by Lexi Kimmel ‘21

 Almost everyone has a story of a time that they saw or interacted with a celebrity. Reene Lowden, Olney inhabitant and former teacher at I.S. 318 Middle School, is one of the few people who has not only met a celebrity but has been credited for one’s success. According to Shawn Carter, a year in sixth grade with Mrs. Lowden helped develop his “love for words.” This love resulted in hundreds of songs and awards, and Shawn Carter, now known as Jay Z, praises Lowden for her influence on him and his music. 

 “Shawn was always very smart, and I remember telling him that he’d better do something with that” said Lowden. She recounted the advancement of Carter’s reading level, which was six grade levels above average. Carter was born into the impoverished projects in Brooklyn, New York and had grown up with the mentality that he could not excel in life. Jay-Z credits Lowden with his success because she was one of the only people in his life that told him that he could achieve whatever he set his mind to.  

 “She had an ice thing on her refrigerator. You know, you push it and the ice and the water comes down. I was really amazed by that. I was like, I want one of those,” said Jay-Z in an interview with Forbes magazine. Lowden took her students to her apartment in Brooklyn after a field trip, where most of them saw simple technology that they had never seen or had before, like her ice machine. Lowden took her role as a teacher a step further than most, and Jay-Z recognizes her generosity and determination to help her students achieve greatness as one of the key factors to his success. 

 Lowden did not help Shawn Carter because she knew he would become famous as Jay-Z and mention her. She did not motivate him so she could be credited with his success. She treated him how she treated all her other students because she believed that they could all achieve greatness. Small acts of kindness make a large impact on an individual, and Lowden’s story exemplifies that. 

 I am so privileged to have Reene Lowden, a strong and genuinely kind-hearted women, as my grandmother and role model. She has taught me to treat everyone with respect and believe that a person’s background does not determine their future. We can all learn something from Reene Lowden.