On May 21, the seventh-grade students took a break from classes to attend the Leadership & Unity Retreat. This annual retreat promotes growth in academics, social, and faith areas as students begin to transition into their eighth-grade leadership role. The students are challenged to address the following questions:
- How can we contribute our individual gifts positively to the group and school?
- How can we better accept and utilize each others’ gifts?
The day included faith-building, teamwork-building activities, and leadership-building activities. A day after the Retreat, the students were asked to share some of their favorite activities:
- “I liked Partner-Up Activity because I enjoyed finding a new partner every time and it was a great way to hang out with people you usually don’t hang out with.”
- “(My favorite was) Airborne Activity, because we all had an equal job to do, nothing was unfair, we all had to contribute, and where the balloon went was unpredictable.”
- “I liked Adoration because I just enjoy Adoration, and yesterday I had a really good session.”
- “(My favorite was) Don’t Put People In Boxes because I thought the video was moving and cool to see.”
- “My favorite of the other activities was Got It and Like To Get There because my group and all the other groups did a good job of reflecting on our school year, and what we can do to be better in 8th grade.”
- “I liked the Lollipop Leadership because I got to learn that even the smallest things can make a difference in someone’s life, we also got lollipops.”
- “My favorite leadership and unity activity was Adoration and the following reflections. I felt like I was truly able to focus on myself and think about how I could increase friendship and leadership. Adoration also felt very peaceful and reflective.”