This year’s freshman retreat, inspired by the movie Up, took place January 25-27. During this retreat, the freshmen bonded, tapped in to their spirituality, and had a great time. The retreat went quite smoothly thanks to the many helping hands behind the retreat.

Freshman retreat leaders and crew met months in advance of the retreat and got to know each other better. They worked to the best of their abilities to structure a fun retreat for the freshmen. Leader, Alex Tuminello ’19, shared “before the retreat all the leaders met every Tuesday to prepare our talks and discussions.”

Crew member, Jack Bronson ’19, says that on the retreat he “always felt busy” and he was “constantly making the retreat flow better.”

During the retreat, freshmen play lots of games and engage in activities, such as, Family Feud and Fast Friending, a fun game where the freshmen go around a circle and answer questions about themselves. Bronson oversaw “games with the freshmen when there was any extra time in between activities.”

One of the most important parts of the retreat was the carnival on Friday morning. During this carnival, the freshmen helped little kids as they went around the school and played different games, went on the bouncy houses, and made some creative artwork. Christina Winemiller ’21 shares that her little buddy “loved the bouncy houses, but she was also super excited to make “gak.”

Another memorable part of the retreat were the hometime visits, where freshmen and their leaders mix with another group and go to a leader’s home. During this part of the retreat, freshmen listen to a parent talk, a teacher talk, and a friendship talk done by the leaders. Leader, Grace Parkins ’19, shared of her friendship talk: “I did my talk with my friend Mia Griff (’19). The main point of my talk was to stay open and make friends with people you’d never think you’d be friends with.”

The talent show Friday night was full of memorable performances. Kicked off by the retreat crew’s rocking Petty Dance choreographed by Cameron Lambert ’19 and Geme Nwachukwu ‘19, the night was filled with lip-sync battles, group performances, and even a drum solo. Molly Bevan ’21 shared that her and two other small groups performed “We’re All in This Together” from High School Musical, “which was lots of fun.” Winemiller added that the “talent show was super fun to perform in and hilarious to watch.”

The freshmen retreat is such a special experience that upperclassmen Rory Belcher ’18 and Parkins still reminisce about it. Belcher shared that her favorite part of her retreat was “the hypnotist or watching the talent show.”

Parkins said that her favorite part was “small group time because I met new friends.” This retreat is such a big part of freshman year and is obviously quite memorable.

Many upperclassmen said that they think this retreat is important for freshmen to go on for different reasons. Belcher said that the retreat is important “because it helps the freshmen feel closer with their class, but also experience what they will face in later years.”

Bronson said that freshmen retreat is so important because it “allows people to step out of their comfort zones in front of their class and get to know each other.” Parkins added to this message by saying the retreat is important “so cliques don’t determine friends because everyone must explore new friendships on this retreat and be open.”

The leaders shared that the best part of the retreat is seeing “the freshmen start as really shy, but at the end they really open up about their lives,” said Parkins. Tuminello shared that the best part of the retreat was “hearing that my freshman group didn’t want to leave the retreat,” which is the goal of any leader.