Superintendent’s Artist of the Week: Tabitha Peterson

Traditionally, one of the highlights of the year for Warwick Valley High School music students is the trip that band, orchestra and chorus members make to Hershey Park. The students perform in a competition and then spend the rest of the day at the amusement park.

This spring was WVHS’s first trip to Hersheypark in three years because of the pandemic. WVHS junior Tabitha Peterson, who sings with the Treble Choir and Jazz Choir, was looking forward to going, but she had a scheduling conflict; the state qualifying outdoor track meet was the same day.

Tabitha decided to throw the discus instead of singing in Hershey, Pa. She was sad to miss the trip, but performed very well at the track meet.

“I’m kind of glad I didn’t go (to Hersheypark) because I ended up doing pretty well at the track meet,” said Tabitha, who qualified for the state meet in the discus. “I threw a personal record of 107 feet, seven inches (107-7). And there’s always next year for Hersheypark.”

Tabitha also threw the hammer for the first time at the state qualifier. Her throw of 116 feet, four inches, qualified her for the New Balance Nationals on Saturday at the University of Pennsylvania. At the state meet, Tabitha placed ninth in the discus.

Tabitha started singing in fourth grade, well before she took up track and field.

“I’ve been doing chorus since elementary school,” Tabitha said. “I love to sing and I love the community. All the girls in the Treble Choir were really fun, and we’re a close group. It’s just a loving and accepting group. It’s kind of like my fun class. When I have other stressful classes, it’s nice to be able to come here and relax, and sing. I find it very therapeutic.”

Tabitha sang a solo in the song “Still I Rise” with the Jazz Choir in the WVHS Spring Chorus Concert.

“Tabitha has a strong and confident voice that lent itself to the spiritual style,” choral director Noreen Hanson said.

Tabitha’s highlights with the chorus this year also include caroling and the Jazz Pops Concert.

“The Jazz Pops Concert and that was so much fun to prepare for because we got away from the traditional types of songs and we got to do some fun ones,” Tabitha said. “We did covers of Britney Spears and the Beatles.”

Tabitha also excels in the classroom. She has been earning summa cum laude honors while taking Advanced Placement and Honors courses and was recently inducted into the National Honor Society. Her favorite areas include science, mathematics and psychology.

She’s currently in the second year of the Science Research class and will be doing original research with her mentor on assessing cannabis expectancies in high school students with ADHD.