by Annie Feinroth ‘15

The Teen Angel Project (TAP), is a non-profit, charitable program that aims to bring joy to the community through music and dance. Consisting of 50 high school and middle school students, eight of whom attend Sherwood, they have performed more than 2,000 service hours in just one year. The group has performed for organizations such as Make A Wish Foundation and Autism Speaks, in addition to venues such as the Walter Reed Army Medical Center and local hospitals and nursing homes.

TAP has musical directors, publicists, a board of parents and its own website, www.teenangelproject.com. “We do our best [to perform] for people who might not get [to see] performances [of this caliber],” said junior Sophie Mezebish, one of the Angels. In addition to Mezebish, the other Sherwood TAP members include juniors Gianna Bartolini, Will Goniprow, Rachel Hahn, Alex Hanson, Caitlin Romeo and senior Chase Frederick.

Many of the students have been dancing, singing or performing for years and are involved in school plays and Rock’n’Roll. Recently, a group of singers from TAP was featured on an episode of FOX 5 Morning News. “We could see ourselves on the monitor … it was really cool to [represent the mission],” Hahn said.

The group is the work of Francesca Winch, founder of the organization, who was also featured on the FOX 5 show. Winch visualized kids singing for people who wanted to hear them, but did not have the opportunity. The mix of high school, middle school and one elementary school student collectively bring joy and happiness to everyone they can. “I believe in its mission … to go and perform for people who need to be cheered up,” said Hahn.

The students in TAP get the opportunity to see first-hand what their performances can do for people who rarely have anything to smile about. “We were able to put smiles on people’s faces that were sick and couldn’t leave and people’s families … were crying … it was nice to make people smile,” said Romeo.

Romeo is excited about TAP’s next event on April 5 at the Olney Theatre. “We are going to be putting on an entire showcase … so other people can go and raise money for Best Buddies,” Romeo said.  She explained how they have combined parts from past performances for this big performance in April. From what Romeo said, this performance will be huge.