Thanksgiving 2014

TES Archive Image: Thanksgiving In-Gathering 2005

Trinity Episcopal School students mark the Tuesday before Thanksgiving with an in-gathering of foodstuffs and other supplies for those in need.  The collection occurs in classrooms in the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving.  Then, on the Tuesday morning of Thanksgiving week, students from each homeroom bring these gifts en masse to Chapel.  Members of Student Council meet them at the altar rail and arrange everything at the base of the altar.  The sight of all of these gifts gathered is inspiring and a metaphor of the great good that can happen when people work together toward a common goal.  Following worship, members of Student Council accompany these supplies to St. Vincent’s pantry.  St. Vincent’s helps folks with basic necessities like food, hygiene products, and diapers.  Helping this outreach ministry reminds our students that love of neighbor requires thinking of the needs of others.  It also is a way of gaining perspective as we take stock of the blessings in our own lives.
  
As of this writing, workers have begun tearing out the old curb cuts along the perimeter of the School’s soon-to-be playing field.  Please join me in giving thanks for the Galveston Foundation which is funding the new sidewalk and curb improvements, fill dirt, and landscaping, for the Sealy & Smith Foundation which sold the property to the Diocese of Texas, and, most of all, for the Moody Foundation which funded the purchase of the property and demolition as well as the fencing and other amenities still to come.  Of course, the project is taking longer than anticipated.  Ready or not, please plan on joining other members of the Trinity Church and School family on Sunday, December 14, at 2:00 PM, to witness Bishop Dena Harrison dedicate the property for the purpose of educating mind, body, and spirit!

By the time you receive this, basketball season will have begun at Trinity.  Please note the published schedule under the Athletics Tab of the school website (www.tesgalv.org).  I hope you will experience the Charger spirit by joining us for home games at the Robert L. and Ann Moody Activity Center.

An angel from TES Lessons & Carols 2013

Finally, please note for your calendars, the annual Festival of Lessons and Carols: Friday, December 19 in Trinity Episcopal Church beginning at 10:30 AM.  For many, this is the most sublime moment of the school year!

Faithfully,

David C. Dearman +
Head of School

Start of School 2014

A group of TES 8th Graders peruse the new Trinity Charger Yearbook.

School opened smoothly on Tuesday, August 19, and by the end of the first week 228 students were enrolled….marking the third consecutive year of growth.  Enrollment has yet to reach the pre-Ike number of 242, but that’s only part of the story.  Compared to six years ago, Trinity Episcopal School has moved forward by leaps and bounds.  With the addition of the Robert L. and Ann Moody Activity Center and the soon-to-be-completed athletic practice field, the campus has a more significant visual impact on Galveston’s downtown.  The recent 10-year re-accreditation by the Southwestern Association of Episcopal Schools and the Independent Schools Association of the Southwest has reaffirmed Trinity’s mission and quality.  I can’t help but think these are significant factors in the school’s enrollment recovery.

Each year, we announce those 7th graders who are eligible for participation in the Duke University Talent Identification program.  These students earn eligibility based on their exceptional performance on nationally-normed standardized tests taken the year before. The 8 students so honored this year are Kelly Carmichael, Noah Elzner, Christof Gault, Logan Kelly, Christian Quinn, Nicholas Sutton, Courtney Whittaker, and Nick Zompa.

Please join me in welcoming our new faculty: Francie Buergler continues the family tradition of teaching at Trinity; Francie’s mother, Sissy Howell, taught here for many years.  An experienced teacher and graduate of Texas State University, Francie will be teaching Kindergarten at Trinity.  Russell Johns is our new athletic director and physical education teacher.  He is a graduate of Concordia University where he majored in Kinesiology.  He recently served as baseball coach at O’Connell College Preparatory.  Brook Miller will be teaching 5th Grade; she earned her undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Houston, Clear Lake.  Brook will be away on maternity leave soon after the start of the school year; during that time her teaching duties will be assumed by Anna Vandiver, an experienced teacher and cum laude graduate of Augusta State University, Augusta, Georgia.  Our other 5th Grade teacher will be Kelly Shaffner who graduated from Texas State University and comes to us most recently from Parker Elementary.  Kelly’s solid references included Stacy Wisner who is also joining our faculty (teaching 3rd Grade).  A graduate of University of Houston, Stacy was recognized as elementary teacher of the year for GISD in 2011-2012.  These talented folks are rounding out an already strong teaching staff at Trinity Episcopal School!  Finally, help me welcome Amy Gaido to her new role as Lower School Coordinator and Assistant Head of School.

From Left to Right: Russell Johns, Francie Buergler, Kelly Shaffner, Brook Miller, Anna Vandiver, & Stacy Wisner

Faithfully,

The Rev. David C. Dearman
Head of School

Summer Begins 2014

TES Class of 2014

The 17 students who graduated on May 29 are shown here on the Garth just before their Commencement.  These latest graduates are Libbie Lee Ansell, Hunter Thomas Blackwell, Kelli Michele Blackwell, Charles Bush Cragar, Santiago Tobias Faus, Barrett Charles Gaertner, John-Austin Gaertner, Amanda Grace Shallenberger Galan, Joseph Bentley Jaworski, Nayarith Jimenez, Frances Clair McBride, Emily Marie Metyko, Gabrielle Alyse Prets, Seth Michael Ricks, Zane Campbell Seigel, Kelley Jane Shepherd, and Sarah Faye Tillman. These kiddos will be sorely missed, but we look forward to hearing great things about them in the future!

By early summer, activity should begin on the new property at the north end of the campus.  The extraction of a gas tank and the demolition of the old drive-through banking operation will precede work to create a fenced playing field.  Using a phrase from our past, signage at the construction site will highlight the double entendre: "Trinity is a Good Place to Grow."

Thanks to solid support for the Annual Fund, various maintenance projects will take place including painting overhead ceilings and replacing the worn deck at Hollamon Hall as well as resurfacing the outdoor sports court.  

Trinity BOT Vice-President Meg Walker announced recently that the first round of engraved pavers will be placed at the entrance to the Robert L. and Ann Moody Activity Center as part of the Building Our Future: Paving the Way Campaign to help sustain the maintenance and programs of our new building over a multi-year period.  The deadline for orders on this first round of pavers is June 16.  Please see www.tesgalv.org for details.  This is a great way to celebrate loved-ones and to remember those who have come before us.

I am pleased to report that  longtime Trinity benefactors Dr. and Mrs. Robert Eanes have made a substantial gift to help the school acquire and implement software from Senior Systems 
including Admissions, Enrollment Management, Business Office, and Development Modules.  This upgrade to an integrated data management system will help us address a recommendation from the ISAS/SAES Visiting Committee.

The first-ever Camp Charger will be held on weekdays from July 7-18.  This program is open to students in rising grades 3-8 and is not to be confused with our Summer-long Camp for the younger ones!  Please see www.tesgalv.org for more details or contact Camp Director Anna Hyatt: ahyatt@tesgalv.org.

David C. Dearman, Head of School

The Virtue of Striving

Trinity Episcopal School seeks to foster the ability to strive.  This image, one of our 6th Grade students making it to the top of the climbing wall at Camp Allen, shows the joy that accompanies striving followed by accomplishment.  It is also an image of character development in progress!  

In order to develop the character of striving, there must also be times of failure....times when our students are tempted to give up but instead renew their best efforts. Sometimes as teachers and parents, the hardest part for us is standing by compassionately while our children learn to deal with disappointment....something they cannot learn if we keep rushing in to rescue them from their dilemmas.

Recently, I received a mailing from the Galveston Academic Excellence Booster Club, an organization to which Layne and I gratefully contribute.  In 2013, this organization recognized 12 Galveston high school seniors with academic scholarships.  It is striking to me that, of these 12, half are graduates of Trinity Episcopal School!  Trinity only goes through 8^th Grade, and is obviously not responsible for the academic material that produced outstanding GPA’s for these 6 seniors (now in college).  It cannot be a coincidence, though, that our small school has such a disproportionate share of these honorees.

Long after the curricular details of a middle school education have faded into the mind’s foundation, a student’s character remains front-and-center in contributing to success.  I believe that Trinity fosters the kind of character that helps students achieve in high school and beyond.  Not giving up easily, having a strong work ethic, being courageous, demonstrating humility, and being considerate of others….these are among the virtues that lead to success.  More importantly, they contribute to a life that is worth living.  Congratulations to these 6 members of the TES Class of 2009: Lauren Balentine, Kate Dannenmaier, Jordan Raschke, Sara Rismiller, William Wheeler, and Bryce Willey.  Go Chargers!