The end of the first quarter of the school year is upon us and our students have settled into the rhythm and routines of the school year. For many, this is a season of growing intellectually in their classrooms while also pursuing various co-curriculars available to Trinitas students. I am always a little in awe of Trinitas students as I consider how many wonderful and various things they are able to accomplish over the course of a single year. Surely this reflection holds true for any hardworking student in any school—it is not reserved for Trinitas students. I am, however, always amazed at the number of Trinitas students who do so very well over the year in such a wide variety of activities. What I have found is that classical education exposes students to a broad range of experiences and then provides opportunities for students to learn, perform and compete in activities as different as baseball and drama. By encouraging students to drink deeply from many fountains of knowledge rather than specializing in one, classical education creates Renaissance men and women. 

In contrast, American culture has been moving for decades toward more and more specialization in everything, which naturally leads to more specialization in education. The modern student is encouraged to devote himself to one passion, to say, I am a baseball player and can do no other; I will play in the major league or die. Or to say, I am an actor; I could not possibly devote attention to baseball this spring. For a student to be singularly focused and to become a virtuoso in a particular field is certainly admirable, but few students are able to achieve that level in spite of giving their best day in and day out. If a student devotes himself to one activity at an early age, let us say the violin, but never achieves greatness at it, what has he missed? What else might he have tried during his formative years? Wouldn’t the student do better to try a great many things, to learn a great many things while he is young, to be exposed to much?

Classical education by its very nature urges students to take up a variety of interests.

Academics, of course, are a priority, but there is also a high priority on art, both applied and performing, and music, be it individual instruments or choral performances. Still there is room for athletics and community service. The education is broad, and it encourages students to drink deeply from as much of it as they are able. Classical is not a single course meal that pigeon-holes students into a specialization, nor is it a casserole that mixes together a little sampling of a few things, but it is a glorious feast that sets before the student rich and satisfying portions of foods he might never even have heard of but that he is nonetheless urged to taste—yes, and taste them all.

No better example of what I am talking about comes to mind than a partial rundown here of what Trinitas students undertake over the course of a single academic year. I ask you to forgive me ahead of time if I sound a little boasty, but again, these students always amaze me.

Academics

In a school wherein academic standards are high and the academic program is challenging, many Trinitas students will receive awards for making all A’s and B's for the entire school year. When you consider that there are no multiple choice tests here, no electives that give students a goof-off hour, only writing and public speaking and grammar and classical languages and logic and rhetoric and calculus, etc., that reality becomes all the more impressive. Of course, grades are simply an indicator of learning. The true intellectual growth of Trinitas students comes from their reading the great books, discussing the great ideas in their classrooms with their classmates and teachers, and having their appetites slowly formed over time toward that which is true, good, and beautiful. 

Athletics

We are a school of fewer than 200 students. Most years, we are the smallest school in our athletic conference by a significant margin. We are the only school in our conference that does not allow homeschool students to play on our teams to broaden the pool of players. We allow our teams only three touches per week—no matter the combination of practices and games, they only meet three times per week. Yet our volleyball, baseball, soccer, and cross-country teams are competitive and even occasionally win regional and district championships. Even with all of the restrictions we place on athletics to keep our priorities in line, our scholar-athletes rise to the challenge. 

Drama

Trinitas is well-known for our annual drama productions that include multiple set changes, amazing costumes, and, of course, gifted student actors playing multiple roles. This fall, we are staging for the first time ever a full-scale musical production that will combine the incredible musical training that every Trinitas student receives with the added gifts and abilities that God has given each of them. These actors are not the elite few who want to pursue acting as a career, but nearly two-thirds of our upper school students, some of whom have never acted before. 

Art

Trinitas seniors are beginning their work on the Blakey Prize submissions this week. This is a national art competition for accredited classical Christian schools that Trinitas has won - twice. Even students who are not particularly gift in painting or drawing will produce impressive works of art. In the spring, both walls of our Grand Hall will be covered with beautiful drawings, paintings, photographs, and sculptures for the Spring Art Contest. More than half the school will participate, showing off not only work they have done in art class, but even more so the work they have pursued outside of class on their own time.

Mock Trial

The first four years of Mock Trial at Trinitas have been exciting learning experiences for our program. This is our fifth year, and we are looking forward to the opportunity to compete again against public and private high schools across the First Circuit in February. The excellence in public speaking, legal procedure, logical analysis, and personal decorum that these students display in the court room each year is a great credit to their classical, Christian education.  

Music

Christmas time is coming which means that over eighty Trinitas students are working on their pieces for the TWO Christmas recitals. These recitals will include piano, violin, cello, flute, and vocal performances. Both the Christmas and Spring recitals are excellent events, demonstrating the result students' hard work, not only during their short in-school weekly lesson, but for hours on their own time. Many of these students will also participate in multiple musical competitions and festivals across the year. 

What is noteworthy here is that the things I have mentioned have drawn in the whole student body—not only one or two but many students have participated in every single activity listed above. Even more participated in most if not all of the activities. These are not virtuosos, students who specialize. They are students who have been introduced to worlds they may not have imagined were accessible before and have been empowered to try everything put before them. And because of the classical training and work ethic that has been nurtured in them, they do a wide variety of things very well indeed. Classical education is no path to specialization. It is broad and deep, and it empowers students to become Renaissance men and women, excelling at whatever they put their hands to.