Trinity Welcomes

FEBRUARY 27

Helen Mays

Richmond Youth Programs Coordinator at Side by Side

“The youth I work with... do an amazing job blowing up [the social] script, and allowing space for people to actually be their authentic selves.”

MARCH 26

Rachel Pater

Founder of The Richmond Story House

Rachel Pater led an in-studio workshop for Jenny McQueen’s photo class. Through storytelling exercises to pair with a photo assignment, Pater was able to make the virtual session very creative and engaging.

FEBRUARY 28-29 Abigail Spanberger US Congresswoman

On the weekend of February 28 and 29, 2020, Trinity’s Model UN Club hosted a full-scale simulation Model UN conference. Over 140 student delegates from Trinity and eight other area schools were on-campus for the event.

The keynote speaker at Friday’s opening ceremonies was first-term US Congressman Abigail Spanberger, who represents Virginia’s 7th District in the US House of Representatives. A Henrico native, Spanberger had coincidentally just run into her own high school government teacher for the first time since her election to Congress. “It was really powerful, because I remember sitting in [his] class talking about politics and debating ideas and talking about civic engagement and world events... where I felt that I could have an opinion,” said Spanberger. “That was part of the foundation that later made me inclined to run for office, and I think that it helped build the skill set that I bring to Congress now.”

Recalling that she, too, participated in Model UN as a student in college, Spanberger lauded the conference’s participants for their interest. “It’s important because everything in life is diplomacy. Your relationship with your siblings, parents, spouse, friends, college roommates, it’s all diplomacy,” she said. “Being able to engage in an activity where you are putting yourself in the shoes of another country, and viewing something through the eyes of a foreign diplomat, it’s an incredible exercise in thinking beyond yourself.”