Remember “Dap’s (Laurence Fishburne’s character) girlfriend on School Daze don’t you? Her name is Kyme Sallid and although she had a few roles after School Daze, it was her groundbreaking role as “Rachel,” that we remember most. We can’t forget the infamous beef “Rachel” had with “Jane Touissant” (Tisha Campbell) in that whole jigaboo/wannabe drama and I also remember when “Dap” felt like “Rachel” was selling out after she told him she was pledging Delta.

After Spike Lee said ‘it’s a wrap’ on the final scene in School Daze, we eventually saw her pop up sporadically for guest appearances on shows like Frasier, NYPD Blue, and 24, but we didn’t see Kyme much more after that.

What Kyme Sallid a.k.a. “Rachel” Is Doing Now

Kyme is now 58 and she’s been doing what her other true passion is — teaching professional dance to young people. Kyme is a graduate of the acclaimed New York City High School of Performing Arts, and has performed nationally and internationally as a dancer and singer in various Broadway shows. Her love of the performing arts and teaching led her and her husband, Otis Sallid to found a performing arts academy in a charter school in Los Angeles in 2006. She and Otis actually met on the set of School Daze and have been together ever since.

They eventually moved to Atlanta in 2012 where they continue to share their passion with a younger generation of dancers. She and her husband have been training many young dancers throughout the years and oftentimes do it for free merely because they love to teach those kids. She had this to say about why they enjoy what they’re doing so much:

“We teach more than steps here– we’re teaching life lessons to these kids that they’ll have forever,” Kyme explains. “ The skills I’ve learned from training in dance, I’ve used in every aspect of my life. There’s a sense of commitment, discipline, how to work with others.”

Khyme and Otis have been married since 1996 and they have two children together. During Otis’ time on Broadway he met and became friends with up and coming celebrities such as Sherman Hemsley, Morgan freeman, Raul Julia, Jeff Goldblum, Melba Moore and Gregory Hines. After Broadway he worked with Spike Lee in the on School Daze and like we said, that set is where he also met Kyme. Otis joked and said he had to chase her all over the world because she was warned not to date him because he was a ‘bad boy.’

It’s great to see Kyme and her husband doing what they truly love, but it would also be good to see her back on the big screen again, the industry certainly needs to see more talent like her. One thing’s for sure, Kyme’s dancing skills seem to have come in handy for that classic dance-off between the ‘jigaboos’ vs. ‘the wannabees.’

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