He will forever be known as the shaggy dude who got Jamie Lynn Spears pregnant, but former high school classmates and teachers remember 18-year-old Casey Aldridge as a popular joker who could talk his way out of anything.
“Casey is one of those boys who has a lot going for him,” reports a former teacher at Amite School Center, where Aldridge lettered in football and baseball, served as class president and graduated in 2007. “He’s handsome, smart and very charming.”
And at 6’1″ and 165 lbs., Aldridge’s magnetism caught the eye of the girls. “He is athletic,” says the teacher, “and down here in the south, athletes are treated like gods, so naturally he had a group of adoring fans from the start.”
In the Amite School’s 2007 yearbook, senior Casey Aldridge was named Most Likely to Put a Baby in Britney Spears’ Underage Younger Sister. Just kidding.
Among his legions of friends was the now knocked up Jamie Lynn Spears, who started dating Casey Aldridge about two years ago. The two hit it off ASAP.
“Casey really liked being known for dating Jamie Lynn Spears,” says a classmate of the pair. “He thought it was really cool that he was dating someone famous, and you could just tell that he loved the attention.”
Despite the mischief that he got in during high school, teachers say that Casey’s good nature and charm kept him from ever getting into too much trouble.
“There was a little part of [Leave it to Beaver‘s] Eddie Haskell in him,” says his former teacher. “He’d say, ‘You look very nice today. Is that a new dress?’ And you’d be wondering, ‘What’s this kid’s angle?'”
“The difference between him and Eddie Haskell is that Casey’s angle was that he truly wanted you to like him, and wanted to give you a compliment.”
A fairly average student – “Casey Aldridge had the capability to do much better academically,” says a teacher – the youngster briefly considered attending community college before taking a job as a pipe fitter in Baton Rouge, La.
Despite Casey Aldridge’s many high school exploits, those who know him well believe the Mississippi native will be a good father.
“When he decides that something is the right thing to do, he is very effective,” says his teacher. “If he decides he’s going to be a great father, he will do whatever it takes to do a good job, whether that means working construction to support the baby, or reading books about how to change diapers.”