The Reverend Robert R. Parks Award for Excellence in Teaching Given to Trish Shilling, Beaches Campus

Trish Shilling is the school’s first recipient of the The Rev. Robert R. Parks Award for Excellence in Teaching, established for the purpose of recognizing the Beaches Campus faculty. Trish teaches first grade and has worked at Beaches Campus for five years. 

Her nominations include the following from her colleagues:

“Trish goes above and beyond her teaching responsibilities” in seeking out opportunities to “improve the curriculum, researching current trends, participating in professional development, joining committees, and mentoring new teachers.” 

Another colleague noted that “her dedication to continuous improvement not only benefits her own teaching practice, but also inspires her colleagues to strive for excellence” before concluding that she simply “embodies the qualities of an excellent educator – she is dedicated, passionate, innovative, and has a genuine concern for the success and wellbeing of her students.” 

Trish’s granddaughter, Addi, is a student on the Beaches Campus.

The Reverend Robert R. Parks Excellence in Teaching Award has been established and is named in honor of the founder of St. Paul’s by-the-Sea Episcopal Day School in 1957, which was later renamed Beaches Episcopal School and is now the Beaches Campus. The Reverend Parks was the rector of St. Paul’s by-the-Sea Episcopal Church at that time, and would later go on to serve as the Dean of St. John’s Cathedral and a key member of the founding of Episcopal High School in 1966, now Episcopal School of Jacksonville.