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For nearly a decade, Cisco, Trinity's school dog, provided comfort and friendship to students and others. His death in May 2025 was felt deeply in the Wildcat community.

To help carry on Cisco's memory, a tree was planted near Trinity's Butterfly Garden and was blessed during a special service on Jan. 30.

“It means the world to me,” said Jen Rankey-Zona, Trinity's Visual Arts Director and Cisco's owner. “This symbolizes that our time on this planet is finite, but we leave something for the next group of people. This tree leaves just a little bit of Cisco so that (his) love, compassion, safety, and consistency that he gave to the students… stays here.”

The memorial tree – a crape myrtle – was the idea of 8th Grade student Cate Wright and former classmate Sally Zolak, who remembered the comforting and playful side of Cisco, including when he would eat Crayons during their 4th Grade art classes.

“He was always there for kids,” Cate said. Planting a tree, she said, not only “helps you remember what you lost, but also think about creating something new.”

Rankey-Zona said the student-led nature of the memorial tree project is quintessential to Trinity. “They used that voice that we're always telling them to use, and they advocated for this.”

The Butterfly Garden, near the main entrance to campus, was the ideal location for the tree, Cate said, because it provides “a quiet place for reflection.”

If a student is having a bad day and needs a comforting place, Rankey-Zona said, “You can come sit here and think about this beautiful dog… that helped us navigate this sometimes really hard world.”

She added: “Cisco's legacy is really awesome, and I hope mine is somewhere close to his.”