
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, August 25, 1993                   TAG: 9308250133
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-1   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: ROBERT IMRIE ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: FOND DU LAC, WIS.                                LENGTH: Short

111 MILLION REASONS NOT TO TEACH JUNIOR HIGH

Some students wondered why he didn't quit. And he certainly doesn't need the paycheck. But the winner of half of a record $111 million lottery jackpot went back to work Tuesday as a junior high teacher.

"In the halls, you hear congratulations; but otherwise, I don't think it's too different," Leslie Robins said.

There was one big difference. Robins wore a colorful tie bearing the cartoon characters Sylvester the Cat and Tweety Bird.

"I don't wear a tie too often. I wanted them to remember it," he said.

Robins said he felt comfortable returning to Sabish Junior High for his fourth year of teaching, coaching and advising the school newspaper.

However, he expects this to be his last year at the school.

"This will give me a sense of security, of normality, until I decide what I would like to do in the future," he said. "If I thought that I was a bad teacher, obviously I would give the job up; or if I thought it was just a job, I would give it up. But . . . it is something I enjoy doing tremendously."

Robins is splitting his winnings in the July 7 Powerball lottery with his fiancee, Colleen De Vries, a 24-year-old nurse. They haven't set a wedding date. They are creating a foundation to manage their wealth, which will be paid to them over 20 years.

He intends to donate his pay - nearly $35,000 with his extra duties - back to the school.

by CNB