'Abbott Elementary' 's Quinta Brunson Gets Surprised by 6th Grade Teacher She Named the Series After

Abbot Elementary star Quinta Brunson had a good reason to get emotional during her recent Jimmy Kimmel Live! appearance.

Brunson, 32, spoke to Jimmy Kimmel about the new hit series on Tuesday. Acknowledging that the show's name was inspired by her former teacher, Ms. Abbott, Brunson said she last saw the educator around the time she taught her in the sixth grade.

"I got to talk to her recently," said the actress.

Chiming in, Kimmel, 54, said: "You did? Well, let's talk to her again."

To Brunson's surprise, Ms. Abbott appeared on a video call — and sparked an excited shriek from Brunson, who then started to tear up at the sight of her former teacher.

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Ms. Abbott remarked on what a "driven" student Brunson was.

"Quinta was an awesome student," Ms. Abbott said as Brunson wiped away tears with a tissue. "When she came into my class she was really shy, timid. But as I challenged all of my students, we had to speak in complete sentences. I built their confidence that whatever, you want in life you can do it. You have to work hard."

Ms. Abbott added that she's "very honored" to have the ABC series named after her.

Abbot Elementary made its debut in December 2021 as a midseason entry. Created by Brunson, the mockumentary sitcom follows a dedicated group of Philadelphia-based teachers and their daily lives working at one of the worst public schools in the country.

Tyler James Williams, Janelle James, Lisa Ann Walter, Chris Perfetti and Sheryl Lee Ralph also star in the series.

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Recently, Brunson — who plays second-grade teacher Janine Teagues — opened up about how the show has become an overnight sensation.

"To have only had a few episodes [air] and just for it to be an abundance of love, conversation, and just enjoyment of the show is just so, like, I don't know. I am just so happy, so overwhelmed," she told Harper's Bazaar. "It was weird to feel like I had to pull back from Twitter because of too much positivity. I was like, 'I don't know what to do with so many nice messages and nice comments.'"

Added Brunson, "I think everyone is so used to bingeing TV now, but we're not even in the middle of our season. There's so much more for people to see that I hope they enjoy."

Abbott Elementary airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET on ABC.