5 minute read
Trinity honors 134 years of service
Trinity honors
134 years of service
In May, we wished a fond farewell to five employees who each served more than two decades at Trinity School. With 134 years of combined service, these retired employees have left an indelible mark on the School, and we wish them all the best in the next chapter of their lives.
Diane Dickey ’69, Emily Wood, Meredith Burris ’68, Pat Kerner, Billie Yarbrough, and Myra Morrison, a former media specialist who retired at the end of the 2020-21 school year after 41 years of service to Trinity School, are pictured at their May 18 retirement reception.
Meredith Burris ’68, Media Specialist | 34 years
Media Specialist Meredith Burris ’68 spent 24 of her 45 years in education at Trinity School. Meredith taught in Kindergarten, Fourth, and Fifth Grade and most recently served as a media specialist for the last 10 years. Born in Philadelphia, Meredith was raised in Atlanta from the time she was six months old and actually attended Trinity School when she was in Kindergarten. She spent one year at Georgia State University as a voice major, then three years at Emerson College in Boston, where she received a Bachelor of Science in Theater Education with a minor in speech. Meredith went on to grad school, earning a Master of Education with a concentration in middle grades from Brenau College, and later earned a Media Specialist certification from the University of West Georgia. In addition to her roles in education, Meredith had experience working for various organizations in and around Atlanta, including costume designer for The Georgia Opera Company, library assistant at the Atlanta Public Library, and production assistant and public relations for Unique Exposure Photography. Prior to joining the Trinity faculty in August of 1988, she was director of the P. K. Yonge Reading Lab at Haynes Bridge Middle School and Paul D. West Middle School, where she was also a Sixth and Seventh Grade interdisciplinary teacher; the director of the speech and drama department at M.D. Collins High School; and Fourth Grade teacher and high school drama assistant at The Lovett School.
Meredith, who plans to read, travel, see Broadway shows, and volunteer on repeat during her retirement, says she will miss the community at Trinity the most.
“It has been my family for many years, seeing me through some difficult times,” she says. “I will miss the human interactions.”
Learning Team Specialist Diane Dickey ’69 devoted 22 of her 31 years in education to Trinity School. Diane, who attended Trinity for one year as a student, has worked three separate stints at the School: from 1984-1986 as a Pre-First teacher, from 2000-2004 as a First Grade teacher, and from 2008 to May 2022 as a team specialist. Born and raised in Atlanta, Diane always wanted to be a teacher. She says it was in her “gene pool” as her mother was a teacher and her father was a college professor. Diane earned a Bachelor of Science in Early Childhood Education from the University of Georgia. In addition to her time teaching at Trinity, Diane also taught First and Third Grade in Cobb County. Her advice to new teachers is to “invest in a good pencil sharpener.” Diane, who has moved her homebase to Highlands, North Carolina, says that there are too many fond memories at Trinity to choose a favorite and that she will miss the students, her friends, and lunch the most.
Pat Kerner, Upper Elementary Art Teacher | 22 years
Upper Elementary Art Teacher Pat Kerner worked in education for 43 years, 22 of them at Trinity. A native of Pennsylvania, she earned a Bachelor of Science in Art Education from Kutztown State College and a Master of Arts in Humanities from Central Michigan University. Pat was inspired to become a teacher by her middle and high school art teacher, Sandy Gardner, who remains a good friend. Pat began her career teaching at St. Pius X High School in 1977. She spent eight years at Immaculate Heart of Mary School, where she began the art department and taught grades K–8. She then spent 13 years working for Atlanta Public Schools as an itinerant art teacher during which she started many of the art departments at various schools.
Pat initially came to Trinity as the School’s first “Artist-in-Residence” in 1987, when she substituted for the then-Art Teacher Joyce Vroon. She says that she also taught jewelry design at Trinity during her spring breaks and always found the School to “be a welcoming and highly creative environment” and was pleased to be offered the position of Upper Elementary art teacher in 2000. “I am so grateful for the opportunities I was afforded at Trinity, including the Teacher Opportunity Grants, the art seminars and national conventions I was able to attend, and the support of the administration to shift my teaching pedagogy to Choice-Art, which the students loved,” she says.
Emily Wood, Receptionist | 22 years
Receptionist Emily Wood, who spent 22 years greeting families at the front desk, says that Trinity is her “happy place.” She says, “I will miss the positive energy, the feeling that I am part of a family, and the children. Trinity School offers the environment for persons of all ages to flourish.” Originally from Burlington, North Carolina, Emily says that she wanted to work in education because she greatly admired several of her elementary school teachers. She graduated from Converse College with a Bachelor of Arts and Georgia State University with a Master of Education in Elementary Education. She taught Fifth and Sixth Grade in the Cobb County school system for many years. Emily says she wanted to work at Trinity because she wanted a part-time job and had many ties to the School. She says, “Our daughter had been a student here, and I knew it to be ‘a good place.’ Also, because of my membership at Trinity Presbyterian Church, I already knew many parents, faculty, and staff.”
Learning Team Specialist Billie Yarbrough spent 35 years in education, 33 of which were at Trinity. Beginning in 1989, Billie worked in the afternoon enrichment program, a precursor to today’s Extended Programs before teaching First Grade. She then joined the Learning Team in 2005. Originally from Mount Airy, North Carolina, Billie knew that she always wanted to be a teacher. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education from Guilford College. Prior to joining the teaching staff at Trinity, she taught Third Grade in Dekalb County and at an elementary school in Gulfport, Mississippi. She says she wanted to work at Trinity because of “the uniqueness of Trinity’s mission and the uniqueness of the faculty.” Billie—who will spend her retirement traveling, gardening, and tutoring— says, “Enjoy your time at Trinity. It is a special place.”
