Before the first bell of the new school year had even rung, Mildred Osborne Charter School gave two Crescent City Schools educators a moment neither one saw coming.
Lesley Blouin, Director of Family and Community at Mildred Osborne, was in her office during back-to-school professional development when she heard a familiar voice call out from the hallway: “Is that Ms. Blouin?”
She recognized it instantly. Standing there was Jailyn Brown, one of Dorothy Height Charter School’s new third-grade ELA teachers — and, more than a decade earlier, one of Ms. Blouin’s own second-grade scholars.
“I ran out and just gave her this big hug,” Blouin said. “I was like, ‘Wait, you’re a teacher?'”
The two first met back when Blouin taught kindergarten and second grade at Akili Academy, which later merged with Mildred Osborne. Brown was in Blouin’s second-grade class and stayed at Akili through eighth grade, crossing paths with Blouin in the halls year after year.
“She was very bright, a natural leader,” Blouin remembered. “I just always knew that she would do something wonderful, even at a very young age.”
For Brown, becoming a teacher had been the plan since childhood. “I always said that I wanted to be a teacher,” she said. After obtaining her bachelor’s degree, Brown joined teachNOLA, a teacher training program that partners with Crescent City Schools. In addition to her fond memories of her own teachers while a student at Akili, this partnership ultimately led her back toward the network that educated her as a child.
“Seeing somebody who’s been with Crescent City Schools for so long really makes me feel good,” Brown said, “because you know that they must love something about the school system.”
Neither educator had any idea their paths would cross again. Blouin never heard Brown talk about teaching when she was young, and Brown had not seen Blouin in years before that hallway reunion. But now that they are colleagues, Blouin’s advice to her former scholar sounds a lot like the lesson she taught her the first time around: stay true to who you are.
“I’d remind her to keep leaning into that hard work ethic,” Blouin said. “If she does that, her scholars will excel.”
From student to educator, and now to colleague, Brown’s return to the CCS family is a reminder of what happens when a great school leaves a lasting impression on a scholar.
