The Senior Retreat

The senior retreat will also be a 3-day retreat, this is important because students will need the time to escape their comfort zone and become open minded and be prepared to develop these connections. This will be heavily focused on creating very intense and emotional experiences and will be a transformative experience that will truly bond students together. The retreat's format, which will include activities like sharing personal stories, group discussions, and reflective solitude, allows students to form strong emotional connections with one another. These activities are designed to open up channels of empathy, understanding, and trust, which will significantly lead to a deep bonding experience. During these activities students will share their vulnerabilities and support each other in their spiritual and emotional journeys, a deep sense of community and lifelong friendships will be the result from partaking in this retreat. The emotional impact of our Senior retreat can lead to significant personal transformation. Prior to partaking in this retreat the students will be left in the dark about where they are going, and what they are doing. Students will be required to keep everything mentioned in small groups confidential otherwise they will face disciplinary consequences. Fortunately the format of this retreat typically elicits students to not even want to share the details about their fellow group members simply out of respect for their new friends and the shame they would feel for breaking someones trust. This model will allow for students to be in a judgement free zone and they will be comfortable sharing their stories with one another.

Day 1:

Leave school and arrive at an undisclosed location that the students will not know beforehand and they will also not know what they will be doing on this retreat.
Lunch
Meet small groups and have ice breaker activity
First assembly where a staff member like a teacher or principal will begin by telling a deep and meaningful story about their life. The students will then individually reflect on it.
Dinner
Another leader will tell a story and then the groups will go off to have their first discussion. This will be a time to tell some stories of their own and will likely not be very deep and more funny stories. This will help build trust amongst the students.

Day 2:

Breakfast
Short small group discussion
outdoor activity such as walking in a park, throwing a ball, etc.
Lunch
Another leader telling deep and emotional story
Second small group discussion that will be aimed to promote deeper stories and opening up in your small group without the fear of being judged. One person who is the leader of the group will begin with a deep story which will likely open the door for other students to share these deep stories. This will promote empathy and getting out of your comfort zone.
First emotionally driven activity where students will receive letters from their parents, siblings, teachers, or coaches, wishing them a farewell from high school, showing appreciation for them, and also wishing them good luck. This will likely spark emotions already for students because of the nature of graduation and the transition from high school to college or the work force. This will be done individually and the letters ill be placed on their beds and they can read them before they go to sleep.

Day 3:

Breakfast
Small group activity
Lunch
Another large group leader deep story
Small group discussion which will follow the deep story from the leader hopefully this one will be the most emotionally intense
Activity where students will have the opportunity to start on a clean slate and take something that has been bothering them and attempt to free themselves of this. This could be writing something on a piece of paper and burning it, maybe something could be symbolized by a rock and throwing it in the water. This will be great for emotional expression and a sense of weight leaving your shoulders
Dinner
Final activity where students will have the opportunity to show appreciation for there fellow classmates and be able to write notes to them.

Day 4:

Breakfast
Head back to school and be back before the school day is over.

A showcase of the experiences students will have

This video showcases an activity that the students will all take part in where they take their biggest regret, mistake, or mental burden and throw it into the lake. They will emotionally attach this burden to a stone and toss it into the lake. This is very important for emotional healing because it symbolizes letting go of past traumas and gives the sense of renewal or starting from a clean slate. This will be great for students to move forward with more peace and clarity.

This video shows a student receiving a letter from a loved one. Each student will receive a letter or two from someone in their life whether it is a friend, teacher, coach, parent, or family member in which they will show appreciation or an emotional story for the student. This will be extremely impactful for them since often there is a lack of appreciation shown in a students day to day life. The notes will be given to them and they will then have an opportunity to read it on their own and self-reflect.

This is an example of a letter that a student may receive from a family member. In this case, it is an older brother showing appreciation for his younger brother by sharing a story but also giving a kind heartfelt message showing affection for his younger brother.

This video showcases how a typical small group session would go, typically a small group would consist of 8-9 students including one leader. There would be a prompt to get the conversation started and then each student would have the opportunity to share, these questions would attempt to get students to open up and to be vulnerable in sharing their stories. These small groups would become more and more emotional and deep as students begin to feel more comfortable. This is a great way to set aside time for great conversation and provide the opportunity to know more about your classmates and group members.

This photo depicts an activity the students will do where they will have time to sit and self-reflect on their experience. This activity will be essential for self-transformation and piecing together all the thoughts you have had thus far on your retreat.

This photo depicts a collection of notes a student might receive on their last activity. At the end of the senior retreat, people will get the opportunity to write notes to their classmates showing appreciation for them. Leaders will write to everyone in their small group so no one is left out. These will not be required but it will give students a way to give an act of kindness to their classmates. This is a fantastic way to increase a sense of belonging since students will feel happy writing kind messages to the ones they care about and also it will be great receiving them since it will show students how they have had an impact on other people's lives.