Queer Eye

That's the YMCA. That's Baldwin Middle School.

That's where I went to fourth through sixth grade.

This is Tangerine Lanes up here where we bowl.

That's the mall over there.

-Oh, y'all have a mall? -Oh, my gosh.

What's KC's General Store?

That-- It has the best drive-through pizza ever.

They have the best pizza.

Oh, my God. That was where the Blockbuster was!

Netflix.

-I'm just sayin'! -That was so meta!

You guys, welcome to Quincy, Illinois.

This is my hometown.

And our hero this week is Kathi Dooley.

She runs the music department for all the public schools.

She was my orchestra teacher. I've known her forever.

I just don't ever remember not being singing and dancing and producing things.

I just remember always wanting to teach.

If you missed something last time...

All right, girls sing out a little bit more.

And here we go.

I think it has to do with-- Well, that's my passion.

She has actually created this, like, thriving music culture.

There's, like, bands, there's choirs, there's show choirs.

Kathi and her husband, Gar Bear, who was my health teacher,

-never had a child. - Aw.

But they consider their students family.

-That's so sweet. -Aw.

She was nominated by Sarah, who is her assistant and right-hand girl.

-So, Auburn, yes, is coming. -We have Auburn, Central.

A-C Central's coming.

Kathi is the most dedicated person I have ever seen in Quincy Public Schools.

The Quincy Blue Devil Marching Band, the orchestra, the choirs.

The only reason they are as excellent is because of Kathi.

White, blue! White, blue!

Who, who, who are you?

Kathi has very long days at school. They start at 7:30 a.m.

"If she makes it home for the ten o'clock news,

she's doing all right."

Wow!

That's insane.

-Basically, her life is at the school. -Honey.

Kathi is so dedicated to the school

that she is the last person on her list.

She puts herself absolutely on the back burner.

She is most famous for her fiery red mullet,

and she's had this hairstyle for literally generations.

Does she have a face for a mullet?

-No. -Does anybody have a face for a mullet?

-It needs to change. -Yes.

I was a student in the '90s at this school,

and that was the same style and cut.

My students would probably say that I've had this haircut

since the beginning of time.

-You gotta get to class now? - Yeah. Bye!

Bye, guys.

They just really don't know me any other way.

After she gets off the band bus for competition,

she'll, like, wing it back and like-- like, stuff like this,

then, like, make sure her part's good.

I sort of curl the top,

and then I curl the ends at the bottom.

I buy most of my clothes on shopping channels,

'cause I really don't have time to go out

shopping at malls, or anything like that.

We'll watch your favorite channel, dear.

- It's 50 percent off. -Fifty percent off.

She has not had an update,

not because she doesn't care about herself,

but because she has literally been giving her life to this music program.

Her fashion was in style,

I would say, in the '80s and '90s.

"Over 20 years ago, Kathi started a marching band parade

and a fundraiser for student musicians to compete from several states."

It is very important for the music program.

And they do it once a year?

Yep. It's also a way to get people interested in the arts

and kinda bring people together to celebrate.

And this year, the town of Quincy and the gorgeous Public School District,

is going to be honoring Mrs. Dooley as the grand marshal of her own parade.

-Yes! -That's adorable.

We definitely need the Fab 5 to come in here and get her ready

to be the grand marshal of the Octoberfest Parade.

It's time for a change.

Our mission this week

is to make Kathi's middle name "Diva"

and turn her into Kathi "Diva" Dooley, honey.

Hold on, I can't-- Stop. There's nerves happening.

-You're a little nervous. -I am a little nervous.

It's coming! Oh!

Oh, my God.

Okay, it's totally fine. Why am I crying?

-It's totally fine. -It's good.

Oh, my God. Is it hot in here or is it just me?

Ah!

We're at the school!

-We're here. - Oh, my God.

My friend, Shannon Scott, dropped right here in cheer practice and broke her ribs.

-Right there! - Why did you do that to her?

-She was about to become the captain. - Shut up!

Once a Blue Devil cheerleader, always a Blue Devil cheerleader.

Back in the day, I was one of the first male cheerleaders in Quincy's history.

-Are you ready? -Yes.

I'm so excited for this.

Walking back into the high school

that I did all my high school cheer tryouts in

is a very surreal feeling.

-Come on, Jonny! Lead the way! -We're back in high school!

All right. Octoberfest is on what day?

October 20th!

And the parade starts at?

One, two!

- Two! -Two p.m.

The parade starts at...

- Two! -Two p.m. And then--

Hi!

Hi, guys!

Oh, hey!

How are you? So good to see you.

-Don't you feel weird? -Yeah.

Blue Devils, make some noise!

Can you all just give a huge round of applause

for your very own Jonathan Van Ness?

Kathi.

Mrs. Dooley.

-Yes. Hello. -Hi.

Okay, but wait. Can we just do, like, a stand-up and cheer or something?

I just need, like-- Please.

Fab 5, you go up there.

Want some of that? Come on.

Hi. How are you? Hi.

You guys.

Jonathan, you join in! Give me the mic, you join in.

Okay. I'm really excited for this.

White, blue! White, blue!

Who, who, who are you?

Blue and white! Blue and white!

Quincy High School! We're all right!

Oh, my gosh!

You still got it!

You still got it!

Dooley! Dooley!

Dooley! Dooley! Dooley! Dooley! Dooley! Dooley!

- Dooley! Dooley! -Yeah!

I'm obsessed with you guys.

Like, it's so good to be here and to see all of your beautiful faces,

but really, really, really, this is such a celebration of educators,

and you have changed...

so many lives.

You have been changing lives since I was here,

you continue to change lives, and I really wanna celebrate you.

And I also...

wanna celebrate...

the fact...

that I'm going to be cutting your hair.

All right, now it's our time to take you away,

because your makeover starts now!

Yes! Yes!

Okay, this looks exactly the same.

-Well, this is all good. -Hi.

Except now we have a security office.

Cheerleading was one of, like, the only things

that really got me through some of my darkest times.

You know, for 17 years, as, like, trapped and sad as I was,

I did have so many little pockets of joy

where I was performing and having so much fun,

and I was just in my skin and loving it,

even when it was hard.

Wait, can I show you my table?

-Please, go show 'em your table. -Where I ate every day.

So, anyway...

This is my table. Oh, my God, this was my seat.

I had a really great time in high school,

but walking these hallways, I know that's not true for everyone.

I mean, Jonathan has expressed to us that he was bullied.

-It's a wonderful-- -Concession stand,

- gas station thing. -And that's the gas station, okay.

But now what's different than when you were here, we have,

-you know, exotic coffees, and... -Ooh!

But luckily there's teachers like Ms. Dooley

who wanna support you.

We got our little sweet baby Jonny,

you know, because of a teacher like Ms. Dooley,

who said it's okay for you to be you.

-So, where is the teachers' lounge? -So, we're gonna go right over here.

-Here we are in the, uh-- - Very...

-brown. -Right, there we go.

I think my church had the same color carpet when I was little.

Yeah-- Yes, I-- I'm sure.

The first thing I noticed about the teachers' lounge

is the word "lounge" should not be used to describe it whatsoever.

It's more of a teacher purgatory.

Kathi, the teachers' lounges I'm used to, maybe it's a foreign thing,

but there's usually sofas and it's comfortable and cozy and--

-Yes. No, no, no. Well-- -No wonder nobody hangs out here

They're in and out, because the teachers' lives now

are just bombarded with constant work.

No wonder why no one uses this lounge.