As Siobhan Magnus continues to sing her way in to the hearts of America with stirring performances on “American Idol,” her fourth grade teacher, Marge Dolby, was long aware the 20-year-old was a special talent.

Magnus was a standout performer in her local school productions and when Dolby, the chorus teacher at Cotuit Elementary School, heard her perform "Tomorrow" from "Annie," the penny dropped.

"It was such a moment," Dolby to the Cape Cod Times. “Everyone just got quiet, because we didn't know. And then we knew. We knew what she had. It was a natural gift."

Magnus went on to have a prolific tenure at Barnstable High School Drama Club, where, according to department head John Sullivan, she took part in 36 productions and played the lead role in more productions than anyone else in Sullivan’s 32 years at the school.

Little wonder then that the 20-year-old continues to impress with her composure and skill as she negotiates each round of "American Idol" with the same skill, grace and talent with which she wowed her classmates and teachers during her school days.

Only now her classroom extends to millions of Americans, who seem as equally impressed as her chorus teacher from the Cotuit Elementary School.