But allow me to describe one activity in which I participated. It was a trust game in which one person is blindfolded and led around the camp at night by the other, but only the blindfolded person may speak. I partnered with a 7th grader new to Trinity, and as I led him all around the camp, he told me about his family, hobbies, and favorite baseball team. But after a while, he was running out of things to say. So, I sat him down on a bench and broke my silence, “Why don’t you tell me what you are looking forward to this year at school.”
Having built some trust walking around, I think I got a very honest answer: “Well… I’m looking forward to the academics, because I want to learn a lot. I think I’ll really like Latin, because learning another language is cool. It feels like I already have more friends than I thought I would.” Then, more as a crescendo than a footnote, he added “And, I think my teachers are nice, so I’m looking forward to getting to know them.” It was that last comment that struck me, a simple expression of his desire to know his teachers better. Think about what he could have said: “I’m looking forward to what my teachers will teach me… or what they will do for me.” Rather, he wants to know them. In this way, I think he recognizes that his teachers are not just teachers but mentors, because mentors are people you know and emulate, and mentors know and care for their students.
At Trinity, we all endeavor to do everything- teaching, correction, discipline, celebration, recognition, conflict resolution, inspiration- from the context of relationship. That is how we begin the school year, with the love and acceptance that God Himself extends so freely to us. I am thankful for this school and everything it does, but I am especially thankful for our ohana.
In Christ,
Stephen Sprague
Headmaster