Earlier this month, a special honor was bestowed upon a teacher from Brooklyn who has been mentoring his students on the power of theater.
Gary Edwin Robinson, the head of the theater arts program at Boys and Girls High School in Brooklyn, received the Excellence in Theatre Education Award at the Tony Awards, but credits his students for the win.
“This is ours, because y’all helped work for this as well,” he told his class.
Robinson was recognized for his work as a teacher who constantly goes above and beyond for his students.
During his acceptance speech at the Tony’s in Radio City Music Call, he told an audience filled with musical theatre icons that his platform as a theatre educator is “career focused.”
“I love working with my students to help them find their theatre in themselves,” he said at the ceremony.
Robinson said he “went into total shock” when he found out he won the award, presented by Carnegie Mellon and The Tony Awards.
Renée Elise Goldsberry, who is most famous for her role as Angelica Schuyler in the original cast of Hamilton, gave Robinson a shoutout during the Tony Awards, thanking him for “inspiring the next generation of Tony Winners.
Robinson is the first teacher from New York to win this award. Theatre is his passion, and he majored in theatre education at Howard University.
“There has to be someone that can guide young people to find their dreams,” he said.
His students are not surprised by the national recognition.
“He sees each of us as an individual,” sophomore Eduardo Lemus said.
Even though many of his students don’t want to go into theatre professionally, Robinson’s influence helps them understand the value of arts education.
“Normal classes like math and English, yes, you’re going to take that with you into the real world, but definitely there’s aspects in theater that you need as well, like being able to work together, team building, is definitely something that you’re gonna have to take,” said junior Amiyah Maxell.
Senior valedictorian Brenell Hector, who is also a student of Robinson, agrees.
“Arts education has a great impact on students. It helped me enunciate my words, which is good for networking,” she said.
Robinson knows theatre education has a vast impact beyond the classroom.
“For my years of service as a theater educator, it saves lives. Students come in, and sometimes not knowing the direction they want to go, but this helps the student discover who they are,” he said. “And it’s a beautiful thing when you see the development of the student.”
This prestigious award reminds Robinson and his students that anything is possible.
“It doesn’t matter what walk of life you come from, if you have a dream, stick with it. Carry it through. Follow it through. Even when the others don’t believe in you, you got to believe in yourself and you must keep that dream alive,” he said.
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