Inside Jaylen Brown’s special decision that “changed everything”

Jaylon Mason anticipated Wednesday to be simply one other regular day at Dorchester’s Brooke Excessive Faculty.

Then, at a seemingly mundane college meeting, Jaylen Brown walked in via the door.

Shocked, the lots of of excessive schoolers on the auditorium went berserk, screaming, leaping out of their seats, utterly incapable of containing their pleasure as an exciting actuality set in.

Considered one of their favourite athletes, certainly one of their largest position fashions, was at their college.

“I noticed a pair children even cry,” Mason instructed CelticsBlog.

Brown’s go to to Brooke Excessive Faculty was certainly one of 5 college visits he made on Wednesday. He frolicked at Mildred Avenue Okay-8 in Mattapan, swung by New Mission Excessive Faculty and Lilla and Frederic Pilot Center Faculty in Dorchester, and frolicked at Nathan Hale Elementary Faculty in Roxbury.

The visits got here only a few days after Brown instructed CelticsBlog he was leaning towards spending most of his offseason in Boston for the primary time in his Celtics tenure.

“I’m locally so much, however I’m leaning towards being much more locally,” Brown mentioned. “I’m simply actually attempting to the touch this group and be round, be accessible for town of Boston.”

Simply 4 days later, Brown demonstrated the affect of only a single day of real group engagement.

How Jaylen Brown ended up at Brooke Excessive Faculty

In mid-April, Shantae Romain, Brooke Excessive Faculty’s Director of Operations, met Brown at a personal night occasion at the highschool that centered round monetary literacy, well being, spirituality, and self-mastery.

Brown was certainly one of a number of visitor audio system on the 19Keys occasion, and Romain realized she had a once-in-a-lifetime alternative to straight make the case for the Celtics famous person to return by and meet her college students. Romain was additionally well-aware that her college students would quickly be devastated to be taught that Brown visited Brooke Excessive throughout a time after they weren’t current.

“When the children noticed on social media, they had been like, ‘Oh my gosh, Jaylen Brown was in our constructing, and also you didn’t inform us,’” Romain instructed CelticsBlog with a chuckle. “They hated me for that.”

So, with out hesitation, she approached Brown on the occasion and shot her shot.

“I used to be like, ‘Hey, that is nice that you just’re right here as a visitor speaker,’” Romain mentioned. “However, that is who we’re. That is our faculty group. These are our children. I’d be honored in the event you might come again and converse to them straight in that capability.’”

Brown and his crew couldn’t make any guarantees, however the 2024 Finals MVP mentioned he would attempt to return within the offseason whereas college was nonetheless in session. Romain by no means anticipated the go to to truly happen.

Then, final Sunday, when she was cleansing her home, she acquired an sudden name from Brown’s crew. Brown wished to return frolicked at Brooke Excessive Faculty, simply as Romain had urged a couple of weeks prior. His solely request? To maintain every part a shock from each the scholars and the workers.

Forward of the momentous day, Romain and Brown jumped on the telephone for a prep name, and the passionate college administrator shared with the Celtics star background details about her college and college students.

“The truth that they remembered their phrase to me, simply spoke volumes about who he’s an individual, who his crew are as individuals,” she mentioned, shouting out Brown’s safety guard, Russell, for his position in making the occasion a actuality.

On Wednesday, the big day lastly arrived. It’s onerous for these in attendance to seek out the phrases to explain simply the way it felt when Brown took the stage.

“It was essentially the most electrical, energetic second within the room,” Romain mentioned. “Simply — goosebumps.”

For over an hour, Brown immersed himself amongst the scholars, sitting with them within the crowd, calling many onto the stage, and spending further time with varied athletes and high educational performers.

“This introduced a lot pleasure to college students lives,” Romain mentioned. “A star, an NBA champion, an NBA All-Star, a Celtics participant, strolling via the identical halls they stroll via — it simply doesn’t occur. To a lot of the college students within the room, he’s their idol.”

Romain believes her college students earned such a unprecedented alternative with their unwavering dedication and dedication.

“They’re well-behaved, they’re respectful, they’re superb, educated, proficient, clever college students,” she mentioned. “I’m like, ‘That is why you guys deserve this.’”

After the go to, her inbox was inundated with emails of gratitude from numerous college students.

“They had been like, ‘That simply modified my life. That simply modified every part. That simply made us really feel extra motivated, and pushed us via this yr… they had been like, you don’t even know what this simply did for us,’” Romain mentioned. “To me, that’s every part.”

Romain, who’s born and raised in Dorchester, mentioned she couldn’t even fathom an occasion like this going down when she was in class.

“This doesn’t occur to us,” she mentioned. “This doesn’t occur in Dorchester. This doesn’t occur in inside cities.”

Earlier than Jaylon Mason completed his interview with CelticsBlog, he gave an editorial notice for the story: “Give a whole lot of credit score to Shantae Romain. She made this occur.”

The affect of a Celtics famous person making the journey to Dorchester

When Jaylen Brown took the stage, he delievered a novel message for every grade stage. He pushed the juniors to take a management position forward of their closing yr. And, he urged the seniors to embrace the subsequent steps on their journeys — and at all times keep in mind who they had been and the place they got here from.

“I felt prefer it actually did uplift the varsity,” Mason mentioned.

Brown additionally wished to listen to from the scholars straight, so he introduced many onto the stage to formaly launched themselves, with a easy directive: “Inform me who you’re. Inform me about your college.”

The Celtics star gifted signed game-worn sneakers to the varsity’s two valedictorian and salutatorian candidates, Syriana Etheart and Maryama Ali. The sneakers had been from certainly one of his greatest video games of the 2025 playoffs, Recreation 5 in opposition to the Knicks, through which he tallied 26 factors, 12 assists, and eight rebounds en path to a blowout victory.

Brown frolicked with college students, autographing their garments, taking images with them, giving them phrases of knowledge, and instilling them with unwaving self-belief. Mason was carrying a black shirt, so he had Brown signal his arm.

With finals season only a few days away, the motivation was significantly well timed, college students mentioned.

“He simply instructed us to maintain grinding in class, truthfully – we might obtain what he might obtain, so long as we put our minds to it,” Mason mentioned. “He instructed us simply to maintain working onerous and [showed] the place onerous work will get you.”

For Mason — who loves science, anime, and comedian books — the occasion highlighted that he wasn’t all that completely different from the Celtics star. The senior mentioned he realized that identical to him, Brown was “lowkey a nerd.”

“I spotted I might obtain huge issues too, if I simply put some onerous work into it,” Mason mentioned.

Mason has his educational plans laid out for the foreseeable future: he’ll be attending Bunker Hill Neighborhood Faculty within the fall to review communication, after which he hopes to switch to UMass Boston, the place’ll main in enterprise with the last word aspiration of turning into a advertising supervisor.

Wednesday’s go to additional strengthened the significance of sticking to his well-thought-out educational plan.

Brown was initially anticipated to spend 25 minutes at Brooke Excessive as a part of his busy college tour on Wednesday. However, he ended up spending greater than an hour, one thing that’s develop into some extent of delight for college kids.

“I’m not gonna lie, I really feel like he actually did like our faculty essentially the most,” Mason mentioned, explaining he had scrolled via Tik Toks from the varied colleges Brown visited and are available to that conclusion.

Most of the children have by no means gotten the prospect to attend a Celtics sport in particular person. So, to spend one-on-one time with a participant of Brown’s stature was surreal.

Issues didn’t return to regular the subsequent day at college.

“Folks couldn’t cease speaking about it, I can’t even lie,” Mason mentioned. “It’s the equal of, like, sitting in your mattress and consuming cereal, watching TV, and like, Obama is available in.”

For Mason, the go to additionally made Brown really feel extra relatable. Whereas he was already an enormous fan of the Celtics All-Star, the go to propelled issues to a different stage.

“Jaylen Brown is a bit of little bit of an underdog,” Mason mentioned. “I like an underdog sort of particular person… he’s simply simple. I don’t know find out how to describe it – he looks like somebody I may very well be like, if I actually put my thoughts to it.”

The truth that somebody as high-profile as Brown would select to spend time with them, at their college nonetheless didn’t really feel actual.

“He really got here to Dorchester,” Mason mentioned, seemingly nonetheless incredulous. “Jaylen Brown was simply exhibiting us he beloved our group. Often, you anticipate NBA gamers to be in it for the cash. However he’s actually on this for the group. So, it actually did make me really feel very nice. And he mentioned he was gonna come again with a pair extra buddies subsequent time. I hope he comes again earlier than I graduate, although — I’m attempting to see these different couple of buddies he’s about to deliver.”

Brown has loads of different plans within the Boston group this summer season.

As he does practically yearly, he’s internet hosting the Bridge program in July, the place choose Black and Brown youth from the Boston space will attend a multi-day academic initiative at MIT run by Brown’s 7uice basis.

“Our child within the metropolis of Boston, Mattapan, Dorchester, Hyde Park — they want this,” Romain mentioned, urging different Celtics gamers and high-profile Boston figures to take time of their schedules to make these kind of visits.

Within the meantime, the hundreds of scholars that met Brown on Wednesday will always remember it, his recommendation etched of their reminiscence forver.

“The trajectory of lives was modified this week,” Romain mentioned.