"We prepare students to engage in the world that is and to help bring about a world that ought to be."
Helen Trapasso
Minute of Appreciation
Helen Trapasso
Lower School/Middle School Administrative Assistant Office Assistant, 1981-1994
Staff Emerita
When asked about her thirteen years at Friends Seminary, Helen will readily remember the joyfulness of her work with David Lowry and Mary Lou Sunderwirth in the Lower School, with Norrell Noble and Pam Wood in the Middle School, noting with characteristic discernment, "Different personalities, but all dedicated to the School." With characteristic humor she recalls "suffering through typing report cards for the Lower School," adding, "Things have changed!" As she derived extreme satisfaction from her work with colleagues, they in turn gained enormously from their collaborations with Helen. Middle School Head Pam Wood recounts how "Helen organized us with humor and grace from the important to the minor detail: from a quiet warning to Mary Lou, "Lipstick;" a reminder to me that a memo was due; or quiet helpfulness to staff at difficult moments. Helen contributed her wonderful sense of occasion to celebrations and never forgot a birthday. In the midst of the chaos of the Lower and Middle School Office, she was an island of calm, who kept us all centered." We express heartfelt gratitude for the breadth and depth of service Helen gave to Friends Seminary and are proud to honor her as Staff Emerita.
Helen Trapasso
Lower School/Middle School Administrative Assistant Office Assistant, 1981-1994
Staff Emerita
When asked about her thirteen years at Friends Seminary, Helen will readily remember the joyfulness of her work with David Lowry and Mary Lou Sunderwirth in the Lower School, with Norrell Noble and Pam Wood in the Middle School, noting with characteristic discernment, "Different personalities, but all dedicated to the School." With characteristic humor she recalls "suffering through typing report cards for the Lower School," adding, "Things have changed!" As she derived extreme satisfaction from her work with colleagues, they in turn gained enormously from their collaborations with Helen. Middle School Head Pam Wood recounts how "Helen organized us with humor and grace from the important to the minor detail: from a quiet warning to Mary Lou, "Lipstick;" a reminder to me that a memo was due; or quiet helpfulness to staff at difficult moments. Helen contributed her wonderful sense of occasion to celebrations and never forgot a birthday. In the midst of the chaos of the Lower and Middle School Office, she was an island of calm, who kept us all centered." We express heartfelt gratitude for the breadth and depth of service Helen gave to Friends Seminary and are proud to honor her as Staff Emerita.
Friends Seminary actively promotes diversity, equity, inclusion, and anti-racism in all its programs and operations, including admissions, financial aid, hiring, and all facets of the educational experience. To form a community which strives to reflect the world’s diversity, we do not discriminate on the basis of race or color, religion, nationality, ethnicity, economic background, physical ability, sex, gender identity or expression, or sexual orientation. Friends Seminary is an equal opportunity employer.
Friends Seminary — the oldest continuously operated, coeducational school in NYC — serves college-bound day students in Kindergarten-Grade 12.
