Tabor’s first morning of service of the school year on Wednesday, January 16, is a little bit different than in the past. The first difference is that it’s being held in January instead of September. This poses a few challenges, not the least of which is watching the weather forecast carefully, but it appears as if the weather gods are going to cooperate.
Instead of working alongside their advisors, Tabor students will be working in class clusters side-by-side with faculty. The class of 2019 will spend their morning off-campus volunteering at the Happy Hope Factory in Pocasset; the Falmouth Service Center, an organization with the mission to reduce hunger and improve the quality of life for neighbors in need; and at Carney Academy in New Bedford, where 40 Tabor students will act as reading partners in first grade classrooms. A small group of seniors will remain on campus in Tabor’s Charles Hayden Library, from 9:30 to 11:30, to offer drop in tech help to area residents seeking assistance with technology questions — everything from learning to use Skype to how to upload photographs into an email.
Juniors and freshmen will be on campus coaching and supporting young athletes participating in the Special Olympics of Massachusetts’ School Day Games. Games will include everything from basketball to gymnastics to bocce and more. The school expects more than 250 Special Olympics athletes to participate in this growing tradition. Following the games, all athletes will enjoy lunch in Tabor’s Dining Hall with their new Tabor friends.
Tabor sophomores will also be out in the local community in force on the Morning of Service. In Marion, they will assist various organizations to include the Elizabeth Taber Library and Sippican Lands Trust. A group of students will have the opportunity to work alongside Sippican Elementary school children, assisting with projects ranging from reading enrichment to STEM work. Another environmental organization partnering with Tabor that day is the Buzzards Bay Coalition; students will be clearing and developing a new trail at the Horseshoe Mill/Conant Hill property in Wareham. My Brother’s Keeper, a Christian ministry which delivers furniture free of charge to people in need, will also receive the volunteer support of tenth graders on the Morning of Service.
Tabor’s winter morning of service has been organized by faculty members Amelia Wright, the coordinator of the program; Tim Cleary and Cheryl Moore, who organized the Special Olympics School Day Games; and Lauren Boucher, who coordinated the program for seniors. As the team finalizes the plan for their winter effort, they are already thinking about the second school-wide morning of service to be held in May.
For more information about Tabor’s community service program, please visit their website at www.taboracademy.org/page/campus-life/community-service