Confidence

I have recently returned with our 6th Grade and chaperones from several days amidst the the piney woods of Camp Allen.  Every year our students participate in the Discovery Program there, a curriculum that includes team building, outdoor living skills, environmental education, archery, rock wall climbing, and orienteering.  One of the greatest privileges for me is being able to witness confidence break out on the faces of students who successfully complete goals in these various activites.  The photo I'm featuring here shows one of these kiddos just after he's been lowered from the top of the high elements climbing wall.  It wasn't easy for him, but he persevered and made it to the top...the pride of achievement is written all over his expression!  Do you see it?  I am reminded that nothing we parents and teachers can say to these youths can make them have self-confidence.  We can encourage, cajol, comfort, pamper, and reprimand, but we can't make anyone feel good about themselves.  It is only the experience of setting goals, working hard, and achieving success that builds self-esteem.  Confidence cannot be given....there is no substitute for finding and claiming it on your own.  When we see youths who show a lack of confidence, the best thing we can do is help them find a passion by giving them different kinds of experiences.  Find a youngster who is keenly interested in something; interested enough to become fairly expert and or skilled in that area....and you will have found a youngster who knows the feeling of confidence.

The "Whole Enchilada"

My next preaching assignment at Trinity Episcopal Church (Sunday, September 18) coincides with the “Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard” found in The Gospel According to Matthew (20:1-16). Only occurring in Matthew, the parable serves as a clear reminder not to apply the rules of the marketplace to God’s love. In the story, Jesus compares the Kingdom of Heaven to a landowner who decides to pay every harvest worker the same wage, a full day’s wage…even to those who were hired near the end of the day. It doesn’t make sense….you can’t run a business that way. Those who had worked the entire day were understandably irked. But God’s family is not a business, and there is no such thing as a “salary deduction” or a “partial payment” from God. The message is as simple as it is poignant: there is no such thing as a part of God’s love. Every child in God’s family receives the “whole enchilada” as my seminary professor Charlie Price was apt to say. This divine love and our place in God’s family is nothing to which we are entitled, not something we have earned. It is pure gift; freely given….the challenge before us is to lay aside our marketplace mentality when it comes to our faith. We are called to open our hearts, simply receive God’s gift, and respond by allowing thankfulness to rule in our lives.

Yearbooks Bring Back Memories

Students Enjoying the 2011 Yearbook on August 24

I was surprised when my daughter, Charlotte (TES C' 2007), picked up a copy of the 2011 Trinity Yearbook and poured through it eagerly, thoughtfully, and with lots of smiles.  She's a graduate of Ball High beginning her freshman year at A&M, but despite the distance of years, Trinity's yearbook is still a draw for her.  Not simply a photographic record of a particular year, our yearbook displays the most important traditions of the school.  For generations, familiar annual events have marked the landscape of our calendar: Carnival, class trips, Lessons and Carols, the 5th Grade play, May Fete, Green and Gold games, and Graduation come to mind.  My daughter's smiles tell me she easily returns to the good memories of her days at Trinity.  We should not miss just how important school memories are to our graduates!  In this day and age when a plethora of school choices have risen overnight, Trinity stands out as a place of time-honored traditions.  The various activities portrayed in our yearbook together celebrate life, faith, the innocence of childhood, and the strength of a God-centered, academically-oriented community.  I'm thankful every day for what my children received at TES.

We have some extra yearbooks available at the time of this writing.  The cost is $40 per book and we would love to see them all go to our current families and alumni.

On the Eve of Starting School

At 6th Grade Orientation today, our students received their locker assignments and combination locks. The secret to getting one of these locks to work can seem daunting at first, sort of like learning to ride a bike.  You have to follow the instructions exactly...give the dial a full turn before selecting the initial number, as I recall.  Who hasn't experienced rushing against the clock to get to class only to have their locker combination fail to work on the first try?  Generations of students have mastered their combination locks and learned to think clearly under pressure at their locker.  It's like a mini lesson in character each time....you know the saying, "Whatever doesn't kill you will make you stronger." 

There is a kind of comfort in seeing a new crop of students going through the routines....a sense that all is well and as it should be.  I captured this photo earlier today of a Trinity 8th grader "initiating" his younger brother in the mysteries of the combination lock.

New Faculty at Trinity Episcopal School

Earlier in the week I had the pleasure of leading Trinity Episcopal School's New Teacher Orientation.  Our new teachers are pictured from left to right: Theresa Pistone, Geney Heaton, and Susan Spurlock. 


Theresa comes to us from GISD where most recently she has held administrative positions including that of Technology Coordinator for the district.  She now takes the reigns of Computer Teacher/Technology Coordinator at TES.  A Magna Cum Laude graduate of The University of Houston Clear Lake, she describes herself as "a highly organized, curious and motivated teacher who strives to meet the individual needs of every student."  I look forward to the innovations she will certainly bring to our computer curriculum.


Geney comes to us from Klein ISD where she built a well-respected career teaching Kindergarten.  A fellow Indianan and friend of Trinity teacher Diane Humphrey, Geney was introduced to Galveston some years ago and has now moved to the Island with her husband, Kevin.  She earned the Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education for Hanover College, Hanover, Indiana.  I am impressed by her energy, her experience using technology in the classroom, as well as her background in both Music and Spanish.  Geney will teach our Kindergarten class.


Susan has already served as one of our favorite substitute teachers; she is a Galveston BOI, Ball High graduate, and a retired teacher from GISD.  She is proud to be the parent of a Trinity graduate, Amber, who has served until recently as a captain and attorney in the United States Air Force (JAG).  She states, "sending my daughter to Trinity is one of the best things I ever did for her. Trinity teachers helped her develop study skills to such a high level that she was an excellent student throughout high school and college."  Susan will take a section of 4th Grade alongside her friend and fellow master teacher, Debbie Kelemen.  Her own education includes a Bachelor of Arts from Sam Houston State and a Master of Science from The University of Houston Clear Lake.


Although she is not a new teacher to Trinity, I do want to mention Arden Cragar.  Arden is a current Trinity parent of George (8th), Charlie (6th), and Maggie (2nd) and a former Trinity teacher and director of our Beginning School.  She now returns to the Trinity classroom teaching our PK 4-year-olds.  "Hook 'Em Horns," I've rehired a University of Texas graduate with a B.S. in Applied Learning and Development!


This group rounds out an excellent teaching staff.  We can expect that they will do their part to help Trinity maintain the strong academic culture that has been a fixture in Galveston almost 60 years!

Trinity Middle School to Introduce E-Reader Technology

Nook Simple Touch by Barnes & Noble

Thanks to unprecedented giving during the 2010-2011 school year,  our middle school teachers will have a new technology available this fall to support the use of literature across the curriculum.  Trinity is acquiring a classroom set of "Simple Touch" e-readers from Barnes and Noble.  This device, shown at right,  was just named the "Editor's Choice" for e-readers by PC Magazine (July, 2011).

I recently tried one of the school's "Simple Touch" devices by reading Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie, a title from the 8th Grade's summer reading list. I was surprised at how thin, light, and easy to hold this e-reader is!  The Pearl E-Ink display is easy on the eyes, and the infrared powered touchscreen is very responsive. But what pleases me most for our middle school literature program are the reading tools available at the touch of a finger. Press and hold a word on the page, and a menu appears allowing the reader to highlight text, enter a note with an on-screen keyboard, and best of all, to look up the word in the built-in Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary. Being able to check a word quickly and seamlessly allows the reader to hold concentration and stay in the reading "zone."  The search feature facilitates individual and classroom study by recalling every place in the book where a word or phrase occurs.


This technology, that helps students remain engaged in a book, fits well with our English Language Arts goal to instill a life-long love of reading. 
Trinity Episcopal School might well be the first school on the Island to use this e-reader to deliver part of a middle school curriculum. Our program will by necessity be a hybrid program in the beginning; some great literature for these young readers has not yet become available in electronic format. But make no mistake, this way of reading is the way of the future.