Taylor Swift’s Teachers Gush About Her Love of Poetry and ‘Special Quality’ From a Young Age
Taylor Swift’s former teachers gushed about her love of poetry and the spark they saw in her from a young age amid the release of her latest album, The Tortured Poets Department.
"She always was writing poetry — always — even in music class, even when she shouldn't," Barbara Kolvek, who was Taylor’s elementary school music teacher between first and fourth grade, told CBS Philadelphia on April 20.
Barbara also made it clear she always saw the “Enchanted” singer’s musical talent when she was a student, adding that she gave Taylor, 34, “her very first singing solo."
Taylor and Barbara stayed in touch "for a while,” and the now retired teacher hopes she gave her “a little spark or encouragement to do what she was doing.”
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Heather Brown, who was Taylor’s third grade teacher, also recalled the “Anti-Hero” singer’s "special quality."
"You always remember every student from the quality they have,” she told the outlet, adding that Taylor “was one of those students where people just drew to.”
While Heather and Taylor are no longer close, she said that she still sends her former student a Christmas card each year. However, she said that Taylor "probably doesn't get the messages anymore."
Her praise for Taylor continued, as she noted that everything she touches "turns to gold.” While the “Cruel Summer” singer has already broken several records, Heather said she is "just so excited to see what comes next."
"When she comes out on stage and everyone's screaming 'Taylor,' it's like, oh my gosh, like I was her teacher," Heather shared.
Heather and Barbara gushed about being Taylor’s teachers just one day after she released The Tortured Poets Department on April 19. While she initially kept details about the album a secret, she has started sharing insight into the writing and recording process on social media.
On April 23, she shared 14 behind-the-scenes clips that showed herself in the studio and snapshots from the album photo shoot on YouTube Shorts as part of her “Fortnight” challenge.
One clip showed Taylor looking emotional as she laid down vocals, as she was seen sniffling and nearly in tears between recording sessions. However, she assured fans that she also had fun during the process by sharing shots of her smiling and dancing.
While the album deals with emotional topics – including her splits from Joe Alwyn and Matty Healy – the Pennsylvania native assured fans that she has moved past the trauma in an Instagram post shared just moments after the album was released.
“The Tortured Poets Department. An anthology of new works that reflect events, opinions and sentiments from a fleeting and fatalistic moment in time - one that was both sensational and sorrowful in equal measure. This period of the author’s life is now over, the chapter closed and boarded up,” she wrote via Instagram. “There is nothing to avenge, no scores to settle once wounds have healed. And upon further reflection, a good number of them turned out to be self-inflicted. This writer is of the firm belief that our tears become holy in the form of ink on a page. Once we have spoken our saddest story, we can be free of it.”
