Teachers just didn't understand him, he said - and that's why he decided to become one.

On Friday, the U.S. Department of Education will honor Roberts with a No Child Left Behind Private School American Star of Teaching award. The Rowland Hall-St. Mark's School eighth-grade English teacher is one of only five private school teachers to win the honor this year.

Winners were chosen for improving their students' academic performances and making a difference in students' lives. Roberts was nominated for the way he connects his lessons to community service and students' lives. Roberts, for example, has students interview senior citizens as a supplement to their reading of "Tuesdays with Morrie." He also invites young adult book authors to speak to his students. He invites nearby public schools to those author talks and donates books from his class to local public schools.

Each year, he asks his eighth-graders to write letters to themselves and then delivers those letters to them before they graduate from high school.

He said his own school experiences inspired his creative lessons.

"I thought, 'There has to be a way for learning to be fun, where it's not just about sit down and listen to me,' " Roberts said. "Let's read something and then put it into action in the community."