Tabor Academy is proud to announce a transformational $10 million commitment from John Fish ’78, P’15 and his wife Cynthia Fish P’15, marking the largest single pledge of support in the school’s history. Over the past 40 years, John and Cynthia Fish have contributed nearly $20 million in support of Tabor Academy and its priorities, including most recently the resodding of the Upper Chapel Field and the addition of turf to the new Fish Field.

            The Fish family has been a long-time advocate for education and a dedicated supporter of Tabor Academy. The Fish family’s generous financial commitment will have a lasting impact on Tabor and will strengthen the foundation of the “School by the Sea” for many generations to come.

            Head of School Tony Jaccaci said, “We are deeply grateful to John and Cyndy for this inspirational gift that will allow us to change lives in profound and transformational ways at Tabor.  John and Cyndy live the values of our school, and this generosity is a testament to their commitment to connect, serve and lead.  A gift of this magnitude will make a deep difference in providing the best education possible for our students and I know will motivate others to support as well.”

            This extraordinary investment directly supports Tabor’s Mapping Our Journey strategic plan, advancing key priorities that ensure our students and faculty thrive. The gift will focus on three critical areas:

            1. Empowering Excellence: Faculty and Staff Support: Tabor’s strength lies in its people. This gift will enhance professional development opportunities and support the recruitment and retention of outstanding faculty and staff, ensuring Tabor continues to attract and nurture the best educators.

            “Tabor is blessed with incredible resources, and perhaps the most valuable resource is the faculty and staff members who work with our students every day. So many Tabor alumni have told me the Tabor faculty changed their lives. This gift will allow us to identify and attract the next generation of educators who will change the trajectory of the lives of our graduates in profound and significant ways. John and Cyndy’s support for our faculty and staff shows they understand these teachers and staff members are the heart of our campus community, are our greatest asset, and are worth every penny invested,” added Jaccaci.

            2. Thriving Together as Teams: From the waterfront to the fields and courts, athletics play an integral role in shaping the student experience at Tabor and developing essential life skills through collaborative teamwork and leadership. This gift will bolster our athletic programs, providing essential resources for coaching, training, and programmatic support that will elevate our teams.

            “John and Cyndy’s extraordinary generosity will strengthen our athletic program, fostering a culture of excellence both on and off the field. Their support empowers our student-athletes to compete at the highest level while developing the character, teamwork, and resilience that will serve them for a lifetime,” said Kelly Walker, Director of Athletics.

            3. Enriching Minds, Enabling Dreams: A Tabor education should be within reach for all talented students who seek it. A significant portion of this gift will be dedicated to financial aid, ensuring that our ‘best-fit’ students—regardless of financial circumstances —can access all that Tabor has to offer.

            “Each year, we see a growing number of applicants in need of financial aid, and each year we must turn away accomplished young people who would surely have thrived at Tabor. This gift will allow us to accept more students with the potential to have a positive impact on the Tabor community,” noted Rachael Beare, Associate Head of School for External Affairs.

            “John and Cyndy’s generosity has shaped Tabor in profound ways. Their unwavering commitment ensures that our school remains strong, accessible, and true to its mission,” said Stephen Ginter, Director of Advancement.

            “Tabor Academy will always hold a very special place in my heart. While attending Tabor in high school, I built lasting relationships with teachers and coaches who changed my life forever. Through Tabor academics and athletics, I learned the value of collaboration, leadership, courage and caring — core values that are important to me today. But most importantly, at Tabor I learned winning isn’t normal and that anything is possible if you believe in yourself,” said John Fish. “Cyndy and I are thrilled to support this incredible institution of learning and its ambitious plans for the future.”

            For more information, please contact Director of Advancement Stephen Ginter at sginter@taboracademy.org or 508-291-8568.

Before she was adopted from a rescue by a Mattapoisett family, Tessa was a street dog in Mexico. She had been passed around to different foster homes, likely neglected and abused.

            Tessa, five years old, was shy and had been in Mattapoisett with new owner Molly Urquhart for not but two weeks, just coming out of her shell at home, when she ran off on February 18.

            Urquhart’s nephew had taken Tessa outside that morning to relieve herself, and in doing so, he slipped on a patch of ice, falling backwards. Tessa spooked and, with her leash still attached, bolted. She was gone.

            The ensuing five-day search for Tessa engrossed and involved, in a way, much of the town. As Urquhart and her family sought the medium-size, black dog, they were aided in their efforts by a Mattapoisett Animal Control officer and his wife. They enlisted a nearby thermal drone operator. Meanwhile, online updates periodically briefing the status of the search garnered hundreds of rapt reactions.

            For Urquhart, it was an awful, seemingly sleepless stretch of time. “It was very scary,” she said. “Every single night, I’d wake up the next morning, and I’m like ‘We’re going to find her today, and we have to because it’s so cold.’ … And then we wouldn’t find her. It was just the worst feeling.”

            Urquhart drove around until 2:30 am the first night the dog became lost, she said. Her three sons joined the days-long pursuit, one of them yelling out the backseat window for Tessa. Other family members and police looked, too. Urquhart called Animal Control.

            For Deputy Natural Resource Officer Thomas Gomes, the quest for Tessa was perhaps the most intense and most involved dog search he had taken part in.

            “This one was really unique because of just her situation, where she’s a new dog from a very, very different place than this, and just being scared and taking off the way that she did,” Gomes said.

            As Gomes looked and set traps, his wife Kera Burba regularly apprised a Mattapoisett community forum on Facebook of Tessa’s rumored whereabouts and status. On those updates (photos of Tessa included), several responses offered services to the search or related sightings of the dog.

            “I think you could just tell by looking at her that she was just a sweet girl,” Urquhart said. “She was scared, and she needed to come home.”

            A slew of locals traveled around town looking for the dog, according to Urquhart. Someone brought hamburgers for Tessa to her house, she said.

            “It was just a whole community effort,” Urquhart said. “I’ve never seen anything like it. It was amazing, and it was just all to bring her back home.”

            Per a recommendation shared in the online forum, Urquhart enlisted a local drone operator, Sam Aromin of Hawkeye Aerial Systems. At first, it was too windy to fly a drone, but Aromin later came and mapped the dog’s path. Skittish and evasive, Tessa had been circling an area behind the Knights of Columbus and Wildwood Terrace. It was three days since she ran off by this point.

            Tessa’s prolonged exposure to cold temperatures became a concern, as did fears of coyotes and that the dog’s loose, dangling leash could catch something and trap her, according to Gomes.

            At 6:00 am on the fifth day of the search, Aromin returned to Mattapoisett. At 7:00 am, a neighbor reported to Urquhart they saw Tessa run through their yard. Urquhart sent the address to Aromin, who flew the drone there and spotted the dog. Staying near Tessa in the air, Aromin gave directions to Urquhart, who drove up, parked and saw her dog running halfway down the road, she said.

            “I just got out and I yelled her name, and then we ran towards each other, and I just hugged her forever,” Urquhart said. “It was so scary, and I just couldn’t believe I had really found her. And she was freezing. She was so skinny, and she had had her little sweater on. It was all torn up and it was dirty. She had been sprayed by a skunk. She was still dragging her leash. But she was alive.”

            More than 1,100 people reacted to Burba’s online announcement that Tessa had been retrieved. “I can only imagine that was a pretty harrowing ordeal,” Gomes said.

            Tessa hasn’t left Urquhart’s side since, she said. The dog sleeps under the covers of Urquhart’s bed and waits in the window for Urquhart when she goes out to check the mail.

            “She’s like my little Velcro dog,” Urquhart said. “She’s so good.”

            And while there aren’t any plans to let Tessa out of sight any time soon, she’s now fitted with a GPS collar. Just for good measure.

By Erez Ben-Akiva