It’s that time of year again, retreat season; when a busy week of finals are followed up by 5 Seattle Prep retreats. In its 6th year, the Young Men’s Retreat has become a popular retreat among the sophomore boys.
It is one of two gender exclusive retreats for sophomores. The Young Men’s retreat which allows the boys a chance to grow in areas of their lives that might not be possible in a mixed gender environment.
Ten juniors and senior leaders under the guidance of Mr. Mack and Mr. Johnston seek to help guide 70 sophomore boys to grow in their maturity and leadership on their journey to becoming men. While the retreat is constructive and productive, centering around adult and student talks along with small group sharing, it also allows the sophomore boys the chance to participate freely in fun activities such as high ropes, paintballing, and motocross.
The retreat challenges the sophomore boys to explore coming of age issues that affect their gender with questions such as: What does it mean to be a man? How important is it to have good role models? What are the stereotypes both bad and good of being a man? Most importantly, the retreat allows the sophomore class of boys a chance to bond with their fellow classmates while engaging in fun but challenging activities together.
When asked about how this year’s junior and senior class of leaders has shaken out, Mr. Mack shared “this year’s group of leaders brings new energy and vitality to help continue to make this retreat a powerful way for sophomore boys to grow in maturity and purpose. I think we will be taking this to the next level with this year’s group and I am excited”
The Young Men’s Retreat gives upper classmen leaders the opportunity to engage their younger classmates in an action packed retreat. The retreat took place at Island Lake camp from Thursday January 28th to Saturday January 30th.