Trinity Senior Class: From Grand Tour Of Europe To Final Thesis

Trinity Christian School seniors explored Pompeii during their Grand Tour of Europe last fall. The travelers are (front, from left) Allie Murakami, Zoe Wilks, Jennifer Jacobsen, Timothy Metcalf, Mary Trahey, Amaris Capen, Nalani Meinken, Jessica Williams, Bobby Treakle, (back) Shaun Kanoho, Gabriel Arney and Ethan McGuire. This is way before they had to prepare for their senior theses, which each of them will present this week before judges at the Kailua school. Photo by Marcia Murakami.

At Trinity Christian School, the seniors conclude their classical study of world history by checking out the highlights for themselves – by going there. Keeping with tradition, the 12-member Class of 2014 traveled to Europe last fall to visit the high and low points of Western culture.

They started at the beginning in Pompeii, Italy (see photo), moving on to Athens, Rome, Florence, Paris and Normandy, visiting many cemeteries along the way that testified to the costliness of war.

The students also are challenged to complete a senior thesis on a “scholarly, controversial subject” of their choice, which will be tested this week by a panel of judges at the Kailua school.

Standing up to speak on their research and then answer questions will be Nalani Meinken, Ethan McGuire, Bobby Treakle, Mary Trahey, Allie Murakami, Timothy Metcalf, Gabriel Arney, Jessica Williams, Zoe Wilks, Shaun Kanoho, Amaris Capen and Jennifer Jacobsen. Their topics range from sex education and torture in America to abolishing the IRS and digital bullying.