Texas fourth grader meets Duran Duran's Simon Le Bon on ‘class assignment'
Mar 18, 2025
When fourth grader Ava Meyers went to London for a family vacation, her Duran Duran-loving teacher jokingly gave her an “assignment” to say hi to the legendary band.
Miriam Osborne’s fourth-grade classroom at Richardson ISD’s White Rock Elementary School in Dallas is anything but ordinary
. The room is filled with Duran Duran memorabilia, albums, and student-drawn pictures of the iconic ’80s band. Osborne, a Language Arts teacher, encourages storytelling in her classroom—and she practices what she preaches.
“One of the first ones I share is my fourth-grade self, which was a HUGE Duran Duran fan,” Osborne said, holding yellowed 3×5 photos from the 1980s. “So these are photos of my bedroom when I was a fourth grader, and I wallpapered my room from ceiling to baseboard with them!”
Osborne said she spent all her babysitting money on Duran Duran albums, posters, and collectibles.
“It was fabulous! My best childhood friends—we were all ‘Duranies’ together,” Osborne said. “They were something that I could hear. I have hearing loss, and it wasn’t identified as a child.”
Her students know how much of a superfan she is, so when fourth grader Ava Meyers went to London over Christmas break, she left with an unexpected mission.
“Mrs. Osborne called out, ‘Make sure you find Duran Duran and tell them Mrs. Osborne says hello,’” Meyers recalled. “She said that as a joke, but I was sort of determined to find them.”
On Christmas Day, Meyers and her family were looking for something to do near their hotel in Putney, a district in southwest London.
“So my mom searched ‘what to do in London, Putney.’ What popped up was famous people in Putney, and it said Duran Duran,” Meyers explained. “My mom searched the address, and they were like two blocks away from where we were.”
Meyers and her family walked up to the home, and knocked on the door—and to their surprise, someone answered and brought Duran Duran’s lead vocalist, Simon Le Bon, to the door.
“So he said, ‘To complete the assignment, we need to take a photo,’” Meyers said. “So we sit down on the porch and we take a photo with him!”
Osborne was in disbelief when she received the photos from Meyers’ mother.
“I couldn’t believe it on Christmas Day when her mom texted me photos of Ava and Simon in front of Simon’s front door, with his family in the background. It was just unbelievable,” Osborne said, admitting her fourth-grade self would not have been as composed. “Oh my God, I would have just DIED!”
In a classroom where storytelling is at the heart of learning, teacher and student now share the same story—one that is sure to be retold for years to come.
“For him to actually welcome them—that, to me, is just one of the greatest parts of the story, is just how kind he was. He really was. He made her feel special,” Osborne said. “I can live vicariously through her photo on the board!” ...read more read less
