As second semester begins with a fresh start, the freshmen of the school depart on their 3 day retreat to experience a fresh input on getting to know their classmates. This year’s theme is Star Wars, and when interviewed, Sam Krast ’19 shares his input that, “I think the Star Wars theme is a creative idea especially because the new movie came out.” Previous year’s themes have been The Incredibles and Winnie the Pooh. Several bonding activities that make up the retreat include small group time at Prep, bouncy houses, a talent show, a fasting friending activity, an entertaining yet competitive family feud activity of boys against girls, and an exciting secret that is revealed on one of the nights.

Keller Cavanaugh ’18 shares his most memorable parts of the retreat: “The surprise was my favorite part of the retreat, and I became a lot closer with people that I didn’t know before. The skits were also fun to watch even though mine was bad.” Sam Eco ’16 also remembers her favorite parts of her experience 3 years ago: “It was fun to be paired with the boy group at the house dinner, also the talent show and bouncy houses were fun and made us go out of our comfort zones.” The Freshman Retreat is primarily about the freshman going out of their comfort zones and bonding with their classmates to start out their journey for the next 3 years at Prep.

The Freshman Retreat is lead by junior and senior leaders to allow the 9th graders to feel comfortable and safe in their small group environment. Katie Erickson ’17 shares what she is most looking forward to as a leader of the retreat: “As a leader, I think it will be great to relive my experience again through a different perspective. I’m also decorating my room for my small group with a camping theme, including a fake campfire, a big orange tent, glow stars and smores for snacks.” The freshmen in Katie’s group will be thrilled to sleep under the stars for the night! The freshman retreat crew leaders were seen hoverboarding around the school and organizing the activities along with Ms. Bernal, Ms. Forte and Mr. Eberhart. As the Freshman Retreat occurs from the 28th-30th, Sam Krast ’19 eagerly shares his expectations: “I guess I’m most excited about getting to know people better through the retreat!”