‘I was that young girl’: South Side teacher holds prom dress giveaway

CHICAGO — It’s prom season and teachers at a South Side high school are working to make sure everyone has something special to wear.

Everyone knows prom can be pricey. That’s where Tyesa Walton came to the rescue at Dunbar Vocational Career Academy, where her and other volunteers organized a free giveaway for South Side students.

“I wanted to give what I had gotten,” Walton said. “I am the teacher of some amazing, diversified students.”

Walton, who is also a graduate of Dunbar, said she started collecting dresses and outfits for students in honor of her daughter Chloe, who passed away.

“It was personal,” Walton said. “I was that young girl who needed a dress growing up in the projects.”

More than 200 gowns were donated for this weekend’s giveaway, giving students plenty to choose from.

“It’s been a big saving on my family,” said Barbara Arnold-Thompson. “When you have three or four people graduating at the same time, you could be out of thousands of dollars. So, she has saved us immensely.”

Walton said she get’s asked plenty of questions on how she organizes the event and who her sponsors were, but the Dunbar alum said she has something much better than a group of sponsors.

“I have none of that. I have a village,” Walton said.

The kindness of that village was the main driver behind helping a high school senior like Jonnah Beck.

“I was kind of nervous,” Beck said of a dress she found at the event. “Once I tried it on and saw I looked pretty in it, I had to have it.”

Walton said the feeling of helping high schoolers like Beck find their dream dress is hard to put into words.

“I feel it with my eyes,” Walton said. “I feel it with my heart it feels good to know I’ve done something.”

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