Drumming with Fresh Air Alum Taymar Garlington   

From camper to drumming instructor, Taymar Garlington discovered her love of music during her first summer at The Fresh Air Fund’s Camp ABC at the age of 10 years old. After spending over five summers at camp, she developed many skills such as being more social, learning to swim and she even found her musical talent!  

This past summer, Taymar had the opportunity to teach campers at Camp ABC how to play the drums and find their Fresh Air rhythm. She had an unforgettable summer building bonds and sharing her passion for music with other counselors and with campers. 

During Taymar’s time as a camper at Camp ABC, she met Tommy, an instructor who introduced her to playing the guitar and motivated her to continue pursuing music beyond camp. 

“I remember that summer I had no interest in guitar at all until Tommy taught us a song,” shares Taymar. “When I got home, my mom bought me my first guitar and I was a musician after that!” 

Currently, Taymar is a student at Montclair State University pursuing her music education degree and has studied a variety of instruments from guitar to trumpet to drums. During her time in college, she realized she wanted to return to camp, but this time as a music teacher! 

From her experience as a camper, she knows that camp is a special place for New York City children to be creative, experience engaging activities and learn new skills. 

“Camp ABC is the perfect place for me to connect and teach NYC kids because it’s a safe environment that gives me the freedom to create my own lesson plans, curate my classroom and be able to connect with New York City youth,” shares Taymar. 

Now 19 years old, Taymar reflects on how impactful her Fresh Air experience was and how it helped her grow as a person. “I want to introduce music to my students and show them it can be used as an outlet to express themselves,” shares Taymar. “The arts are a reliable and positive outlet.”  

“I tell everyone interested in working at camp to come with an open mind and with compassion and with an open heart,” shares Taymar. “A conversation goes a long way. Campers have such interesting stories that they want to share, they’re just waiting for someone to initiate the conversation and to listen.”  

Taymar hopes to continue teaching drums at Camp ABC and to keep inspiring campers to be open to creativity and expressing themselves through music.  

Learn more about Fresh Air camp and how you can join our team this summer here.