At a Storied NOLA High School, Alum Raises Up the Next Generation of Teachers
At McDonough 35, Shauntrell DeMesme teaches teens who want to be educators everything from effective literacy instruction to classroom management.
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This is part of a series covering the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, its effects, and the recovery of New Orleans鈥 schools. Read all our coverage and essays here.
In 1917, the New Orleans school district built a new elementary school and, as was the city鈥檚 custom, moved both its students 鈥 in this case, white boys 鈥 and its name to the new building.
As all schools in the city were named for enslaver John McDonogh, who had endowed the school system 50 years earlier, the school was, and remained, McDonogh 13. Taking its place in the old building: New Orleans’ first public high school for Black children, McDonogh 35.
Despite the origins of its name, McDonogh 35 has enjoyed a degree of devotion few schools anywhere can claim.
The 35 alumni association celebrates in March 鈥 the third month of the year 鈥 as close to the 5th as possible.
The mascot is a Roneagle, a mythical bird that exists only at 35. It may look like a bald eagle to the untrained eye, but it is really a raptor made of iron 鈥 bigger, faster, more formidable in every way. Being a Roneagle, as students describe themselves, conveys both honor and an obligation to participate in the school鈥檚 tradition of civic engagement. Ensuring the school remains a beacon of excellence tops the alumni association鈥檚 list of priorities.
Indeed, the school was the first in the city to certify Black educators 鈥 every student in 35’s graduating class of 1923 was to be a teacher.
Because 35 was the first Black high school, there had been little demand for Black secondary teachers before it opened. And very few prospective Black educators had any schooling past eighth grade.
With enrollment growing, in 1923 the high school became the site of the first 鈥渘ormal school鈥 鈥 an old-fashioned term for teacher training programs 鈥 for Black educators. Three men and 54 women signed up that first year. As more secondary schools for Black children opened, the newly certified educators fanned out across the city.
Fast-forward nearly 90 years, when 4,332 teachers 鈥 representing generations of Black educators who inherited the normal school鈥檚 legacy 鈥 were fired in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and replaced, at least temporarily, by young white outsiders.
Because students achieve more when they have teachers who look like them, New Orleans鈥 education leaders are now years into an effort to recruit and retain a diverse teacher corps dominated by educators who share students鈥 backgrounds.
Fittingly, one of the first 鈥 and most successful 鈥斅犫漡row your own鈥 educator preparation programs is located at McDonough 35, where a proud graduate seeks to inspire today鈥檚 high school students to consider a future in teaching.
As a little girl, Shauntrell DeMesme set her sights on being a Roneagle 鈥 a feat that required passing highly competitive admissions tests. Her mother and aunts were proud alums, and the fireplace mantle in her grandmother鈥檚 home was lined with their graduation photos and trophies from school clubs.
There were trophies for choir, cheerleading and 鈥 huge in a city where schools practice for Mardi Gras parades all year 鈥 marching band. DeMesme鈥檚 mother, who she describes as 鈥渕ore brainy,鈥 contributed academic accolades and student council recognitions to the shelf.
The mantle display meant everything to DeMesme鈥檚 grandmother Celeste Collier, who taught for 35 years. 鈥淪he always told me teaching kept her young,鈥 says DeMesme. 鈥淪he was my role model. She seemed so joyous teaching. She only retired because of Katrina.鈥
The storm swept the treasures away. 鈥淎ll of my dance pictures went down in the water,鈥 DeMesme says. 鈥淚 kept them in albums and organized scrapbooks.鈥
In addition to destroying the mementos of generations, Hurricane Katrina forced Collier鈥檚 retirement.
DeMesme had graduated from the Southern University at New Orleans with a psychology degree in spring 2005 and was planning on continuing on for a master鈥檚 in education when the storm hit. She rode out the aftermath in Texas, moving back in 2007 to teach preschool.
DeMesme had been working with little kids for a few years when her former principal at 35 reached out and said she needed someone to teach high school. DeMesme didn鈥檛 hesitate.
鈥淚t was 35, right?鈥 she says. 鈥淚 did not plan this, it was God’s plan.鈥
The last five of DeMesme鈥檚 17 years in education have been spent at 35, where, among other activities, she teaches English and coaches the step club 鈥斅燼 major source of Roneagle pride.
In 2023, as part of a broader push to train more Black educators, NOLA Public Schools’ nonprofit partner, New Schools for New Orleans, asked six schools to start career-preparation programs for high school students considering becoming teachers.
Again, DeMesme leaped 鈥 not realizing that a century earlier, 35 had run a normal school.
“Oh my God, here we are thinking we’re bringing it first, and we’re just bringing it back,” she says.
DeMesme鈥檚 students 鈥 who call her Miss D 鈥 learn about literacy and science of reading elements such as phonemic awareness, as well as strategies for connecting with children. They also student-teach two days a week in nearby elementary classrooms.
鈥淭hey’re learning different strategies, like conflict resolution, socialization 鈥 things that, even if they don’t want to be an educator, they can bring back and use in everyday life.鈥
At the start of each year, maybe two of the 14 students DeMesme admits to her program 鈥 a number determined by how many she can fit in the school鈥檚 van 鈥 say they want to go on to be teachers.
鈥淭he other kids are just undecided, and some of them say, 鈥榃ell, I know what I want to do, but I want to keep this on the back burner just in case,鈥 ” she says. 鈥淚’ll tell you, by the end of the year when my seniors graduate, we have changed at least four to five kids’ minds. They directly say, 鈥業’m going to be an educator. That’s what I want to be.鈥欌
What does she say to change their minds?
鈥淭he pay not may be like a lawyer or doctor. However, as far as being available for your family, I think the teaching life is the best. You get your summers, you get your weekends, you get your holidays, paid. A lot of other professions cannot say that. Our benefits are really, really good. We get the dental vision and medical. A lot of other jobs may not say that.
鈥淚 tell my kids, transparently, that at 35 I wasn’t considered one of the brightest. I was pretty much average,鈥 DeMesme says. 鈥淚 wasn’t very confident in myself. But as I grew, especially in college, I found that I can do way more than what I thought I could.鈥
She talks to them about the hard lessons the storm taught her about the value of being a part of a living legacy that floodwaters can鈥檛 wash away.
鈥淚 can’t compare my children’s pictures to my baby pictures because I don’t have any,鈥 DeMesme says. 鈥淜atrina taught me resilience. You can come back from whatever.鈥
鈥淚 hold 35 in my heart with serious pride. A lot of high schools did not make it after Katrina, but we are still here.鈥
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