SEAson’s Greetings
SEAson’s Greetings
Dressed in his winter best from head to toe—donning a hat, scarf, snow pants, and even ski poles—Head of School Tony Jaccaci took center stage one October morning. “What does snow sound like?” Jaccaci asked the “All School” audience before him; Hoyt auditorium promptly responded with a whistle and a whoosh.
Not quite sure what would happen next, students eagerly watched as the Co-Heads of School Taylor Darby ’24 and Julian Badger ’24 approached Mr. Jaccaci on stage and threw fake snow over his head. With ski poles in hand, Jaccaci began to recite Robert Frost’s poem, “Stopping by the woods on a snowy evening.” In between each stanza, Jaccaci signaled to the students, faculty, and staff to make the sound of snow, while Ms. Boucher volunteered to shake the jingle bell rattle.
Despite the unseasonably warm autumn weather outside, Hoyt auditorium transformed into a winter wonderland. The reason for this spectacle? To inspire students to get into the winter mood—the theme for this year’s holiday card contest.
For the past three years, students have been invited to enter their artwork into a juried competition to be featured on the official Tabor Academy holiday card. Artwork of any medium is encouraged, including paint, animation, and ceramics. In their designs, Seawolves consider the colors, shapes, and feelings of a winter scene–one that captures the spirit and season at the School by the Sea.
This year, two artists were selected as the winners of the holiday card competition. A painting by Camryn Hartigan ’25 was chosen for the cover of the card and a digital design by Long Tran ’26 was chosen for the envelope. Their artwork will be shared around the globe with the entire Tabor community for the holidays.
This is Hartigan’s second year participating in the competition. Last year, her painting of the Marine and Nautical Science (MANS) Center was picked for the print version of the card, alongside a digital animation by Nicole Joffe ’23 that was sent via email. This year, Hartigan created a winter scene featuring SSV Tabor Boy.
“When I was trying to think of the visual that would best represent Tabor, I knew I needed to include the ocean. Tabor being ‘The School by the Sea” is what makes it unique, and I thought the best way to represent that was by painting Tabor Boy. Alongside the snowflakes and winter clothing, to incorporate a winter mood, I chose to paint students lowering the sails—representing the transition into a new season filled with new experiences,” she says.
Hartigan adds that during the creative process, “The most challenging part was finding a color scheme that represented winter, while still capturing the joy I associate with the Tabor experience. My favorite part was adding the final touches of the snowflakes and North Star.”
For Tran, his “Winter Mood” design was inspired by snow globes and the winter memories he has made at Tabor, such as snowball fights with friends.
“When I was young, I was very fascinated by snow globes as I don't celebrate Christmas and I rarely see snow in Vietnam. My creative process was to think what would remind me of Tabor; I’ve heard stories of deer appearing around campus and I thought, ‘Hey maybe I could also use a reindeer as they remind me of Christmas or winter.”
Tran continues, “This was also the first time I ever used Photoshop as a tool to help me draw. Art is something that I don't do on campus, so getting my artwork selected for the holiday card did feel quite surprising. I saw a lot of very nice holiday cards and I thought they all deserved to get recognition.”
In total, there were 14 submissions for the holiday card competition, some of which came from Mike Bodall’s class, Photography and Communication Design. Like Tran, Hartigan was also surprised to hear her name announced as the winner of this year’s contest.
She emphasizes, “After seeing all the amazingly creative submitted artwork at All School Meeting, I was surprised that my painting got chosen. Last year, I received an email notifying me that I won the contest, but this year I learned at the same time as the rest of the community. This enhanced the excitement I experienced, as I was just as surprised as all my friends in the audience. Just like last year, I feel honored to share my art with the far-spreading community that I care about so deeply.”
Find all the holiday card artwork submissions in the slideshow below.