TaborTalk Blog

I grew up the son of a college football coach, played football at Dartmouth College, and spent the last 28 years coaching and recruiting at both the Division I and III levels.

John Quirk joined the throng at Gillette Stadium on Sunday, February 11, where over 200 alumni, parents, and friends gathered to celebrate Tabor at our annual Tabor Together New England event. What follows are his remarks in that very inspirational place. We hope you were able to join us!

Many of you have heard me talk about the state of the school, the state of our plans, our vision for the future. How inspiring to be standing here in front of you, in a location that symbolizes for me what it means to be competitive, and to try to extrapolate from this message and this organization’s accomplishments, our own lessons.

Over the winter long weekend, six students and two faculty chaperones took a sojourn to Quebec.  Here is an account of their adventures along with some photos to enjoy. 

Southern California is well known for its majestic Pacific coastline and beaches, Hollywood, the red carpet, sunshine, and traffic…lots of traffic, but it also boasts a broad and diverse array of excellent college options.

The Appalachian Trail is a nearly 2,200-mile footpath that roughly follows the ridgeline of the Appalachian Mountains, beginning on Mt. Katahdin in central Maine, and ending on Springer Mountain in northern Georgia. This past summer and fall, my friend Lulu Russell ’17 and I hiked from one end of it to the other.

I Am That Girl is a group on campus that works to facilitate conversations between students about things that matter. Our meetings create a place where students feel comfortable sharing personal experiences on topics that do not usually come up in everyday conversation in the classrooms, dining hall or dorms.

Hashtags. Tweets. Likes. Instagram. Twitter. Facebook.

There is no denying that social media is everywhere, infiltrating virtually every facet of our society. Want the latest news the minute it's happening? Check Twitter. Trying to reconnect with a childhood friend? Do a quick Facebook search. Eager to see what your favorite athlete or celebrity is up to? Follow their Instagram account. Given the rapid development of social media platforms over the past decade, and the frequency with which many of us monitor our respective accounts, it is not surprising that colleges, universities, and yes, even high school college counseling offices have jumped on the social media bandwagon.

The most vivid memories I have of my father are of him singing. His voice was soft and gentle, and would always lull me to sleep as a restless child. He would sing when we would comb beaches for new sea-glass, on our car rides to the local library, and while making pancakes at 6am. My Dad’s voice was warm, and could make any song sound good. He even wrote some of his own music, singing of butterflies leaving and coming back another day, and others about balloons floating far, far away. His absolute favorite song was Israel Kamakawiwo'ole's rendition of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” that incorporated melodies and lyrics from several songs of love. Every time he sang the lyrics, “Well I see trees of green, and red roses too, I’ll watch them bloom for me and you, and I think to myself, what a wonderful world,” I could not have agreed more.

SAT, ACT, Subject Tests, AP Tests, TOEFL, Test Optional Colleges. Test Flexible Colleges.   

For Tabor juniors and their families, there’s much to learn and lots to consider.  

Understandably, many juniors and seniors feel anxiety about which tests to take and how they need to prepare to do their best. This is precisely the reason that Tabor’s college counseling office has implemented diagnostic testing and test preparation as part of college search programming.  

College counseling is equal parts staying current about colleges and the industry, and actively listening to the students we advise; these are two areas where anyone can improve, and improvement lies in active professional development. If we are to do our jobs well, our work has to take us beyond our school by the sea to college campuses around the country, and to numerous conferences.

Selecting a musical is a little like going to the pantry to sort out dinner.  One sees many options:  the contents of one shelf look appetizing but are too similar to last night’s dinner or, for the director, to last year’s show.  The contents of another shelf amount to back-ups, meals held in reserve, or shows the director has kicked around but passed on, sometimes for reasons as simple as the rights not being available. 

Every night at 9:57, I hear the noise levels begin to rise in the common room, I hear Baxter’s front door open and slam shut a few times and I hear footsteps walking down the halls.  The silence that overwhelms study hall has concluded, and it is my cue to step into the common room and begin checking girls in.  By 10:00, we are munching on our favorite dorm snacks including monkey bread, bean dip or pumpkin butter cake, chatting about the latest Tabor news and excitement in our lives that has surfaced over the course of the day.