As part of their final year of high school, the class of 2011 attended the annual senior retreat at Calvin Crest, Sept. 11-12.
They participated in such activities as team building initiatives, sports games, a night hike, the traditional wrestling tournaments and a Nintendo Wii dance competition to foster class unity. Principal Todd Bennett, Bible teacher Robert Foshee and social studies teacher Bessalee Mendoza supervised the weekend retreat.
Seniors departed the high school campus at 10 a.m. and returned the following day around 2 p.m. Upon reaching Calvin Crest, students were divided into groups designed to build friendships between peers who may not know each other very well.
“I loved how we were divided into groups because it gave us a chance to connect to people on a deeper level and rebuild friendships,” Mary Reynolds said.
Each group then competed against each other for camp points in various activities that required strength, logic, creativity and teamwork. These activities included outdoor initiatives, sliding down the flume, playing kickball and performing skits.
“I had fun with the sports and the plays,” Gustin Hartanto said. “I got more friends and experience from senior retreat. It was so fun because the people were so friendly and wanted to make friends with me.”
After these competitions, team Thundercats came out as the overall camp winner.
“The Thundercats worked amazingly together,” Reynolds said. “Everyone used their strengths for the best, and that is why we won.”
When the Wii dance at night came to a close, dubbing Reynolds as champion, boys and girls split up and went to their cabins for the traditional wrestling competitions.
“I decided to do the wrestling competition because it’s a tradition that I didn’t want to miss out on,” Kelsey Gunner said. “It was super fun to watch all the girls wrestle and participating in it because it’s not something we normally do. I got to see different sides of people and see the beast unleashed in everybody.”
The following morning, seniors led a worship service and ended the trip with an all-you-can-eat pizza lunch at Pizza Factory in Oakhurst.
While many students look forward to this class retreat each year, Kelsey Hart feels that this trip changed her attitude toward her class and helped to forge stronger relationships.
“I didn’t want to go because I didn’t feel like I was close with my class, and the hike didn’t seem fun,” Hart said. “However, it was so much fun! All of us girls bonded and I now talk to more people than I used to. I had 15 other girls in a room with me and it really helped us bond.”
In addition, Mendoza reflects on her first time as a supervisor at the retreat as a success.
“I think senior retreat went very well because everyone was participating and were equally included in the activities,” Mendoza said. “It’s nice getting to see students outside of the classroom because you form different relationships and see different sides of their personalities.”
According to Foshee, senior retreat served to create lasting and deeper relationships among the class, something he feels was definitely accomplished.
“Senior retreat was a success because everyone knew people on a deeper level than before, because they were split into groups,” Foshee said. “The purpose of the retreat was to have fun and bond as a class, and we accomplished all those things. This class definitely mixed well together and had fun.”
The Feather staff requests senior class members to contribute photos in order to enhance the current slideshow. Please send any photos to The Feather’s e-mail or via CD or memory stick to Greg Stobbe.
For more photos of senior retreat, check out The famous flume, Flyin’ high, Better safe than sorry and Time to worship.
