Learning for the Sake of Learning: Inside Trinity Prep’s Inaugural Interim Term

Learning looked different for Trinity Prep students at the beginning of January. Rather than going from classroom to classroom, students spent time in kitchens with their peers, at thrift stores near campus, and even at destinations like Yosemite National Park. Those who stayed in classrooms saw a classroom transformed into a space for practical learning outside the usual lessons. Led by teachers, they were given space to explore new skills, places, and perspectives in a low-stakes environment. Read on to learn about the program’s first year. 

What is an Interim Term?

The Interim Term is a two-week, course-based program with varied on-campus and off-campus experiences. The core purpose, as stated by Erin Miller, Director of Interim Term, is to allow students to learn for the sake of learning, with joy and curiosity, not grades, as indicators of success. Teachers built courses based on their own passions and hobbies, from crocheting and jewelrymaking to tango and business etiquette. Miller enjoyed discovering what students learned at the end of these courses, especially when she received unexpected answers.

“It was fun to go around and ask them what they were learning,” Erin Miller said. “In cooking class, I asked students about the biggest takeaway, and a student said, ‘That you have to cook chicken to 165.’” 

Building Up to a Successful First Year

Putting together a term in which 50 adults and 515 students have the opportunity to travel on and off campus, take classes indoors and outdoors, and use materials not always available on campus requires a lot of coordination. Miller describes it as building a “school within a school.” Once everything is put together, the next step is running the courses, which involves its own level of logistics. Fortunately, the payoff for students and teachers outweighs the costs, according to Stephen Strickler, social sciences teacher at Trinity Prep, who taught two of the highest-demand courses, “College Cooking” and “Let’s Touch Grass.”

“Personally, for me, it was very tiring but a life-giving experience,” Stephen Strickler said. “One of the things that can get really hard in the day-to-day of teaching is finding that spark and finding the intangible, innate meaning behind teaching, the things that give you motivation.” 

Impactful for Teachers and Students 

Since they were being graded on a pass/fail basis, students benefited from reduced performance pressure, which kept learning in the foreground of their experience. Many students reported feeling empowered by the hands-on, life-skill learning opportunities. They had a variety of options: they could learn indoors or outdoors, stay local or travel, learn practical skills, or do something just for fun. Within the courses, they had projects to work on, but with looser criteria than they would often have in the classroom. In some courses, such as “College Cooking,” students had the opportunity to mentor others. They could also interact with their teachers in a different, lower-stakes way.

“It’s fun to see students continue to learn and realize they can learn in a lot of different ways,” Miller said. “It was also fun to see students and teachers interact in a different way than they usually do. It’s a great extension to the great education they already receive here.”

Teachers also thrived in an environment where they taught their students about their passions. Miller enjoyed learning about teachers’ personal interests, some of which she found surprising. Courses on topics like tango dancing, jewelry making, and mindfulness in art allowed teachers to share a bit of themselves with their students, adding new context to who they are and where they come from, as well as creating new types of interactions.  For Kent Kersten, Trinity Prep English teacher who brought students to California to show them literary sites, the experience left the students—as well as their teacher—in awe.

“Waking up in Yosemite and the kids feeling like they were in Narnia and being astounded was magical,” Kent Kersten said. “You can’t overstate how beautiful and impressive it was.” 

Learning Beyond the Classroom

Trinity Prep students had the opportunity to learn in a variety of environments. On Kersten’s California reading trip, students visited Yosemite, San Francisco, and Monterey, where they experienced “place-based” learning. Students on the trip kayaked near sea otters and seals, went tide pooling, and experienced snow (some for the first time!) in Yosemite. Other students traveled to Rome, learned about Frank Lloyd Wright's in St. Augustine, or snorkeled in the Keys. They also visited other schools, like UCF for its ropes course and Embry-Riddle for aviation experiences. 

Students who stayed on campus had the opportunity to see the campus in a new way. Guest speakers spoke about subjects like animal conservation, fashion sketching, and Argentine tango. In Strickler’s “Let’s Touch Grass” class, students learned about the benefits of being in nature and skills like fishing and building a fire. His cooking class transformed the classroom into a kitchen where students spent the weeks learning new recipes and making their own dishes as the final project. Some of Strickler’s students impressed him with their cooking abilities, especially as they mentored fellow students. Others had never even boiled pasta, so they were thankful for the mentorship. 

“Some students who had never made a meal in their lives shared with their classmates at the end of the week,” Strickler said.

What Interim Term Adds to the Trinity Prep Experience

Trinity Prep students have every opportunity to explore their passions on campus, and Interim Term takes this to another level. In alignment with the school’s mission, the courses demonstrated diverse perspectives and approaches to learning, some requiring resilience and adaptability. Students built a community with each other in a new way. Even 9th-grade students, for whom the term was fully dedicated to service at local nonprofits, experienced a different level of education for a couple of weeks. 

So far, students and families have provided what Miller calls “wildly positive” feedback, especially about returning from winter break to Interim Term. While opportunities for improvement exist, such as expanding service opportunities and refining the courses, students and teachers had meaningful experiences as they interacted with each other and education in new ways. 

“It all felt like it really fell into place, like it was a good meant-to-be trip,” Kersten said. “I feel like we’ll repeat it in another year or two. I was extremely happy to be a part of it.”

As a Trinity Prep alumna, Miller feels that the Interim Term extends Trinity Prep’s strong academic foundation, proving that students can learn in many different ways and remain college-ready. Between Yosemite sunrises and campfire conversations, students learned, above all, about the joys of learning. 

Interim Term is one of many Trinity Prep programs that build an educational foundation for college-ready students. Learn more about why Trinity Prep is considered one of the best prep schools in Orlando by visiting our website.