So! They can probably be colleagues, in this case. Jade won't be an easy teacher, but he's more strict in the sense of having a rigorous curriculum! (How about a test the first week of class, right before the treasured Feather Bowl?!)

...Also Jade will be the victims of vague rumors about the past, specifically about starting a lab fire that killed his teacher when he attended college. (Just a professor you probably never heard of, named... I dunno, Gelda Nebilim?)