Teacher’s letter to Oprah Winfrey helps students prom dreams come true

As fans waited to watch one of the last “Harpo Hookups” — a wish-granting segment of “The Oprah Winfrey Show” — a Jacksonville teacher waited to watch as her dream to help seven students came true.

Gaby  Sullivan is a fashion teacher at the private Father’s H.a.r.b.o.r. Academy off Beach Boulevard. With prom around the corner, Sullivan knew if her students were to get prom dresses, she’d need to find a way to get them herself. After searching idea after idea, Sullivan decided to write to “Oprah.”

“Three weeks later, I was sitting in the audience,” she said. “It was amazing timing and very surreal.”

Most of the girls who appeared on the show in early May are underprivileged or don’t have a support system at home. Sullivan said she wanted to make their prom spectacular.

Sullivan said she wrote to “Oprah” because she said Winfrey tried to teach her audience that at any moment something great could happen.

“I wanted the girls to know that God and the world had not forgotten about them,” Sullivan said.

Not long after writing her letter, Sullivan said “Oprah” producers scheduled their arrival in Jacksonville. Sullivan soon learned that singer/actress Jessica Simpson would be coming to her school and dressing her students head-to-toe in the Jessica Simpson Collection, and then all of them would be going to Chicago to appear on “Oprah.”

“I almost fell out of my chair when I heard she was coming,” Sullivan said. “I wanted to tell everyone, but I couldn’t.”

Before Simpson arrived, Sullivan told the students about the Jessica Simpson Collection and how Simpson started out as a recording artist before branching into fashion.

“I asked my class, 'Wouldn’t it be nice to have all these clothes?’ ” Sullivan said. “One of the girls said she wished Jessica Simpson was her fairy godmother.”

Sullivan said it was a surreal experience watching the girls’ faces when Simpson walked into her class. Sullivan said she was happy Simpson came to her school because she said her mission is all about empowering girls and telling them they are beautiful.

“They needed to feel beautiful, and she really did that,” Sullivan said. “She took her time with every girl and every dress.”

Since their return to Jacksonville, Sullivan said she gets recognized from her television appearance, but she said the only recognition she needs is for her students to know that she is there for them.

“I want the girls to realize that they are at a school that loves them,” Sullivan said. “They are at a school where people work not for a paycheck but for the students.”

At 27, Sullivan said she is lucky because she knows exactly what she is supposed to do with her life.

“Teaching is more than a position. It’s a calling, and I’m really lucky to be here and to have met these children,” Sullivan said. “I want them to know that they are safe and loved.”

As the school year is ending, Sullivan is preparing for Father’s H.a.r.b.o.r. Academy’s summer camp. In a four-week program beginning Monday, June 13, Sullivan will teach fashion.

“There are so many kids who haven’t been exposed to the arts, and I consider fashion an art,” Sullivan said. “I want to introduce fashion to as many kids as possible.”

 

 Rachel Tannenbaum: (904) 359-4693