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I write to celebrate Eric Soloff's life and honor his far-reaching impact on Trevor Day School. Losing Eric was sudden and tragic, but in our communal grieving, it is clear that he is still with us, and will forever be in the thousands of people he connected with in our community over the past four decades. As I grappled with this loss alongside family, friends, and colleagues, a friend shared a quote from Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, a renowned British philosopher, theologian, and public intellectual, that speaks volumes as to what Eric gave to this world. "The role of a teacher is sacred...For it is not simply the transmission of facts from one generation to the next. It is the shaping of souls, the guiding of hearts, and the building of character. It is the work of eternity." For close to 40 years, Eric Soloff was a pillar of the Trevor Day School community—a gifted 2nd-grade teacher, a compassionate mentor, and a cherished colleague. His passing was devastating, and yet in the months since, we've been reminded again and again of the extraordinary reach of his life. We have heard from children and adults, near and far, who recount, with love and pride, all that Eric has taught them. The idiom that we often use to comfort each other in grief, "his memory lives on in all of us," is patently true in Eric Soloff's case. Eric quite literally taught generations of Trevor students, shaping the hearts and minds of children and, in turn, their families. His former colleague Nancy Workman recalls his texting her in September of 2022 to share the big news that the next generation of children from the classes they co-taught were now enrolled at Trevor. They joked that they were officially Trevor "grandparents." Eric's presence touched every corner of our community, and his influence continues to ripple through the lives of thousands of faculty, alumni, and parents, who still speak with affection and admiration about their time in his classroom. And what a classroom it was! Visitors to Trevor often began their tour in Eric's room. As one colleague recalled, it was a place of "ordered disorder," filled with energy, laughter, curiosity, and song. A place where a guitar in hand could turn a math lesson into magic, and where the student-made bound books and handmade clocks became family treasures. It was a place where children were not only taught—they were seen, believed in, and inspired. I attended Trevor as a student and have been lucky enough to return for the last 34 years of my professional life. Eric was my colleague for all of those years. And he was always so much more than a colleague. He exemplified the qualities of the teachers who defined Trevor for me as a student, and continue to define Trevor today: Eric was encouraging, brilliant, and funny. He loved exactly who kids were when he met them as 2nd graders, while simultaneously seeing and appreciating all that they could and would be as 12th graders and beyond. He placed no limits on their potential and taught them to do the same for themselves. He approached each and every day with an authentic joy, which in turn imparted a love of learning and community. Eric's optimism about kids and the world was key to his character. He was a lifelong Knicks In Memory of Eric Soloff FEBRUARY 14, 1962–JUNE 8, 2025 62 / TREVOR MAGAZINE WINTER 2025–26

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