School of Social Work presents first Do Work That Matters award at fall commencement

Derrick Tabb, a member of the Grammy Award-winning Rebirth Brass Band and a co-founder of The Roots of Music, a nonprofit  that sponsors an after-school academic and music program for New Orleans school children, is the recipient of the Tulane University School of Social Work's first Do Work That Matters award. The award is given to individuals or groups that have made an impact in the New Orleans community through doing work that matters. As part of his speech to the School of Social Work's 72 graduates Dec. 14, Tabb credited a school social worker with changing his life.

"When I was 12, I lost my grandmother, and I took her death really hard,” he said. "I started getting into trouble. She (the social worker) was always trying to get you to be your best you. That was one of her big things. She was always pushing, striving and driving you in the right direction. She knew how to talk to you and get you to open up to her. I didn’t understand then but I totally understand now the importance of good social worker."