Happy Birthday, Trinity!

Students and guests marked the 50th anniversary of the school’s very first day of school on Tuesday, September 6 with a celebratory Chapel service in the morning and a festive 50th Birthday party during lunch.

Bishop Susan Bunton Haynes, of the Diocese of Southern Virginia, began the Chapel service with a homily in which she lauded all Trinity teachers, past and present, for fulfilling a sacred duty to prepare the future leaders of the world.

Guests included the first graduating class (’75) as well as surviving members of the families of the leaders who helped establish the school fifty years ago: Bob Goodman (first headmaster), Billy Shands (first board chair) and Rev. Bob Steilberg (then rector of St. Michael’s Episcopal Church). Representatives from those families shared with our students reflections of the school’s earliest days — each noting that their parents would be especially proud of how much the school has grown and prospered. On behalf of the student body, Student Government Association (SGA) President Leland Coleman ’23, presented each family with a commemorative photo of the school’s groundbreaking.

Following the Chapel, Matthew Steilberg ’83, Swannee Goodman Ericson ’75 and Laura Shands Ferguson '81 recreated the iconic photo of the three founders of the day of the school’s groundbreaking ceremony surrounding a common shovel.

Speaking on behalf of the Shands family, Head of School Rob Short stated: “The people who founded the school wanted a sound framework that welcomed all and centered around Episcopal education. The holistic view was there — although we didn’t yet call it ‘Discover Your Path,’ — it was about the whole student. The key was to establish a great team that would guide the school forward… and Billy was there to steer it… Billy and others helped to rally the community, who pulled together to better the school. We keep this core value alive today with our history of generosity that continues to improve the campus.”

“My dad loved these people and this school dearly,” said Ericson, daughter of Bob Goodman, to the gathered students. “For years he came back to Art Shows, the Jazz Festival and any sporting event he could get to. It’s my wish, and I know it would have been his as well, that you come to love this school and your Trinity family as he did.”

“[We stand here today] on the shoulders of giants,'' said Steilberg, “but there are giants all around this room, and you are one of them… you will leave [Trinity] knowing what it means to be decent… educated… kind… adventurous… consequential... and you're going to make a big difference... and I can't wait to see where you go!”

For the rest of the day on September 6, students enjoyed a birthday party hosted by the Trinity Parents Association (TPA), making every student feel a part of the festivities with an ice cream cart, cupcakes and 50th Anniversary tee-shirts.