NEW ORLEANS — There's bit of irony around a new school designed for young men. The Delores Taylor Arthur school for Young Men is named after a woman.
But who is she?
"An amazing educator is who Delores Taylor Arthur is," said Byron Arthur, the school's President & CEO.
Delores Taylor Arthur was also his teacher. Not in the classroom, but in life.
"Obviously, she is my mother."
He spent his life watching her commitment to her students.
"She spent so many hours preparing and teaching children and never missed a beat."
And her dedication had no limits.
Back in 1973, one of the third-graders was known as a troublemaker, so Delores Taylor Arthur brought him home for the weekend.
"She treated him like he was a member of the family and the transformation that happened for him was pretty impressive," explained Arthur.
Arthur says that experience formulated his approach to young people. But back then, he wasn't thinking of a career in education. That didn't happen until after his mom died.
Delores Taylor Arthur passed away in 2012 after nearly four decades of teaching.
"Oftentimes, I speak of her in the present because this woman was far too much...far too big to ever be forgotten," said Arthur.
Not long after his mother died, Arthur was driving to his office. He was an attorney at the time. He just broke down. He felt like there was a hole in his heart, and all he could do was sit on the side of the road and pray.
"I said, 'God is there anything that will ever fill this hole and give me some joy."
The next day he got a call from his alma mater Holy Cross to teach a class.
He accepted the offer and just like that, his joy was back.
"Starting the school was the next step. It was 2016."
This new school is his way of sharing love his mother gave him with young people in the city.
"I could have never wished for better than what Delores Arthur gave me in that house as a son."
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