Music Mentors volunteer at Our Sisters School
By Lauren Corliss, Director of Community Service
On Wednesday afternoons when the Fish Center is busy with hockey games, squash matches, and basketball contests, two Tabor juniors volunteer as music mentors at Our Sisters’ School, a tuition-free independent school for girls in New Bedford. One provides guitar lessons in one room while the other teaches violin right next door. Currently, the mentors teach two lessons each Wednesday, one to seventh graders and the other to eighth graders.
Last year former Tabor sailing coach Toby Baker, a board member at Our Sisters’ School, contacted Phil Sanborn, chair of the music department at Tabor, asking if Tabor students might have time in their already-busy schedules to volunteer as music mentors. When Sanborn realized he had students eager to fill the need, he contacted me, as Tabor’s director of community service, looking for help in transporting the mentors to New Bedford. I transport the students and organize the schedule in cooperation with Mary Wayss, visual and performing arts coordinator at OSS. Gently-used instruments are donated to Our Sisters’ School and brought to working condition by a local music shop, Symphony Music Shop, allowing the girls to learn to play an instrument at no expense to their families.
It is always nice to give back, and a great way for our students to enhance their skills as well.
