TaborTalk Blog

This article originally appeared in Tabor's student newspaper, The Log.

Following Alexis Jones’ talk on campus, one of Tabor Academy's newest faculty members Emily Kaplan joined a group of students living in Baxter in a discussion about the feminism talk. Beginning with their feelings on the speech, the conversation quickly turned into much more. Topics such as gender, sexuality, feminism, race and diversity were brought to the table and, when it was time for everyone to go to study hall, the participants begged Ms. Kaplan to continue these talks.

By Stephanie Zou '16

Growing up in an environment where global awareness and freedom of expression was encouraged, if not enforced, I arrived at Tabor with a profound interest in global affairs and politics. I stumbled upon a student-run club of like-minded peers: Model United Nations.

Tabor’s program is still a growing sapling in comparison to more well-established chapters in other high schools; however, it is swiftly developing as more students find themselves seeking a creative outlet for intellectual interests beyond the classroom. At Model UN conferences, students from all over the nation, or in some cases, all over the world, gather together in a range of committees to discuss global issues. Each student is assigned a country, and throughout the conference he or she is responsible to represent his or her country’s best interests. For example, I may be assigned to be a delegate from the Russian Federation in a Security Council with a focus on Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (drones). As part of my research for the conference, I would have to stay updated on Russian drone activity, and be prepared to face opposition from the United States regarding my involvement in Syria. Each conference is an extremely eye-opening experience and I never fail to learn an exponential amount of information, for my fellow delegates are never hesitant to correct or inform me.

On October 25th, as a senior and co-head of the Model United Nations club, I attended my fourth and last MUN conference hosted at Phillips Exeter Academy. This conference was regarded as a "gateway" conference for high schools across New England, a safe space for beginners to learn the ropes of debate, diplomacy, and public speaking. However, at this conference there are also smaller committees created for more experienced debaters, or as I call it, MUN veterans. I often find myself sitting around a round table surrounded by familiar faces, a close-knit community of students whom I have developed my skills with, graduating from General Assemblies our freshmen year to Security Councils by senior year.

I distinctly remember my attendance at the Exeter conference my freshman year, a first experience and exposure to public speaking worthy of cringe. However, I approached Model UN as a challenge, similar to my mentality with soccer and sailing: practice makes perfect. I signed up for every conference available, ranging from a one day conference at Concord Academy to a three day event at Duke University. My newfound confidence in my classes at Tabor Academy is directly credited to my exposure to hours of public speaking during Model UN. The fear of speaking in front of 12 Tabor students pales in comparison to the trepidation that comes with speaking in front of 120 highly competitive and combative students in a large lecture hall. I can say that Model United Nations has provided me with learning opportunities unavailable in classrooms. At MUN, I am able to apply my historical knowledge from my Tabor professors to real-life world issues and expand my horizons of awareness as a global citizens.

None of this would be possible without our passionate faculty advisor, Mr. Gary Sousa: he has sacrificed all of his winter afternoons, countless Sundays, and myriads weekends to the development of Tabor's Model UN program and his students. Any discussion about Tabor MUN would be lacking without a note of appreciation for him!

Tabor students and faculty are immersed in a service learning trip to Vietnam. Students will be writing their recaps and thoughts on the whole experience, which we will post to Tabor Talk. Check back frequently for updates!

Given some independence to come up with a class project for a couple of days in April when their teacher was out of town at a conference, the students in Junior English created two internet based projects based on the Humans of New York phenomenon created by Brandon Stanton which they were studying in class.

Commencement services on May 26th will honor of the Class of 2015. We are fortunate to have two engaging speakers who are both successful and important social entrepreneurs. Like many of our students who are devoting more and more of their time to community engagement, these speakers have learned the right ways to best impact the course of people’s lives in lasting ways. It is going to be an inspiring series of talks: indeed, a last lesson from Tabor Academy for the Class of 2015.

With all the national news following the decisions by grand juries in the cases of Eric Garner (Staten Island, NY) and Michael Brown (Ferguson, MO) and the protests that have taken place in cities across our country, the Office of Multicultural Education and Community Life arranged a series of events designed to educate our students about what is happening, while also providing avenues of open discussion among students and faculty to share feelings, and different points of view.

There has been a lot of dressing up lately! Between Halloween and Holderness Day, just one week apart, there were four days of dressing up in costumes or representative garb.

Senior Projects 2014 have run the gamut from customizing a motorcycle to dance choreography to shadowing teachers and public health officials. I wanted to share the award winning project with you: Silent Film Scoring by Renee Chen'14.

We have been on quite a roll here at Tabor this past month as the year draws to a close next week. School ends on May 31, but the seniors graduate on Tuesday and they have been so busy getting in all their "lasts." The last games, concerts, tournaments, dance recital, madrigals concert, music recitals and, of course, Senior Projects really show off the talents our students have developed over their years at Tabor.

This morning, we enjoyed the speeches of eleven students who aspire to being our next Co-Heads of School, our leaders of student government. I was inspired to create a post because of their excellence in presentation, as well as their clear thought as to what a Head of School can really do. There were no outlandish promises, (well, maybe one: abolishing Saturday Classes) but more a description of passionate commitment to all that Tabor is and can become. It was really impressive. They were prepared; they are ready to take the mantel.

Very soon in the mail you will receive our spring issue of Tabor Today. The magazine celebrates our school by the sea heritage, including the 100th Anniversary of Tabor Boy. I hope you will enjoy it.