How a JROTC Teacher Helped a Shy Student Find His Voice
Someone You Should Know: Centoria Louden
In a country where students often fall through the cracks, one teacher in Sierra Vista, Arizona shows how empathy and life experience can change lives. This is part of the Someone You Should Know series.
This story follows in the footsteps of Harry Porterfield, the Chicago broadcast legend. Harry spent decades introducing viewers to regular people doing extraordinary things. It’s in that spirit that we meet Sergeant Centoria Louden and Jaden Schmidt, a student at Buena High School who almost went unnoticed. I met both of them through the Honored Foundation.
Many of us are lucky to have one alma mater. Some go through grade school, middle school, high school, and college in the same city. But when you go to multiple schools, it’s hard to maintain long-term friendships. One benefit, though, is you become an expert on school culture and the quality of teaching.
Jaden Schmidt is such an expert. He’s a senior at Buena High School in Sierra Vista, Arizona. Born in Germany into a military family, Jaden has attended schools in Georgia, Hawaii, California, and Arizona. He doesn’t remember the exact number, but says it’s “at least six.” And after all that moving, he knows how to spot the teachers who have checked out. “The ones that give us a worksheet and not really teach,” he says. Or the ones who teach “in a way that's confusing and if you ask a question for help they won’t explain in a way that helps you.”
Not many of the schools or teachers stuck with him. “The last good teacher I had was back in fourth grade,” he says. What made that teacher stand out? “She listened to me and helped me when I needed it.” That year, Jaden was being bullied. “She saw it and stopped it pretty much.” That was the last time he really felt heard, until high school.
“I was teased a lot in high school. Just put that out there,” says Sergeant Centoria Louden over video chat. Louden teaches at Buena High School and only became a teacher recently. Her previous career and her role as a working mother gave her the tool she uses most: empathy.
“There is nothing that you're doing that hasn't been done before,” she tells her students. “So no matter how royally you mess this up, someone’s already done it.”
Louden, like Jaden, was born into a military family. She’s a 20-year combat veteran and spent her career in military intelligence, mostly as a human intelligence officer and interrogator. She also moved around a lot as a kid. One moment that changed her life was winning the spelling bee in third grade. “I can pronounce onomatopoeia,” she laughs. “I can do stuff.”
She wants her students to have those same moments. “Yes, I can manage my calendar. I can get my assignments in on time. I can be successful in this class while working and taking college courses.”
At Buena High, Louden leads JROTC. It’s not just about drills. Her classroom reflects her life experience. She says interrogation and motherhood taught her the same lesson: how to listen. She sees the pressure her students face, pressure to look a certain way, excel in AP classes, juggle jobs, take care of family, and play multiple sports. “They’re doing so much,” she says. “And they’re handling it fairly well, given that they’re teenagers.
Before coming to Buena, Jaden had already joined Cyber Patriots, a cybersecurity education program launched by the Air Force. He also had been in JROTC. But when his family moved from Georgia to Arizona, it was like starting over. “You don’t want to mess up,” Jaden says. “I don’t want to be the weird kid, the kid no one likes or wants to talk to.”
Turns out, both Jaden and Sgt. Louden were new to the school that year. She says she feels lucky to be in the classroom after a career that kept her away from her family. Some mornings, she listens to Christian music in her car just to find the energy to meet the day.
That energy is what Jaden noticed. He says she helped him come out of his shell. “I don’t think I ever had a teacher like that.” She listened. She paid attention. She saw him. She made JROTC fun, not just a class you take to avoid PE. He laughed. He felt like he could be himself. She encouraged him to rejoin Cyber Patriots. Now he sees a future in tech.
That’s why Jaden nominated her for the Honored Educator award. His words made Sgt. Louden cry.
“She is one of the finest teachers, coaches and leaders I have had the pleasure and the opportunity to have in my life,” he wrote. “She has worked diligently during her time as an educator and has sacrificed her personal time on a consistent basis. She has personally changed my life by coaching me to be a better leader.”
Louden says she’s still learning. She credits her mentor Paul Heredia for teaching her about boundaries and balance. “He taught me when to say, ‘Okay, that energy is reserved for family.’”
“You were seen, you were heard and you matter.” — Oprah Winfrey
She used to say each child is “fearfully and wonderfully made.” Now she wants them to see that in themselves. That mindset helped her guide Buena High’s Cyber Patriots team to national competition. That is a major feat for a new teacher.
Teenagers are not known for handing out compliments. But Jaden knows what a transformational teacher looks like. In a new school, it’s easy to disappear. Jaden says Sgt. Louden didn’t let that happen. She saw him. She helped him find his voice.
Sgt. Louden says she never expected this kind of feedback so early in her teaching career. “It’s the feedback that says what you’re trying to do was accomplished.” She wiped away tears as she said, “If I was able to do that with even just one, that has great ripple effects.”
“Mrs. Centoria Louden has not only talked the talk but walked the walk,” Jaden wrote. Sometimes what changes a life isn’t a lesson plan. It’s a teacher who takes the time. Who listens. Who shows up?
“She is the educator all students hope to get,” Jaden declared. He’s right.