A golden sun was suspended in the air, on a mellow evening last month, as the Class of 2020 of Trinity Christian School went forth.
Thirteen members strong, they were.
And all ready to take their place in the annals of time, their time, at the pri vate, faith-based school sitting high in the hills above Morgantown’s Sabraton neighborhood.
Regan McKenzie Baker, Nicklaus William Beimel, Seth James Goins and Catarina Jenae Hagedorn arrived first on the athletic field for the socially distanced ceremony.
Fletcher Andrew Harsock and Gabriella Rose Johnson followed.
Then came Emily Faith Kessler, Turner Joseph Lawrence and Sarah Lea Seitz.
Shayna Logan Summerlin, Micah Neil Travis and Bethany Faith Wightman completed the chapter.
That’s them, all 13.
The name-checking didn’t take long.
Listing individual accomplishments would, however.
Collectively, Trinity’s Class of 2020 pulled down close to $342,000 in four-year scholarships and other academic awards.
Despite its small number and a senior year derailed by COVID-19, the class still managed to notch 1,850 volunteer service hours to the community over its years in school.
Trinity Superintendent Michelle Stellato Belt calls that, “a heart for service.”
You’ll hear that word a lot at Trinity.
“Heart,” that is.
And “faith,” of course.
How about faith, in tandem with a sense of humor?
Maintaining the former is easy, the superintendent said.
But the latter?
Whoo-boy, she’ll say, with a whoosh of breath.
Nothing prepares you, professionally, for a pandemic, she said.
In February, while the coronavirus was boiling a lethal brew overseas, her school was forced to close, briefly.
Eighty students — that was roughly 25% of the entire student body — fell ill to influenza.
And that didn’t count teachers and staffers also down with the flu.
Then came COVID-19. Trinity was again shuttered.
Its halls were silent, but remote computer terminals crackled with intellectual energy, as the school, just like 13 seniors on a football field, marched to a digital domain.
“We went from a brick-and-mortar building to an online learning academy,” Belt said.
“In three days.”
Her one-word review?
“Amazing.”
That means students, teachers, parents and the Class of 2020, especially, she said.
Shayna Logan Summerlin, who prefers going by her middle name, has a one-word review of her own,
for her school and its teachers.
“Normal.”
Yes, really.
“I appreciated that everyone worked so hard to make our year as normal as they could for us,”
she said.
Then came graduation. Six feet doesn’t mean anything when you’ve got a shared experience like no other.
The caps were flung heavenward when it was done, to keep company with that golden orb.
Thirteen prayers in the air.
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