As we, as educators, work our way through the final weeks of the school year, it is important that we uphold a standard of asking our students to finish strongly in all areas of school life. The legendary coach John Wooden made sure his teams paid attention to how they put their socks on before each practice, knowing that a wrinkle in a sock would lead to a blister that could sideline a player and adversely impact the team’s overall performance during a game or, indeed, a season.

In our work with our students, there are many variations of socks that they must apply each day. Asking them to finish strongly in terms of larger issues, such as grades, character, and overall citizenship is closely aligned with how they handle the seemingly more routine and mundane tasks of their day-to-day responsibilities. Asking the boys to tuck in their shirts (and be in dress code in general); remove their hats in the Dann Academic Building or Scully Dining Hall; take out their earbuds during chapel, family-style meals, and class; avoid using their phones during family-style meals; etc. are not picayune requests. Rather, they are akin to pulling their socks up so that they will be better prepared for the larger responsibilities they face with the many decisions they must make during the course of the day.

By holding a standard high on the details, we are preparing them to make good decisions about larger, more impactful decisions they make each day and during the course of the school year — and, hopefully, in their futures. Furthermore, it requires a collective “we” to ensure that a focus on details is not interpreted by the boys as petty, nit-picking requests by a few people. Through a collective, collegial approach to such a standard, our students will have a much clearer understanding that a focus on details has a larger meaning to it. When they better understand this, then they will begin to internalize it more independently, which is what we want for them with regard to the overall impact of the learning program we are providing them. In other words, if we want to have a transformational impact, we must not lose focus on the little things.

Onward!

by William W. Taylor

Grounded in Trinity-Pawling’s educational philosophy is a strong belief that we gain a better understanding of ourselves through service to others. Service-learning is an important part of student life on campus, allowing students to become actively engaged in our local community and beyond. Through a variety of fundraising and service initiatives this year, our students have demonstrated a genuine commitment to helping others.

Here is a sampling of the student-led fundraisers that have taken place on campus over the past several months:

“Tackle Brain Cancer” Football Game

On October 27, 2021, players, coaches, parents, friends, and fans from Trinity-Pawling and Avon Old Farms rallied together to raise money for the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation. The special game was held in honor of Matt Dooley ’23, a beloved member of the Trinity-Pawling family. Led by members of the varsity football team, all proceeds from the game were donated to the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation in Matt’s honor.

National Honor Society “Movember”

Last fall, students in the National Honor Society (NHS) rallied support from the School community for their annual “Movember” fundraiser. Participants in “Movember” made a donation to grow facial hair for the month of November, in order to raise awareness of men’s mental health issues. The NHS raised nearly $300 in total.

Wintersession Cake Auction

At the end of Wintersession in December 2021, as part of the final challenge for The Great Trinity-Pawling Bake-Off Winter Project, students hosted an on-campus cake auction and raised $1,810 for brain cancer research. The delicious array of baked goods was provided by a number of student bakers, faculty members, faculty children, and Pride Parents. After a rousing round of bidding back and forth, the lucky auction winners included 21 students, two faculty members, one faculty child, and one parent. It was an exciting evening on campus raising money for a cause close to our hearts.

Halt ALS Hockey Game

On February 19, 2022, the Trinity-Pawling community joined forces with Halt ALS and Hotchkiss School for a charity hockey game. Organized by senior varsity captain Tyler Fogu ’22 for his Senior Independent Project, this special game was hosted in Tirrell Rink in honor and support of alumnus Chris Tschupp ’90, who is currently battling ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis). All proceeds from the event’s concession stand sales, raffle, and auction of various athletic items, including one-of-a-kind Trinity-Pawling hockey jerseys, benefited Tschupp’s Halt ALS organization.

National Honor Society “Pie in the Face” Fundraiser

In February, the National Honor Society held its annual “Pie in the Face” fundraiser in Scully Hall. In the week leading up to the event, students and faculty purchased tickets to determine who would be the lucky pie throwers and the not-so-lucky receivers of the pie in their face. Nearly $900 were raised and donated to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, a global leader in the fight against cancer.

Pawling Resource Center

Throughout the school year, Trinity-Pawling students and members of the National Honor Society have worked closely with the Pawling Resource Center — an important non-profit organization in our local community. Students helped deliver items to their food pantry and volunteered their time at the Center’s annual Walkathon fundraiser.

Relay for Life

This year, students in the Relay for Life Club raised over $2,000 for the American Cancer Society, and nearly 230 luminarias were created by the School community to honor and remember those lives that have been touched by cancer. On April 21, 2022, students and faculty gathered in All Saints’ Chapel for a beautiful luminaria service, in which students in the Relay for Life Club read the luminaria names aloud and sounded a bell for each person. The service was a meaningful end to an important day on campus, as the community honored and celebrated the life and legacy of Matt Dooley ’23. Members of the Relay for Life Club named April 21 as the annual date for the luminaria service on campus as a tribute to Matt, whose birthday was April 21.

We extend a heartfelt thank you to all students who have organized and participated in fundraising events this school year. Your compassion, generosity, and dedication to helping others continue to make this world a better place.

by Emma Christiantelli

In addition to the warm weather, softball games on the quad, and exciting milestones like Stepping Up and Commencement, the Spring Term at Trinity-Pawling also brings with it a sense of reflection and reminiscence. With another school year winding down, we have a chance to look back on the past several months and celebrate the many accomplishments of our school community. Accomplishments like the Institutes for Active Learning — Trinity-Pawling’s signature experiential learning program — which is nearing the finish line of its inaugural year.

Throughout the 2021-2022 school year and during each week’s Saturday Programming, students participated in exciting and challenging learning experiences from one of the four Institutes for Active Learning: Leadership, Citizenship, Entrepreneurship, and Environmental Stewardship.

At the start of the year, seniors chose which institute they wished to explore and were paired with faculty leaders. Each group was then assigned a specific Saturday in the Fall Term, Winter Term, and Spring Term for which their Institute organized engaging and hands-on activities. It has certainly been a year full of active, out-of-your-seat learning and real-world applications, as illustrated in these Institute snapshots:

ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP

The Environmental Stewardship Institute hosted an array of educational outdoor activities this year, including hikes that taught about orienteering and fire-starting; a campus-wide environmental clean-up; planting an orchard and blueberry bushes; building a compost bin; constructing bee hives for the new honey bees on the campus farm; and screening and discussing environmental documentaries on various topics, from climate change and plant-based diets for athletes, to plastics and coral reef health.

CITIZENSHIP

The Citizenship Institute held a Global Citizenship Campus Tour in the fall, where students visited 11 different cultural stations to learn about global culture, food, customs, architecture, and history. Between West African drumming, jerk chicken on the quad, and Thai shadow play, the morning felt like a tour around the world! The Institute also led a series of small group workshops in which students defined the many different aspects of citizenship, exploring what citizenship means to them, and how good citizenship impacts life at Trinity-Pawling and beyond.

LEADERSHIP

The Leadership Institute organized a series of critical thinking challenges and exercises for students to learn the skills needed to be an effective leader. Students experimented with different styles and types of leadership; participated in character-building workshops with a guest speaker; and explored the many qualities of a good leader.

ENTREPRENEURSHIP

The Entrepreneurship Institute led a variety of team-building and problem-solving activities throughout the year — each one encouraging the students to think critically, work together, communicate with one another, and persevere in the face of challenges.

The Institutes for Active Learning are strategically designed to develop problem-solving skills, promote interdisciplinary exploration, and provide engaging opportunities for teamwork, camaraderie, and the discovery of talents and passions. With the end of this school year quickly approaching, we look back with gratitude on a successful year of experiential learning while also looking eagerly ahead as Trinity-Pawling continues to blaze a new path for the future of boys’ education.

To learn more about the Institutes for Active Learning, please visit our website or view the Pride Perspectives webinar.

by Emma Christiantelli

As members of the Class of 2022 set their sights on Commencement on May 28, 2022, several seniors are pursuing a Diploma with Distinction. The Diploma with Distinction is awarded to students who choose to expand the scope of their Senior Independent Project (SIP), which includes working alongside an alumni mentor who is an expert in the student’s chosen field of study.

Pairing current students with Trinity-Pawling alumni creates an opportunity to foster brotherhood beyond the students’ immediate experience with their classmates. It presents an early opportunity to show our students the value of professional networking and the importance of giving back as they transition from being high school students to members of the School’s Alumni Association. Also, importantly, it exposes them to leaders in their industry who are eager to share a wealth of experience and knowledge.

Dave Clarke is an editor at The Washington Post and a 1992 graduate of Trinity-Pawling. This spring, Dave is working with Francisco Bendezu ’22 as a mentor for Francisco’s SIP in journalism. Bendezu is the editor of the Trinity-Pawling student newspaper, The Phoenix. He is particularly interested in the nuances of interviewing subjects for news stories. He and Clarke are taking an in-depth look at the art and science of interrogative questioning. It is a craft that transcends work in journalism and is likely to serve Bendezu well when he matriculates at Princeton University in the fall.

George Dilworth is a Director of Finance at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. He graduated from Trinity-Pawling in 1984 and has been paired as a mentor this spring with Christopher Pellitteri ’22 from Holbrook, Massachusetts. For his SIP and Diploma with Distinction, Pellitteri is designing a business model for a modern healthcare system. He will surely benefit from Dilworth’s 24 years of experience working within a system that owns two hospitals, manages a third, and employs 11,000 physicians and other medical professionals.

The Diploma with Distinction awards students who are self-directed and ambitious. In many cases, students take their projects from conception to design and execution. Once the work is completed, students will present their final product to a panel of faculty members and to an external SIP committee comprised of alumni. Ultimately, projects are shared with the entire School community.

The Senior Independent Projects exemplify Trinity-Pawling’s commitment to a vigorous and engaging educational experience, a hallmark of the School’s newly adopted Strategic Vision.

by John Newman

Trinity-Pawling’s Varsity Lacrosse Coach and Associate Director of Admissions, Andrew Kirkaldy, has been named Head Coach of USA’s Under 18 Indoor Lacrosse team!

But Kirkaldy isn’t leaving Trinity-Pawling nor losing sight of a Founders League championship title. Rather, this prestigious appointment will commence after our current Trinity-Pawling lacrosse season. Come summer, the selective Under 18 team, under Kirkaldy’s leadership, will be vying for the International Indoor Junior Lacrosse (IIJL) Under 18 World Championship title. “I’m excited. It’s not every day you get picked to coach at a national level,” Kirkaldy said, “when asked, I said yes.”

Kirkaldy has reason to be excited. He grew up in Red Deer, Alberta, Canada, where it is common for hockey players to play box lacrosse in the summer when the ice isn’t down in the rink. Kirkaldy quickly found a love for the rink without ice, and box lacrosse became his primary office. He thrived — eventually representing the Province of Alberta in the Minto Cup, box lacrosse’s holy grail. He then went on to play professionally for the Nanaimo Timbermen. He knows his box lacrosse — that’s for sure.

When Kirkaldy moved to the United States to play at the college level, he developed an equal love and fascination for field lacrosse, and he quickly adapted his deft stick skills and shot to the more open game. Now, as a veteran coach with versatility and an abundance of knowledge in both styles of lacrosse — the Canadian will coach the United States towards a global title. “You know, there’s a deep sense of respect for the Canadian teams and the Iroquois Nationals. But with that respect comes opportunity — why can’t we take them?”

Kirkaldy is going to give it his best shot to win, and he’s excited to assemble a team that can contend. “How do we make it work?” he churned through his coaching mind. “Get the small details down. Teach the game. How does the ball spin off the boards? How does the ball move on a second bounce? Getting in the reps. That’s the key — and ball movement too. When you have six guys moving together, there’s nothing prettier to see. It’s poetry in motion.”

Kirkaldy will oversee tryouts in May and August, and the tournament format unfolds from October 9-11, 2022, in Buffalo, NY, where there will be teams from around the world.

Kirkaldy’s passion for box lacrosse coupled with his incredible knowledge of field lacrosse provides the perfect recipe for a victory at the international level. “We’ll be playing in a different way. That’s the fun part,” Kirkaldy said proudly.

In the meantime, though, Coach Kirkaldy’s primary focus is on the current season at Trinity-Pawling. “We’ve got a very talented team here. I like the closeness of this group, and they’ve proven to themselves that they are resilient. My task is to pull that resiliency out of them. It’s fun!”

Good luck on all fronts, Coach Kirks!

by The Reverend Daniel Lennox

Kathryn and Ken Weeman ’59, P’91 cordially invite you to the Metropolitan Club for a reception celebrating Trinity-Pawling School. Join us to reconnect and share Trinity-Pawling’s vision for the future.

Washington, D.C. Reception

Thursday, May 5, 2022

6:30-8:30 PM

Metropolitan Club, 1700 H Street NW, Washington, D.C.

Thank you to everyone who has registered for the Washington, D.C. Reception. We look forward to seeing you there!

If you have not yet registered for the event, there is still time to do so. RSVP here by May 2 at 12:00 PM!

The Metropolitan Club requires a jacket and tie for gentlemen and equal formal attire for ladies. All events are subject to change if forced by the response to COVID-19.

Questions? Reach Out.

If you have any questions about the 2022 Washington, D.C. Reception, specific needs, plans to bring additional guests, or should you have to cancel, please reach out to Advancement Coordinator Jenna Jonke via email at jjonke@trinitypawling.org or call 845-855-4886.

Baseball

Wins against Kingswood-Oxford and Kent School at the beginning of the season set up the varsity baseball team for a 17 run explosion against Hotchkiss last week in a game where Peter Link ’23 tallied 5 hits and 3 RBIS, Liam Haywood ’23 went 4 for 6 with 3 RBIs, Eliot Ferch ’23 was 4 for 6 with a HR and 5 RBIs, and Nick Vega ’22 and Tyler Acevedo ’24 both had multiple hits. The Pride played a game against rival Avon Old Farms at Dunkin Donuts Field in Hartford, CT on a Friday night in early April, but the pitching struggled to keep their opponents off the board early. The Pride has dropped two games in a row since their win against Hotchkiss, currently standing at 3-4 in the Founders League this season.

Lacrosse

The Pride has raced off to a 5-3 start against stiff competition in one of the country’s most competitive high school leagues. Offensively, the team has struggled to stay consistent at times with goal-scoring sprees followed by very quiet quarters. Yet the outlook is bright, as playmakers abound in the Blue and Gold. The dodging abilities of midfielder Kasey Mongillo ’24  and shooting skills of Tucker Kellogg ’23 have helped them lead the way as scorers, with attackmen Jake Likes ’22, Brayden Lahey ’24, Michael Provenza’ 23, and James Jacob ’22 not far behind. Lahey has been especially vital as the offensive glue with his unselfish play. Casey Sodolski ’23 has been a lockdown defender thus far, anchoring a defense that has stifled many opposing playmakers. The physical play of Connor Huguenard ’24  paired with the havoc created by Adam Franasiak ’22 has allowed goalie Landon Whitney ’23 excellent sightlines and a hot start to the season. Specialty playmakers Andrew Tilton ’24 (faceoff), and Colin Davis ’23 (LSM) have proven themselves integral to the team’s success in the early going.

Tennis

The varsity tennis team has struggled to notch wins in overall contests, but head-to-head doubles performances have brought light to a tough early season for the Pride. Raphael Denis ’23 and Kento Maeda ’23 have teamed up to bring their French-Canadian and Japanese style together on the court. The duo had victories against Canterbury and Millbrook, and played with an exciting love for the game. In singles, Leo Liu ’23 stood out with a 6-0, 3-6, 10-8 victory on the tiebreaker against his Avon Old Farms opponent last week, and took down his Millbrook matchup in early April as well. The team hopes to build on some early successes and work their way to a team win in the second half of the season.

Track and Field

Last Saturday, Trinity-Pawling defeated Canterbury in a thrilling relay meet. Cristobal Tola ’23 stood out on the final 400m leg of the sprint medley in 54.3 seconds. Jackson Williams ’25 also had a spectacular day, competing in 3 of 5 events and finishing with a 65.2 for the final leg of the 4x400m. That winning team included Bryan Lee ’23, Cole Enslen ’22, Michael Pellitteri ’22, and Jackson Williams ’25. The 4x100m team of Luke Daly ’22, Enslen, Farhaan Rashid ’23, and Tola ran a 46.53 to win the opening event on the day. Other excellent performances came from Shun Shiraishi ’23 in the 4x800m and Daly in the 4x200m. On the previous Saturday, Trinity-Pawling traveled to Westminster School. While the team came in third on the day, there were some outstanding individual performances from Garrett Backus ’22, who won the 100m and 200m, Rahtrel Perry ’22 who won the discus and shot put, AJ Robinson ’22 who won the long jump with a 21’3’’ leap, Marcus Duell ’22 winning the triple jump, and Cole Enslen taking first in the javelin. Additionally, Daly won the 110 HH and DeAndre Williams ’23 took first in the 400m. On Wednesday, the team traveled to Taft School, and while the team finished 3rd, there were some outstanding individual performances. Perry won the shot put, and came second in the discus, while Robinson won the long jump, Backus took the 100m, and Robbie Accomando ’22 won the 800m race.

Congratulations to the many athletes who have had success thus far!

Roll Pride!

by Cyrus Rothwell-Ferraris