LOS ANGELES – Halle Berry has teamed with the reality stars and “Property Brothers” hosts, Drew and Jonathan Scott, on “Celebrity IOU,” on Monday to surprise the woman whom she calls her “second mother” with a renovation of her 1920s-era home.
According to Yahoo Entertainment reporter Kylie Mar, Yvonne Sims, who was Berry’s fifth grade teacher, became a mentor to the actress and one of the most important people in her life.
“My mom was a single mom and so she worked a lot,” Berry said. “So my sister and I were very much latchkey kids. She sort of took me in under her wing. I have a white mother and she, being a Black woman, taught me about my culture.”
Berry explained that she went to a predominantly white school, so having Sims as a teacher, who was one of only two Black instructors at the time, was a gift that changed her life.
“I think she saw the need in me. She saw that I needed to be mentored and she stepped in,” said Berry, who is an Academy Award-winning actress and single mother to her two children.
Sims said, “Halle was eager to learn more about herself, being of mixed heritage.”
“She would take me to art museums, teach me about Black history, about my heritage, because it wasn’t really taught in schools. She just picked me up, you know, and quickly became more than a mentor, almost like another mother,” Berry said.
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