The Artistic Tapestry

Weaving Creativity Across Generations

Our Trinity School arts programs are thriving, and one of their distinctives is that they allow students across multiple grades to work together to create art. In all three divisions, the arts provide an environment that encourages collaboration, with older students inspiring younger students and passing along the mission of Trinity through the joy of creating together. We have seen this missional impact throughout the spring performances and presentations of our artists.

During the Upper School Instrumental Concert, our Jazz and Strings Ensembles shared their stunning music with a packed crowd in The HUB. Senior Theo Lucas has been a faithful member of the Trinity Jazz Ensemble since his freshman year, and his unwavering commitment has set an example for those following in his footsteps. This spring, he was the only senior in Jazz Ensemble, the rest of the students being freshmen. Theo’s dedication to his craft, collaborative spirit, and leadership skills have set an example for his peers, passing on his love of music to an upcoming generation of Upper Schoolers.

The next evening, the Spring Concert for sixth and seventh grade students and the Lower School Band highlighted the many gifts and talents of the Trinity community. Sixth grade students looked up to those in seventh grade playing handbells and imagined what their next year at Trinity would hold, while the seventh grade students watched the sixth graders in the Tinikling dance and enjoyed reminiscing about their own performance last year.

Our Middle School Resource Strings class featured some students who had just picked up an instrument for the first time this year, and some who play with the Durham Youth Orchestra. These students came together to produce beautiful music, and the result was astounding. While our Band performance primarily featured students from grades 4–8, a few Upper School Jazz Ensemble students returned for a second night to play and support younger bandmates. The resulting sound was a joyous expression of what happens when artists work together.

The programs for the Middle and Upper School concerts this spring featured artwork from our student visual artists. Notably, five of the seven pieces of art displayed in the Upper School program were produced by seniors. Their legacy of excellence leaves an example for future students to follow as they pursue their artistic endeavors. We saw the far-reaching impact of visual arts education again on Grandparents and Special Friends Day, the program for which featured artwork by some of our youngest students.

The cast of our Performance Theatre production of Thornton Wilder’s The Matchmaker included students ranging from freshmen to seniors. At the end of the weekend of performances, the underclassmen shared words of encouragement about how seniors Annie DeGuzman and Annie Friesen had impacted their lives as leaders and friends, inspiring them as artists and individuals.

The arts at Trinity aim to nurture an appreciation for reflections of God’s glory and beauty in nature, in the arts, in culture, and in human relationships. As we see the joyful artistic expressions from transitional kindergartners through seniors, there is no doubt that the mission of Trinity is being shared with and through the next generation of up-and-coming artists.

CARRIE SIPPY, our Middle and Upper School Theatre teacher, is in her eighth year at Trinity. While she is normally behind the scenes of Trinity’s productions, she loves the opportunity to stretch her performing muscles and has been seen locally in shows such as The Lightning Thief, Into the Woods, and The Little Mermaid. When not in rehearsals, she can be found cross-stitching, baking, or hosting game nights.

Engineering: Empathy and Innovation for a Better World

By Elijah Wong

People often think of engineering as a cold, machine-like process. We imagine stereotypical socially awkward nerds cooped up in a lab doing math, performing tests, and building rockets and robots. While some of this may be true, it misses what is at the heart of engineering. The core and goal of engineering is to help others, improve lives, and build a better world. We use our scientific and mathematical knowledge and skills as well as our creativity and empathy to create innovative solutions to real human problems. This is what I learned about, and got my first taste of, in Engineering Design 1 class this year.

The engineering design process begins by identifying and understanding the problem, then establishing the requirements and limitations for the solution. Brainstorming ideas and using CAD software follows, and the next step involves prototyping using various engineering tools. The prototype must be tested: if you make a phone holder for a bike, for instance, you need to mount it on a bike and ride with it in a real-world scenario. If the prototype is successful, you can proceed with final implementation or mass production. If not, you iterate through brainstorming, prototyping, and testing until a functional solution is achieved. Through this process, our class learned to use 3D modeling software, 3D printers, laser cutters, and the CNC machine. This is crucial, because you can’t solve a problem if you don’t have the tools.

Midway through the semester, our class saw engineering in action at Nvidia in Durham. Nvidia is a forerunner in AI, data science, high-performance computing, simulation, and gaming. There we learned about some of the projects they were working on and what to do in high school if we want to work in this field. We saw that what we were learning in class was at the core of even Nvidia’s most complex technologies. The workers there were really passionate about their jobs, and we saw how engineering work was improving all of our lives, whether by revolutionizing AI tech or just making video games more fun.

For our semester's culminating project, we created memory boxes for individuals with Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimer’s affects memory, causing disorientation, language issues, mood swings, and behavioral challenges. The purpose of a memory box is to store items that help those with Alzheimer’s remember important people and events, which alleviates agitation, facilitates family conversations, and enables the creation of new memories with loved ones.

After we had researched and done early design and prototyping, Trinity parent and gerontologist Dr. Candace Brown and her colleague, Dr. Marianne Chanti-Ketterl from Duke University, came to teach us more about Alzheimer’s disease and the experience of older adults. They had us attempt to do tasks such as threading a needle and buttoning up a shirt while wearing items that made our experience more like that of an older adult. Sporting large, clumsy gloves and cataract glasses, I tried to button a shirt. How long could it take? Fast forward five minutes, and I was still struggling to complete the task. This activity gave me a new level of empathy for those with Alzheimer’s. I hadn’t realized how even doing the simple things in life like getting ready in the morning can be a challenge for many.

Carrying this new understanding over to the memory boxes, we made design changes to better accommodate those with Alzheimer’s. In the case of my group’s design, we changed our lid from a removable one to a hinged one with an overhang so the lid could not be lost and was much easier to open. We also laser engraved the lid with the initials of the loved one with Alzheimer’s, to add a personal element. In the future we hope to get feedback from Alzheimer’s patients and their families so we can continue to improve our designs.

A few months after we had completed the project, four of the students were invited to the spring conference of the Southern Gerontological Society to present our memory box designs. The attenders were surprised and pleased that as high schoolers we were learning about gerontology. No matter where we go in life, whether or not in engineering, this knowledge and experience will continue to be useful and impactful. These responses showed me how engineering can be a path that leads to knowledge of many different areas of the human experience. I had never thought that I would learn about the process of aging and the experience of my grandparents in the same class where I learned how to change the filaments of a 3D printer.

My semester in Engineering Design 1 has taught me that engineering is a field that requires both problem solving and empathy. Engineers solve problems by means of logic, math, and machines. However, this can only be done through understanding the needs of those you are trying to help. Engineering connects to and improves many aspects of human life, from space and spaceships, gaming and AI, to aging and the elderly. Engineering Design 1 was an instructive, exciting, and enlightening class, and I can’t wait to continue my engineering journey next year.

ELIJAH WONG is a freshman at Trinity. He enjoys humanities, playing golf, and serving as a student representative. Outside of school, Elijah enjoys reading philosophy, playing chess, and spending time with friends.