Strolling down the hallway, smiling and waving at every person who passes by, Dr. Ed Trusty, the Interim Headmaster at Kinkaid for the 2018-19 school year, is a friendly face to all as he continues to transition into his new role.
“People made jokes when I was out and about often that I was spying on kids, which was never true. I’m not a spy kind of guy. I just like to be in the hustle and bustle,” Dr. Trusty said.
Even though he has stepped into a new administrative role this year, Dr. Trusty still embraces the reason he began his journey as an educator. His goal for the year is to be able to maintain the same presence within the school community he has had in the past because for him that presence is what cultivates his sense of a Kinkaid family.
“To see folks and say hello and support you all at your activities and events, that’s important to me,” Dr. Trusty said. “Being involved in the life of the school that maybe I don’t have to do, but are things that I want to do, those things are important to me.”
His involvement in the community and dedication to those around him are evident.
“Kindness, empathy, strong character, listener – those are the sorts of things that come to mind when I think of [Dr. Trusty,], and to me those things are crucial in leadership,” said board member, Greg Looser, when asked to describe Dr. Trusty.
Although his role is changing, Dr. Trusty is continuing his involvement with students. For example, he retained his student community group. He said one of the first cautions he gave when his new position was announced to the school community was to tell his community group “they could not get rid of him that easily.”
As an educator, one of the moments he looks forward to seeing is the growth of his community group of 11 seniors over the past four years. It his dedication to these moments that have grounded him throughout his transition.
Sophie Lipman (12) has been a member of Dr. Trusty’s advisory over the last four years.
“I think Dr. Trusty really makes an effort to get to know the students of not only the high school, but also the middle and lower school. He wants to be involved in the lives of the students and he highlights everyone uniquely. For example, Every Monday since freshman year, Dr. Trusty has sent my advisory an email that previews the week ahead and within this email he gives a shout-out to someone that did something special that past week,” Lipman said.
She described him as a “very caring person who is genuinely interested in what is going on in [her] life.” [She has] complained to him countless times about problems in the garage or things that [she] notices aren’t going smoothly in the high school and he always listens to what [she has] to say. Also, he has made an appearance to [her] rec tennis practices, which may not seem like a big deal to him, but is something that means a lot to [her.]
Not only is Dr. Trusty dedicated to his students, but he is also dedicated to making sure that the change in administration does not affect anyone negatively. Thus, another of his goals for this this school year is to prioritize his involvement while maintaining a familiarity with the school’s community.
The faculty, staff and senior administration team have all played integral roles in easing Dr. Trusty’s transition. Still, he has encountered a few bumps such as resolving issues that were not he was not directly involved with.
“When you’re facing adversity as a team you either step back or everyone steps forward,” Dr. Trusty said.
For him, when Kinkaid was faced with adversity this summer after dealing with a change in administration, everyone in the community “stepped forward” to usher him into his new role. As things continue to change and progress, “one of my goals is that as much as possible things don’t seem different,” Dr. Trusty said.
Dr. Trusty welcomed the faculty this summer in their first meeting inviting everyone to hug a few people around them. Mr. Looser recalls him saying, “‘any time a family goes through a tough time, the first and best thing that you ought to do is give each other a hug,’ so he said ‘I want everybody, because it has been a hard summer to find a couple of people and just give them a hug.” Of course, he made it clear they didn’t have to hug someone if it made them feel uncomfortable.
“I thought to myself, if that is the kind of leader he is, this is going to be really, really good. I just think since he is such a warm sincere person and he is so hard working, it has been a smooth transition,” Mr. Looser said.
Mr. Looser spoke of how satisfied the board is with Dr. Trusty and how thankful they are that he is at Kinkaid. He said he could not be more pleased with the opening of the school year.
Even though the beginning of school was quite hectic, giving 10 speeches in seven days, Dr. Trusty maintains a positive outlook on the school year.
“As I’ve shared before I’m a glass more full kind of guy anyway, so I take it with some degree of positivity about having the opportunity to serve the school in this capacity and working with obviously [the students] and the teachers and faculty that we get to work with,” Dr. Trusty said.
He said he is hoping for an uneventful year in the right ways, but one that will also be memorable.
“Another goal of mine is to continue to ensure that we have an exciting and fun year, to have moments of levity and moments of celebration because that’s an important part of community building,” Dr. Trusty said.
