Taylor Swift’s Elementary School Teachers Remember Singer’s ‘Special Quality’ as a Child

L: Taylor Swift, R: Travis Kelce

As Taylor Swift's poetry-inspired 11th studio album makes waves with fans and casual listeners alike, two of the global superstar's elementary school teachers are quietly rooting for her all these years later.

After The Tortured Poets Department dropped on Friday, April 19, CBS Philadelphia tracked down her music teacher of several years and her third grade teacher, the former of whom said she is so "proud...that she has never lost her focus and she's never lost the real person that she is."

Barbara Kolvek, who taught the "Champagne Problems" songstress from first to fourth grade, recalled she was "always was writing poetry," no matter what was going on. "Even in music class, even when she shouldn't," she shared.

But it was all careful preparation for the revered lyricist-to-be, who secured her first solo under Kolvek's guidance. "'Fast Talk Freddie,' I believe it was called," the now-retired instructor revealed. "I feel like maybe I gave her a little spark or encouragement to do what she was doing."

The two stayed in touch via email for a while, but Kolvek still holds onto several sweet mementos, including signed yearbooks and t-shirts and a stuffed snowman gifted to her by the "Christmas Tree Farm" singer.

Swift was also a member of Heather Brown's very first class, and while the teacher assumes she doesn't receive her messages anymore, she still sends them.

"I still send her a Christmas card every year. I still write her notes and congratulate her," she shared.

Brown said that "everything [Swift] touches turns to gold" and expressed her "excitement" for whatever comes next for the multihyphenate which, at this point, could really be anything—including her son Ethan's wedding, which he's invited her to sing at.

Ethan treasures a photo taken with the soon-to-be megastar when he was just four years old, where he sat next to Swift in the Reading Fightin Phillies dugout before she sang the national anthem.

He had it pressed onto a t-shirt to wear to the Eras Tour and proudly showed it off in the stadium "feeling like [he] was the tallest man in the world."

Brown remembers Swift for her "special quality," which she says every student has. "Taylor's quality was just being she was one of those students where people just drew to," she remembered.

"She's always been very honest and open," Kolvek added. "I admire that in her."

Next: Travis Kelce’s Coach Makes Bold Declaration About Taylor Swift