CAMPUS
By Eliott Grover ’06
Breaking Bread IN A TIME OF ISOLATION, TABOR STUDENTS BUILT GLOBAL BRIDGES When Tabor’s Global Education Committee met ahead of the
“Breaking Bread is an homage to this idea of welcoming some-
2020-2021 school year, a sharp urgency filled the room. Because
one into your home and being welcomed into the home of the
of the pandemic, students would not be able to participate in
other,” Sirois says. “Few gestures are more genuine or intimate
the travel exchange programs that have long influenced the
than looking across the dinner table. That’s the feeling we’ve
school’s identity. The committee, faculty members entrusted
tried to recreate through digital means.”
with overseeing the global arm of Tabor’s mission, was determined to find a solution.
In its first year, Breaking Bread drew 150 students from 15 schools across 12 countries. The high participation speaks to the
“We knew we couldn’t go a year without providing these op-
strength of the relationships Tabor has built in the international
portunities for exchange and connection,” says Jonathan Sirois,
community over the years.
Chair of Tabor’s Modern & Classical Language Department.
“We were trying to launch and create something at a time
To fill this void, Sirois and his fellow committee members came
when everyone was just trying to survive,” Sirois says. “Trying to
up with a novel idea. They envisaged Breaking Bread, a virtual
get people to do more took a lot of goodwill. We’re just incred-
community that would bring teenagers together from around
ibly grateful to our partners at each school.”
the globe for formal and informal meetings. It would provide an antidote to the growing feelings of isolation wrought by the pandemic and continue Tabor’s long tradition of minting global citizens through global engagement.
38 TABOR TODAY | Spring 2022
The level of commitment from the students, he says, is particularly impressive. “They give up their Sundays to make this work. The only time when we can get a school in New Mexico
