Hillary Wood Grotos ’7

HILLARY WOOD GROTOS ’77 ADMISSIONS AND SPECIAL EVENTS

Although the 2019-20 school year marks her 25th as a staff member, for Hillary Wood Grotos ’77, the Trinity experience began when a member of Trinity’s second 9th grade class in 1973. “There was no grass, and cutup cardboard boxes were placed on the ground to make a path from the Academic building,’ she recalls. “There was a lot of school spirit, even then. I was a cheerleader all four years and a member of the Pep Club, too. The community spirit was alive and well even then!”

Despite being an active and interested alumna following her graduation in 1977, she confesses: “I actually never thought I’d be involved in education as an adult. Ending up working at Trinity was a ‘right place right time’ event!” In the winter of 1994, a friend told her of an opening for a director of alumni and development. With encouragement from then-faculty-member Will Towles and former trustee Virginia Totten, she applied and was hired by thenHeadmaster Tom Aycock. “Certainly not for my experience!” she jokes, “but I did bring valuable knowledge of the school’s history to the administration.” After three years in that combined role, the positions were split, and Grotos focused specifically on alumni and special events. At that time, says Grotos, the major event of the year was the annual auction, with which she remembers having great help from parents like Wendy Williams. “We always had a blast decorating for a whole week before all of the Auctions which were held during the later years in the Gym with a total transformation!” she recalls. One year, the theme was “The Wizard of Oz,” and parent Maryanne Markunas procured “a huge glittered red shoe from a theater company and it was our centerpiece!”

In 2002, Grotos moved from alumni and development over to admissions, but her work managing special events for the whole community has continued. Whether it’s Jazz Fest, Grand Illumination, Oyster Roast, Admission Open House, “Titan for a Day” or Titan Night, any guest who has set foot on campus for an event over the past two decades has been the beneficiary of Grotos’ hospitality and attention to detail.

“To the great benefit to our school was the great warmth she displayed to everybody,” recalls Aycock. “When parents, students, faculty came in, she had a tremendous warmth in her personality. It was so in keeping with our philosophy and culture. She made everybody feel welcome.” Aycock also commented on Grotos’ great versatility and dependability over the years. “She never got rattled,” he says. “She just went to work and calmly got the job done.”

Grotos, too, describes herself as a team player. “Trinity has been a wonderful place to grow,” she says. “The sense of community is ever present, rolling up our sleeves to help out a co-worker or student in need. We wear many hats here and that is what makes the environment like a family.”

What’s the most rewarding part? “I love getting to know prospective families and ‘selling the school’ to them,” she says. “For me it is an easy sell, because I am very committed to our mission and the community aspect of our school. It is very rewarding when the students end up coming!”

One of her favorite memories of her time on staff was a “going away” party for the trailer which housed the faculty lounge and business office before Morgan Hall was constructed. “Those of us who had been here for a long time said farewell during a fire pit that evening,” she recalls, “telling funny stories about velvet paintings of dogs and Elvis that hung on the walls!”

When not at Trinity, Grotos enjoys spending time in the mountains and at the beach collecting shells. “I also enjoy gardening and making beaded jewelry,” she says. “Photography has also been something I have enjoyed since college.” And any family gathering for her is like a mini Trinity Reunion. Five of her six children graduated from Trinity and two of her son-in-laws are also Titans. “We are one big Titan family!”