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A Sustainable Legacy

Rededicated in memory of Page Mauck, Sustainability Garden to continue as a vibrant hub of connection to the natural world
Over 100 alumni, family, former faculty, friends and guests attended a special program on the morning of Saturday, October 4 to rededicate the Page Mauck Sustainability Garden in memory of the late Page Mauck, 35-year-veteran Trinity teacher, coach and environmental enthusiast. 
 
Former colleagues and family members spoke of Mauk’s enduring legacy of “connection and authentic living out in the outdoors” along with his visionary leadership for Trinity in the areas of sustainability and ecology.
 
Kathryn Mauck ’05 thanked the guests in attendance for their interest and support in finding a suitable way to honor her father’s legacy through a broader sustainability initiative at Trinity. “This project started about a year and a half ago as a small idea for a memorial bench honoring my dad,” she said. “But after talking to friends, family, alumni and the team here at Trinity, we realized there was a need for something greater — a need for something that could possibly become a movement that reflected who my dad was, his love for the outdoors, his quiet kindness and authentic compassion, the way he encouraged students to be themselves, to care about the world and to care about each other.”
 
Envisioned as the centerpiece of a campus-wide reimagining of Trinity’s outdoor spaces and gardens, the area is already a hub for students taking sustainability-themed elective courses and the Students for Environmental Action (SEA) Club. 
 
Trinity Outdoor Program Coordinator Michael Stratton ’02 called Mauck his favorite math teacher and someone with whom he shared a common language, not only in math and science, but in “the outdoors and for finding creative solutions to tough problems.” Stratton recalled sketching out a plan for the current iteration of the Trinity Outdoor Program on the back of a napkin 15 years ago. He says the program is still thriving and growing every year thanks to its focus on experiential learning. “When students step outside during the school day, something shifts inside them,” he said. “You can see it in their faces, the energy, the confidence, the creativity. It's a different kind of learning that happens.”
 
Through the popular elective, Active Trail Building, students have already been transforming the property between Trinity and neighboring St. Michael’s Episcopal School into usable park space. In another of Stratton’s new electives, Sustainable Building and Design, “students explore how to create structures in spaces that are functional, durable, and environmentally responsible, balancing human needs with ecological health, minimizing waste and designing for the future.”
 
Development Director Sam Mickens encouraged attendees to help the school meet its $75,000 goal for the Page Mauck Sustainability Initiative. “Right now we're at just over $23,000 with 68 donors,” he said. “Eventually, we want this to be something that runs through campus, representing a piece of the river, but also a safe space, an inclusive place for everyone.”
 
Following the program, attendees visited the Mauck Sustainability Garden space at the western edge of campus, where they planted garlic bulbs in the soil and sampled some passionfruit that had been grown by Trinity students. Colin Healy ’08 and Caroline Mauck Healy ’07, alumni husband-and-wife musical duo, performed songs on acoustic guitar. Children decorated rocks for the garden, and guests explored the hiking trails around campus, spreading native wildflower seeds.
 
As he gave tours of the garden and trails, Stratton reiterated his gratitude for the ways that the legacy of his favorite teacher continues to impact students at Trinity today. “He believed in hands-on learning, the outdoors as a classroom and in students discovering their potential in creative, meaningful ways,” Stratton said. “That's what this project is all about, not just honoring Page's legacy, but continuing it.”
 
If you are interested in learning more about the Page Mauck Sustainability Initiative at Trinity Episcopal School, or would like to support the project, please visit the campaign page.
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Trinity Episcopal School

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