Tri-M wants to bring a new tradition to TJ that will help our community now and in the future. photo by Robin Morissey
TJ’s very own Tri-M is hoping to help the community come together, one step at a time.
Modern Music Masters (Tri-M) is a music honors society that is beginning to make a name for themselves at Thomas Jefferson High School. Tri-M seeks to advocate for the importance of music education throughout many schools. The club also aims to highlight the benefits for personal growth alongside academic growth. Every year there are new elected officers, and this year’s officers happen to have been a part of TJ’s music program since their freshman year. When the club first heard of the idea of a shoe drive, they thought it could be a wonderful activity to both fundraise for the club as well as help the community.
Current Tri-M president, senior Jordyn McCoy, is hoping that the shoe drive becomes an annual occurrence. It will be passed onto next year’s president, junior Joe Poole, who wants to start it back up in August. TJ parent Laura Mitchell was the first to come up with the idea for the shoe drive and brought it to McCoy’s attention. During the second semester when McCoy was brainstorming ideas for fundraisers, she remembered the drive and decided to put the idea into action. Currently, TJ band teacher and club sponsor Robin Morrissey and McCoy are the two organizers of the shoe drive, and both are excited to see the future of the Shoe Drive and Tri-M.
The club is running two shoe drives at the moment: Souls 4 Soles and Got Sneakers. These two drives support homeless children and women who are in need of shoes. Tri-M hopes to connect the community and provide awareness for many who aren’t aware of the drive. McCoy points out how divided TJ currently is, and she hopes that the shoe drives will help bring many different communities and people together. This drive is capable of doing a lot of good for the wider TJ community, and if people are able to donate or spread the word, interest in the drive will hopefully grow.
The club has partnered with multiple organizations in order to organize the shoe drive. One of the groups is the Optimist Club, a community service club that helps those in need. Tri-M has gone to events organized by the Optimist Club where their jazz band played for the people there. This has led to lots of excitement through the club as it accomplishes their goals of spreading the love of music as well as benefiting those around them. During the holidays, Tri-M also partnered with the Christmas Tree Lot, which is one of the Optimist Club’s biggest fundraisers of the year. For every tree that somebody buys at the event, a dollar will go to help children battling cancer. The Optimist Club asks clubs and groups from various schools for help, and in return they donate a portion of what is made to the groups, such as with Tri-M’s shoe drive.
This shoe drive will hopefully help the community get better and stronger. Since the drive will, with luck, become annual, it should provide more and more access to shoes to those in need, as well as help others become close and connected. If you feel you want to support, the drive is running from February 14, 2025 until May 27, 2025. Shoes are accepted in a blue basket in the vestibule in the front lobby at TJ!
