Teachers attending the show thought they would be talking about current issues in education but soon after the show started taping, they realized they would be the recipients of all the items on "Oprah's Favorite Things 2004" list, with an additional $2,500 to help defray the taxes on the gifts.

"You give, and give, and give," Winfrey told the audience. "And that's why I wanted to give you the hottest ticket on television."

Like everyone else in the studio audience, Rowe jumped and screamed throughout the taping. She pulled a muscle and lost her voice and hugged not only her boyfriend — Neppl — but many of the teachers she had just met.

"It was stuff we never dreamed we would own," said Rowe, a first-grade teacher, who arrived back in Hawai'i a few hours before the show aired. She watched it with a small crowd of colleagues and students in the school's library who cheered, clapped and peppered Rowe with questions throughout the show.

Winfrey kicked off her 19th season on daytime talk TV this year by giving everybody in the audience a new car. Her focus for the season is "Wildest Dreams," a takeoff of the annual "Favorite Things" show in which she gives away assorted goodies.

Winfrey acknowledged the Hawai'i teachers a few times during yesterday's show. Neppl said they were easy to spot. "We all had leis on."

Rowe was invited to the show after answering questions for teachers on Winfrey's Web page. One question asked how she felt about being undervalued, to which she answered, "That is the least of the teachers' worries."

Rowe was allowed to bring one guest, provided the guest was also a certified teacher. She chose her boyfriend of two years, Neppl, who teaches sixth grade at Central Middle. Both Rowe, 25, and Neppl, 27, are originally from Illinois, so flying up to tape the show on Saturday also gave them an opportunity to visit family.

Neppl said Rowe originally wasn't sure she was going to go because she couldn't afford airfare, but her family suspected Winfrey might do something for the teachers and they convinced her it was worth the money.

Rowe, who wore the nearly $1,000 watch she received on the show, said her favorite gift was the TV set. "I couldn't afford a new TV and my TV doesn't have the color red," she said.

But Rowe said the most meaningful gift was the $500 gift certificate to Office Max, which will allow the teachers to purchase school supplies without having to dig into their own wallets.

Among the people she met were the two teachers from Maui, who gave Winfrey a lei early on in the show.

Since many of the gifts were aimed at women — lipstick, bubble bath and apparel — Neppl, one of about 16 men in the audience, said he is trying to figure out which of his family members to give them to.

"I gave my mom the pajamas today. Her birthday is Dec. 8," he said from Chicago, where he's staying through Thanksgiving. "I told her, 'Ma, the top alone is $188, the bottoms are $178; this is celebrity stuff here. Happy birthday.' "

Neither Neppl nor Rowe will keep the washer and dryer. "It would be awesome and great if I had a house, but I don't have anywhere to put it," Neppl said.

Five of Rowe's students from last year watched the show in the Lanakila library, cheering for all the gifts except the lipstick, which elicited boos from Toren Suemoto and Benjamin Patterson, who liked the TV better.

Kanani Smythe loved the lipstick, while Jeannie Ho was impressed with Rowe's new watch. They both enjoyed watching their former teacher on television, a first for all the children.

Shannon Bautista said she liked it all. "I'm really, really happy and excited," she said.

Reach Treena Shapiro at tshapiro@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8014.