TOGETHER

Teachers and staff find resilience, inventiveness, creativity to maintain academic continuity in a time of turmoil

A screenshot from Trinity’s first-ever Virtual Morning Meeting on Monday, March 23, 2020

As Trinity teachers and students left campus on March 6 to begin Spring Break, little did anyone realize they would not be returning for nearly six months. Although administrators had met several times to make contingency plans for the potential spread of the novel coronavirus (at that time seemingly limited to the Seattle area) and study guidance about the possible need to close school for limited periods, few if any were prepared for the speed at which the landscape would change over the second week of March 2020.

“It was tough,” said Lee Sprague, Associate Head of School. “Although we had been strategizing before spring break about possible plans, everything changed quite quickly. Additionally, it was clear that we had to come up with [a new daily schedule] that would be comfortable to students, suit their needs and their teachers’ needs, and be as flexible as possible.”

By the end of spring break, Sprague had already sketched out what would become an entirely new modified daily schedule — one that could provide times to work both independently and collaboratively — and a plan for continuity of instruction that would guide something Trinity had never before attempted: teaching and learning entirely online. While students enjoyed an extended spring break through Wednesday, March 18, teachers and staff began busy preparing for a transition to distance learning. “While we recognize that no online platform can replicate the Trinity experience,” wrote Sprague to families that week, “our goal is to maintain as much teaching, learning, continuity and community as possible during this unprecedented circumstance.”

ADAPT AND OVERCOME

Distance learning began Monday, March 23 and continued through the end of the school year in late May.

Sprague said the main goal was to maintain continuity. “Teachers focused quickly on what was essential, and continued to teach their students day after day,” said Sprague. “Students continued to feel that teachers cared about them and their success.”

• Students in Marcus Jones’ ’00 IB Global Politics class chose a country in the bottom half of the Human Development Index (HDI), identified intransigent issues, and developed solutions that could bring the country into the top half of the HDI.

• Students in Julie Davi’s Spanish classes collaborated on a Latinx Spotify playlist.

• Students in Alice Phillips’s IB Higher Level

Biology made the most of being stuck at home by raiding the pantry to conduct

“kitchen labs,” or experiments using household appliances. One group measured the effect of salt on pasta cooking, another potato chip grease smooshed on graph paper, and a third group grew bean sprouts in plastic baggies.

• In Ali Moriarty’s advanced art class, students took distorted

Snapchat selfies and created drawings in the medium of their choice. Moriarty says the feedback on the project was so positive, she’s going to continue teaching it in the future.

• Students in Kasie Kemp’s 9th grade physics class researched, designed and built Rube Goldberg machines, using staircases, textbooks, cups, notebooks and whatever else wasn’t; nailed down, to demonstrate the three laws of motion and six different types of simple machines.

• Julie Baroody Urena’s ’81 IB French students met in their kitchens one week for “Parents, Pups and Omelettes” as part of their study of the culture of Paris. Students and their families made omelettes together, while practicing their culinary French.

“It was inspirational to see teachers rise to the challenge,’ said Sprague. “The vast majority of them had never done any online teaching before, and they quickly learned the technology, how to encourage discussion, and how to check in with each student. Many teachers started their classes by letting students have some time to talk with each other as they recognized how important it was for them to ‘see each other.”

“This situation emphasized something I already knew about Trinity but can more deeply appreciate: faculty here cares deeply about both their students and their teaching,” Spraue said. “They modeled creative problem solving to students every day and then spent the summer honing their craft.”

“We are so grateful that Trinity is ‘doing school’ the way they are doing it,” wrote one parent about the spring 2020 academic adaptations. “The structure and sense of normalcy that has come from Trinity’s schedule has been a lifesaver.”

BEHIND THE SCENES HEROES

Achieving all of this could not have been possible without the skill, creativity and endless availability of the entire Technology Department. While Kyle van de Kamp ’12 installed new software and oversaw the Ring Central platform, Laurie Pierce made sure that every teacher was well equipped to use the tools at their disposal. All the while, José Santiago was researching the best practices in educational technology, and Nathaniel Paul ’14 made sure that every student’s laptop was running at peak performance. On any given day, they might all have to trade hats to keep the school’s remote technological engine humming — and their adaptability and teamwork under pressure were a model for every Titan to emulate.

“Migrating the entire school to Virtual Learning from a technology perspective was extraordinarily challenging and rewarding,” said van de Kamp. “While in person only instruction relies heavily on technology, the transition to virtual learning wouldn’t have been so smooth without our extremely flexible teachers, and their willingness to learn.”

Some things just came together at the right time, as well, Sprague acknowledges. For example, the school had already purchased RingCentral to replace the aging analog phone system. The package also happened to come with a Zoom-based video-conferencing platform ready to go. Van de Kamp recalls training all 600 community members in short order before school resumed. “Working in large group sessions of 100+ students was exciting, and fun to watch students interact in such a large group virtually,” he says.

What’s one particularly proud moment from the spring that stands out for van de Kamp and the rest of the technology staff? “Being one of the first schools/businesses to discover a major compatibility bug between RingCentral and a recent Apple security update which impacted hundreds of our users, and working with Apple, RingCentral, and Zoom engineers during all hours of the day until we discovered a fix,” he said.

“The technology team here is gifted and dedicated. They worked incredibly long hours to support students and teachers,” Sprague said. “I think living through the pandemic is showcasing some of our strengths: we can be flexible and adjustable in a time of challenge, and our community is central to that strength.”

Faculty, parents and students rise to the challenge of building and maintaining community during a global pandemic

Less than 24 hours after Trinity’s headlong dive into distance learning, the governor of Virginia announced that schools across the state would shutter through the first week of June. Head of School Rob Short met with student leaders the next morning to help them process the realization that no one would return to campus for the rest of the school year: “We will be filled with many different emotions — sadness, frustration, anxiety, disappointment,” he told them. “When you’re disappointed in something, it means that you care deeply. And our community does care deeply. This is something to be proud of.”

To illustrate the lasting power of adaptability and resilience during historic times, Short wrote to families again early in the spring explaining why students saw him each morning at the same table for virtual Morning Meeting. “Right now, I am sitting at my grandmother’s table from her home in Suffolk, England during World War II,” noting that it was the target of heavy bombing during the war. “They were tough times, and she was not much older than our current students. But when she spoke of these times later in life, she remembered them fondly and with pride. The adversity shaped her in wonderful ways, and she became more appreciative of the simpler things in life.”

But Short was just one of countless teachers, parents and student who rose to the unprecedented challenges of the spring to maintain Trinity’s greatest asset: community.

On March 25, Brain Griffen, school chaplain, hosted the first of what would become weekly “Five-Minute Chapels,” featuring a short scripture reading and some calming words of encouragement. “During this time that we are fragile, we have to handle each other with care,” Griffen said in that first installment. “We have to treat each other with more kindness and patience than we have before.” Connecting his talk to the shared T.I.T.A.N.S. value of “toughness,” Griffen also encouraged resilience. “Everything is going to be okay. We’re going to get through this together, as Titans always do. We’ll make it.”

PARENTS RALLY SUPPORT

To acknowledge weeks adapting their teaching to distance learning, while simultaneously balancing the demands of family, Trinity teachers were given a special thank-you gift from the Trinity Parents Association (TPA) in mid-April. “We would like to treat you and your family to dinner!” said the note sent to faculty. Volunteers from the TPA’s Hospitality Committee gathered orders and organized the delivery of family-style meals to dozens of homes. Each meal arrived with a beautiful painting by Genevieve Johnson ’21 with the inscription, “Teachers plant the seeds that last a lifetime.”

A few weeks later, parents of seniors joined forces to produce and deliver 117 signs, proclaiming “A Trinity Senior Lives Here!” to every

front yard in the senior class. Members of the class of 2020 emerged from their quarantines — a bit shaggier than when last seen — to show their gratitude and pose for a few photographs. The yard signs helped bridge the gap and distance and provide a communal way of celebrating.

Parents also turned to their keyboards to write encouraging messages of support for faculty and administrators. “Thank you so much for your attention to the seniors especially. I’m so proud of [them] for handling this like they have...they will be closer for it...” wrote one parent. “You make Trinity a very special place and a place I am proud to say my daughters attend.”

Another wrote: “Your kind, thoughtful, insightful, loving, encouraging words have meant so much... to our family, and have brought me to tears each time. And smiles! You have gone above and beyond to make this experience as positive as possible for the students and their families.”

STUDENTS REFLECT, CONNECT AND PROJECT

Longing for familiarity of the Trinity campus, five students (Mason

Forness ’22, Gareth Lockwood ’21, Annabelle Porner ’22, Anne

Kinsey Wash ’22, and Emery Lauer ’22) teamed up over several weeks to painstakingly recreate an online version of the school on the Minecraft platform. “I’ve always loved the way the buildings around campus are designed and thought that they would be cool to recreate,” said Forness. “I’m hoping that people will enjoy walking around the virtual campus and maybe even call some of their friends to hang out with them.”

Two Titan seniors, Jillian Allen ’20 and Eudora Nordt ’20, represented Trinity well in local media in May, each of them speaking from the heart about the unique disappointments and challenges that their class has faced. Nordt was asked by CBS 6 anchor Bill Fitzgerald what she would say to her classmates if she could. “I’m really proud of them for continuing to work hard considering the circumstances,” said Nordt. “And for keeping their head up during a time like this of such uncertainty… we’re going to have learned a lot of valuable lessons that we can use for the rest of our lives.”

In the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Jillian Allen described the loss of traditional year-end events like Senior Chapel. “Missing Senior Chapel hurts the most, she said. It was a special school event where the seniors got dressed up, their parents were invited, and they all gathered together to celebrate their accomplishments, look at photos of themselves over the years and hear from speakers.” Speaking for so many of her peers, Jillian added, “I just miss being on campus and seeing my friends.”

Later in the spring, aspiring student leaders participated in the first-ever all-virtual school election. Speaking to students in Morning Meeting via video, eventual SGA president Jessica Moore ’21 offered a message of hope for the future. “I believe that a community is only as strong as the individuals within, which is why we need different individuals from different backgrounds to contribute to the whole,” she said. “In these times, it’s really hard to feel like the strong community that Trinity has always had, but I know in the fall when we all return, we will be stronger than ever.”

Five students collaborated in the spring to create a virtual version of the Trinity campus using Minecraft.