When Gary Eisenberg won a Silver Knight Award for citizenship ''many moons ago,'' he said it was as if time stopped.

There, presenting the awards at the 1970 ceremony, was astronaut Alan L. Bean, fresh off the 1969 Apollo 12 space mission. Eisenberg was awestruck, thinking about how special the awards must be if Bean was there to recognize the winners.

''It was just a surreal moment,'' said Eisenberg, who now owns Southeast Atlantic Realty, a property management company.

To this day, Eisenberg's Silver Knight program with Bean's autograph is preserved along with his statue in his mom's house.

He has come a long way since his days at Miami Beach High, but as property manager, teacher and father, the ideals on which he won the award are a big part of who he is today.

''I still believe that every human being should do whatever they can to help someone in need,'' he said. ``It's what makes the world go round.''

Eisenberg saw the necessity of volunteering even back in his high school days.

''It just came natural,'' said Eisenberg, who spent his free time feeding the hungry, cleaning up the neighborhood and helping area children.

In The Miami Herald article that ran after the award announcements, Eisenberg was quoted as saying: ``Therefore, if we benefit ourselves, we must first benefit others.''

The skinny high school teen made himself known as president of the sophomore and junior classes and student government president.

Solomon Lichter, who was principal of Beach High in the '70s, said he could never forget a student like Eisenberg.

''Gary was always a shining star,'' said Lichter, 86. ``He was very active, bright, energetic and involved in everything. He deserved that award.''

The night of the awards ceremony, Eisenberg was wearing a new suit, sitting near his friends. The announcer began introducing the award winner for citizenship and Eisenberg started to think ``Oh my God, that's me.''

''That was definitely one of those moments that you never want to forget,'' he said.

Eisenberg went on to earn a degree in humanities from Florida International University and a graduate degree in psychology from San Francisco State University.

He later discovered the real estate business and was hooked.

Now the owner of Southeast Atlantic Realty, Eisenberg spends most of his days visiting the seven properties he manages, mostly in South Miami-Dade.

Eisenberg's office is an example of his personality. He has a seat-belt on his green and yellow sofa because he tells clients to ``buckle in because it will be a wild ride.''

He has an oversized pencil ''for the big mistakes,'' and he's got a picture of the eye of a rabbi looking at him.

Though he didn't become a rabbi as he had planned back in high school, for 33 years Eisenberg taught Jewish ethics at Temple Beth Am in Pinecrest.

Just as it did when he was in high school, Judaism plays a huge part of who he is.

''I live my life by the Jewish principal of mitzvahs,'' referring to doing good deeds. Joy Schandler, head of the religious school at Temple Beth Am, said Eisenberg is a great role model for his students.

''He cares very deeply for his students,'' Schandler said. ``He was very clearly a very special and motivated teenager and today he is motivating generations of teens. It's remarkable.''

But Eisenberg said he finds the most pleasure being with his wife Cyndi and two sons, Max, 15 and Sam, 12.

Watching his boys give back, he says, is the best feeling ever.

''The greatest gift is watching my kids become good citizens,'' he said. ``What more can I ask for?''

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