Trinity Lutheran School was opened on October 24, 1887 by Pastor Carl Burkart. Succeeding pastors continued to teach the parochial school to their best ability. But due to the frequent changes in the pastorate, the school naturally also suffered many interruptions. At the turn of the century it is reported that there were at least 90 children attending. Trinity no longer has a Christian Day School but wholeheartedly supports our sister congregation’s St. Paul’s Lutheran School in Cullman.
Christian education still remained a vital interest of Trinity. In 1958 a Kindergarten was started and Helen Kretzschmar Chamblee was asked to run it for the congregation. She said, “Maybe,” but the church voted her in anyway.
Helen took a course that summer at Concordia College in River Forest, Illinois, to prepare herself for what turned out to be a twenty-one year career. The men of the congregation built school furniture. Equipment and toys were donated by individuals and the P.T.A.
Activities included reading readiness, ABC’s, Bible stories, music, counting abilities, and Chapel every Wednesday conducted by the pastor. Many fun times were had including trips to the Birmingham zoo and the day Mrs. Sue Putnam put a live goat in her car and brought it to school to entertain the class.
The Kindergarten had its ups and downs. Average enrollment was twenty-two; the largest was thirty. Reba Michelfelder also helped two years when attendance required both a morning and afternoon session. Trinity’s Kindergarten was discontinued after twenty-one years because of dropping enrollment caused by the establishment of a public Kindergarten in Hanceville.