Drag Race’s Mistress Isabelle Brooks shares heartwarming update on teacher’s classroom wish list
Mistress Isabelle Brooks has thanked fans for helping with Ms Tang’s Amazon wish list. (World of Wonder/@MistressIsabelleBrooks)
RuPaul’s Drag Race queen Mistress Isabelle Brooks has thanked fans for completing a teacher’s Amazon wish list after they were paired together in the makeover challenge during the latest episode of Drag Race.
The latest episode of Drag Race season 15 saw each of the remaining five queens paired up with a school teacher, who they were then challenged with giving a ‘drag family makeover’.
Mistress Isabelle Brooks was paired with Ms Tang, a queer high school art teacher from Los Angeles who transformed into the utterly fabulous ‘Madame Thang’. And while the pair were ultimately deemed ‘safe’ in episode 13, Ms Tang has been making waves outside of the competition for more than just her runway look.
Shortly after the episode aired, Brooks shared a photo of the pair, explaining how they discussed “the lack of funding” in Ms Tang’s classroom during their time together on the show.
“I believe that education is one of the most powerful weapons you can use to change the world,” Brooks wrote, before encouraging her fans to purchase something from Ms. Tang’s Amazon wish list – a virtual shopping list where users can save desired items that others can then purchase on their behalf.
Merely a day later, Brooks was back on Twitter with a heartwarming update, sharing the news that her fans had shown up and out for Ms Tang by purchasing multiple copies of each item on the list.
“Ms Tang and I would like to personally thank each and every one of you who donated and purchased items from her Amazon wish list for her classroom,” Brooks continued.
“There aren’t enough words to express my gratitude to our community for uplifting our teachers during this time.”
Tang, whose first name is Sharon, regularly uses her Instagram profile to raise awareness of social injustice, such as the financial constraints facing public school teachers in the United States as a result of severe underfunding.
Sadly, this means that many teachers are forced to buy their own classroom supplies, as seen through Tang’s wishlist. In fact, according to a 2022 report by The Guardian, nearly 70 per cent of LA-based teachers have “seriously considered quitting” the profession amidst “significantly inadequate” funding for many schools in the state.
Tang also shared an adorable screenshot of a conversation between herself and Brooks.
“It’s going to look like I robbed an Amazon truck,” she wrote. “I seriously will never be able to thank you for the amount of support you’ve given me.
“Someone bought me a drying rack that I really needed and I’ve just been crying all night.”
Viewers immediately fell in love with Ms Tang when she was paired with Brooks on the show, and praised the art teacher for allowing her students to live their authentic lives while in her classroom.
Fans have similarly praised the season 15 queen for helping raise funds for the teacher:
You are amazing my texas sister
— Cynthia Lee Fontaine (@lee_fontaine) March 26, 2023
as a former art teacher, this makes me so happy. if anyone needed that classroom money, it was her. school districts swear $300 for the entire school year/student body is enough. 😭😭😭
— brit (@plantsinplace) March 26, 2023
Was already rooting for you Mistress and this makes me love you (and Ms Tang) even more! I’m a teacher too with a district where our budget is being slashed and I spend hundreds of $ of my own each year on supplies for my kiddos. As do most teachers. Means so much to see this!
— Amanda Polson Tinebra (@amandapolson28) March 26, 2023
Brooks – who is currently in her congenial era – has now reached the final four of Drag Race‘s largest ever cast, and has to survive just one more week in order to make the season 15 finale.
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