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Senior Jacqueline (Jackie) Taylor is Gulliver Prep’s nominee for the Silver Knight Award in Athletics. Taylor is celebrated for her exceptional skills as a volleyball player. She led her team to victory in the 4A State Championship this school year and also excels as a high jumper in Track and Field.
With her towering height of 6’1” and a remarkable work ethic, Taylor played a pivotal role in her team’s success. Last year, the team narrowly missed the State Championship tournament, but this year they secured the 4A State Title by defeating Bishop Moore from Orlando.
In the championship match, Taylor’s outstanding performance included 26 kills, 6.5 blocks, and four digs, earning her Miami Herald Girl’s Volleyball Player of the Year and Florida Dairy Farmer Miss Florida 4A Volleyball Player of The Year.
She is set to continue her volleyball career at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill next year.
Although volleyball is her primary focus, Taylor also competes in the high jump, having qualified twice for the state championship meets.
Beyond athletics, Taylor is deeply involved in community service, inspired by her father’s legacy as a Gulliver football star, a University of Miami standout and NFL Pro Bowl player. In his honor, she founded the Sean Taylor Legacy Project.
“It’s a project to honor my father through community service outreach,” she says.
Taylor tries to do several projects a year, some in Miami and some in Washington, where she collaborates with The Washington Commanders.
“That allows me to stay connected with the community he loved to play for,” she says. “He inspired kids to strive for greatness. He loved to be involved in his community.”
For one event, she and her father’s teammates went to Burrville Elementary School in D.C. where they remodeled and enhanced the outdoor learning lab area.
For another project in collaboration with Mitchell and Nes, a company that sells throwback team apparel branded apparel, she created a seven-item clothing line. The profits from the merchandise sales were donated to the University of Virgina gun violence prevention program.
The project allowed her to tie it back to Gulliver and honor D’sean Perry, a Gulliver alumnus who was killed in the Nov. 14, 2022, shooting at UVA.
Locally, she’s hosted volleyball tournaments to help raise money to give girls an opportunity to play volleyball at a competitive level. Her plans for this year are to help remodel an outdoor learning lab for The Seed School Miami.
“They are changing these kids’ lives and their path,” she says. “They go to college, and they have an advisor while in college to help them graduate. We’re working on building them an outdoor learning lab.”
Taylor plans to take her project to UNC and collaborating with the athletic community to keep her dad’s legacy alive.
“It will be a great opportunity and great place to continue my charity work,” she says. I’ve done this project to honor him and his legacy.”
Looking ahead, Taylor is majoring in biology. She envisions a future that may include nursing school or exploring opportunities in sports broadcasting alongside her passion for volleyball.
Linda Rodriguez Bernfeld
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