Students don’t even feel the need to hide it. Despite paying nearly $30,000 a year, Trinity students would still rather stare at a red online clock than their Canvas calendar. It has become evident that students at Trinity Prep can rely on one thing only: TPS Time.
Every student on campus has it bookmarked. Some have it open on multiple devices at once, just in case one screen fails. Others have been seen walking into trees and poles, their eyes locked onto its ever-important countdown.
“One time, I was just walking in the quad with my best friend, TPS Time, and I was just looking at it ticking down while walking in circles.” sophomore Ricky De Baere said. “I didn’t look up for hours until school was out. My eyes were just set on it.”
A study (originally intended to be finished by late 2025 but took an additional 20 years instead) by Nochur Sankar Labs found that over 97% of students are on TPS Time for a minimum of five hours. TPS Time has become a daily necessity. With something so essential, nothing could possibly go wrong … until it did.
The worshipped site created by senior James Hawley has been hacked. Hawley, once a hero among students, was powerless to stop it.
“I got a sketchy external email,” Hawley said. “The email read: ‘We are hacking into TPS Time and there’s nothing you can do about it lol.’”
Hawley stayed up all night trying to negotiate with the hackers, but had no success. He couldn’t even bear looking at the screen the day after it was hacked because of the sickening image plastered over hundreds of computers on campus. The image that appeared on the website made students vomit and scream: an image of a TI-Nspire.
The chaos following the hacking is now being called “The Worst Month in Trinity Prep History.” Students rioted and protested in the quad, but because they had no hacker to blame, they returned to class and were forced to actually learn.
“It was awful,” De Baere said. “We had no idea when class periods ended so for the entirety of March, we watched teachers give lecture after lecture.”
For 36 agonizing days, Trinity Prep students sat through uninterrupted classes. No spring break. No weekends.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity to students, TPS Time has been reverted back to its beautiful and godly form.
“It was not me or Mr. Schneider,” said Jordan Johnson, the campus photographer. “Like, I know no one asked, but I just want it on record. We did not hack TPS Time.”
Though “The Worst Month in Trinity Prep History” is over, people are still trying to figure out who the mastermind or masterminds behind the operation is.
“I bet it was someone good at programming,” Hawley said. “They are all jealous of my success, but if I had to predict who it was it would be Connor Brady.”
Johnson has repeatedly said that he and Schneider would never hack TPS Time.
“All I know is that Mr. Schneider would never hack TPS Time,” Johnson said at an announcement at an Upper School Assembly. “I am his alibi. On the night it was hacked, we were in the programming building working on some code.”
When The Trinity Voice reached out to Schneider for comment, he declined. While Johnson and Schneider are definitely not suspects, the investigation continues. Keep an eye out for any suspicious activity on campus, especially coming from Stuart Hall.
“It was not me or Mr. Schneider,” Johnson said. “It could be any other teacher or student, just definitely not us.”
