A big teaching award might not impress today's middle school students, but a brush with fame certainly will.

West Branch Middle School teacher Hector Ibarra got both Sunday when American Idol star Clay Aiken presented him with the first-ever Youth Service America Award, courtesy of the DisneyHand Teacher Awards.

Ibarra, who teaches sixth- and seventh-grade science, was recognized for his youth service learning program, Timber Stand Improvement. Through the program, he and his students have, among other projects, planted more than 2,000 trees at Cedar Valley Park, collected more than 4,000 used oil filters and held a student-run reading program for elementary, preschool and day-care children.

The oil filter project earned Ibarra and four students the Governor's Iowa Environmental Excellence Award in Waste Manage-ment in February and a trip to Washington, D.C. A simulated interplanetary project, with his sixth-grade class using Legos to build Mars rovers controlled via the Internet by students in Japan, earned a visit from Grace Corrigan, the mother of fallen astronaut-teacher Christa McAuliffe.

McAuliffe died while aboard the space shuttle Challenger, which exploded shortly after takeoff on Jan. 28, 1986.

Singer Clay Aiken, a former special education teacher, presented the award to Ibarra in Burbank, Calif.

"I am so honored to be the recipient of this award," Ibarra said in a press release. "Timber Stand Improvement's projects are student-centered and are focused on preserving or rejuvenating the resources that touch the lives of the young people who participate in each program.

Youth Service America is a group that works to increase the number of volunteer opportunities for youth ages 5 to 25.