "He uses his gift and maximizes it to its full potential." Romano admits his colleague's multi-week run on the show also keeps him tuned in: "I've caught the Idol fever, too."

 "We all got on the bandwagon," says principal Errol Scales, a former junior high music teacher and jazz trumpeter, "holding Anwar parties in the building every Tuesday evening, with screens set up in the auditorium to watch the competition." Scales says Robinson's celebrity has given

Edison new status: "He has put us on the map. The school is viewed in such a positive way."

Most important, Robinson's run on Idol sends a positive message to his students. During one show, Robinson announced to the audience that auditioning for Idol despite the odds proved to his students that all of us can follow our dreams.

—Mike Tucker

Left: Edison students use their cell phones to post votes for their choir director. Right: Anwar Robinson performs on American Idol.

Forging History

Pull an award-winning book from the library shelf at Edward Devotion Primary School, and odds are you'll find it was written by the librarian who checked it out for you.

Photo by Patricia McDonnell

As a massachusetts school librarian, Norman Finkelstein manages a room full of books, but what's truly remarkable is that 13 of those books were written by him. In fact, Finkelstein recently received a National Jewish Book Award for his latest work, Forged in Freedom: Shaping the Jewish American Experience.

This is the second National Jewish Book Award Finkelstein has received, among many other awards, including the Golden Kite Honor Award given to him by the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators in 1997 for With Heroic Truth: The Life of Edward R. Murrow.

Finkelstein's other young adult nonfiction books and biographies have exposed his readers to a variety of topics over the past 20 years, ranging from the golden age of radio to the Cuban missile crisis. "I've been fortunate," says Finkelstein. "Each of my books has allowed me to pursue a

personal interest. And I love the research part of the process—searching through the archives, poring over books, going on the Internet and learning new things—that's what I enjoy most of all. The library is the perfect laboratory for any writer."

This is Finkelstein's last year as the librarian at Edward Devotion School (K–8) in Brookline, which has a special library archive devoted to President John F. Kennedy, Devotion's most famous student. Finkelstein, who hopes to spend more time writing after retirement, plans to add even more history books to those library shelves. "Students have very little understanding or connection with history before they were born," says Finkelstein. "An understanding of the past helps them grow."

—Donna Chiu

A Diversity Pioneer Goes Green

Most gardeners dabble in a few types of plants that interest them most, spending an hour or two planting and pulling weeds when they can. Then there's Sara Flores.

Visit Flores' home in Corpus Christi, Texas, and you'll discover more than 50 different—and quite diverse—plant species, including orchids, Japanese bonsai trees, roses, cactuses, and prized Texas hibiscus. As a result, something magnificent is flourishing in her gardens every season.

"I love all my plants," says Flores. "I have quite a mixed bag growing, but I don't want to limit myself."

Flores works one full day each week tending to her plants  in addition to a little time each day. She also belongs to four different gardening groups.

"I've had a real green thumb since I was a teenager. But I taught for 39 years, and my husband, Humberto, and I have six kids…so only since retiring have I had the time I really want to spend in the garden."

Flores specialized in elementary school bilingual education and now boasts that all five of her daughters are teaching and working with Spanish-speaking students. "It's very gratifying to see them following that course," she says, adding she plans to mentor student teachers going into bilingual education.

Despite earning her Master Gardener's certificate, Flores still considers herself a student. "I'm still learning," she laughs, "my roses didn't turn out so well the other year."

—Matt Simon

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