Anthony Arno successfully bicycled across America as a college student with the support of Calvin Klein while drawing attention towards the plight of cancer patients.  After college,  Arno worked as a social worker with disabled adults.

Arno began his teaching career in Brooklyn at P.S. 238 and has received many awards and grants, including being named a 2003 Fulbright Memorial Fund recipient to Japan, participating in an Earthwatch study of the endangered Spotted Owl in the Sierra-Nevada region of California, participation in NASA’s Space Camp, and presenting at the annual NJEA Conference.

In the 1990’s Arno used the schools only computer connected to the Internet to learn about historic Route 66 while his students bicycled 2000 miles aboard an exercise bicycle in the back of the classroom. During the year long teaching journey students corresponded with people living and working along the famed highway, including Chicago Mayor Daley and the songwriter Bobby Troup, who wrote the famous tune for Nat King Cole in 1956.

Since the Route 66 experience,  Arno launched a podcast highlighting the storied life of Route 66.  Guests include cast members from the animated Pixar-Disney classic CARS talking about the research involved in creating a movie highlighting Route 66, The Tattoo Man of Route 66 (165 tattoos), a German POW camp in Oklahoma that allowed the prisoners to work in the community to assist the local economy, and most recently the mayor of Times Beach, a once thriving community of 2,000 residents that was completely purged after dioxin was unknowingly sprayed on the dirt roads to suppress the dust.  To date, the town is the largest Superfund site in American history, having spent over $200 million during the 1980’s for a clean up.  Every home, every government vehicle, and even the water tower has been buried into a specially created vault the size of four football fields.

Arno also hosts an Internet radio program for educators that peaked on iTunes at #2 upon release and features talks with nationally recognized teachers.  A recent guest was former educator June Scobee Rogers, widow of Challenger Space Shuttle Commander Dick Scobee.  June talks candidly with Arno about being raised by a mentally ill mother,  marrying at the age of 16 so that she could adopt her younger brothers, working with Teacher in Space Christa McAuliffe, and life after Challenger, where she has created a network of space education centers that has benefited over 4 million children since the Challenger accident 30 years ago.

Arno recently retired from teaching 5th grade in New Jersey after spending 27 years as an elementary educator. In addition to coaching Science Olympiad, Arno also taught summer enrichment classes, including Soda Bottle Rockets, Microwave Cooking, The Lindbergh Trial, and History of Magic in America. After becoming STEM certified, Arno has once again returned back to the classroom, teaching middle school STEM classes.

Arno is currently producing a STEM related podcast for educators, and featured guests will include Andy Weir (The Martian), a 98 year old real life “Rosie the Riveter” who worked in a Birmingham B-29 factory, during WW II, the producer of the television show Battlebots, and one of the five surviving Navajo Code Talkers who served in WW II. There was once 450 Navajo Code Talkers, who were personally credited with winning the 1945 battle of Iwo Jima, an intense 5 week battle where 7,000 Americans gave their lives.

Newark Star Ledger