The highly anticipated Senior and Freshman retreats at Cedar Lake Camp in Big Bear during the week of Sep. 9 were unexpectedly canceled due to the Line Fire in the San Bernardino National Forest. Instead of missing out on the fun, retreats for both grades were moved on campus, with various activities to ensure students still had the opportunity to bond.
Senior Retreat took place beside the pool and kicked off with a boat-building competition. Advisories were tasked with building boats out of cardboard and duct tape to race across the pool, with awards given to the fastest and most decorated boats. Yoga teacher Merja Connolly’s advisory beat the odds and was the first to travel across the length of the pool, and Math teacher Kelly May’s advisory took home the Best Design award for their avocado and coquette themed boat.
While the Seniors competed against each other on water, the Freshmen participated in a campus-wide advisory competition.
“The goal of retreat is always to create community within the class and also within advisories,” Ninth Grade Dean Elizabeth Anauld said. “When planning new activities, I thought of different activities that could achieve a team-making aspect.”
Activities in the Freshman Advisory competition included ultimate frisbee, cup-stacking, and Pantskiball – a game where students tried to collect dodgeballs launched at them in oversized pants. After a morning of competition, the Mountain-Pheasant advisory emerged victorious with the highest amount of points scored across all points. All students reconvened on campus to enjoy lunch from TK Burger Truck before afternoon activities, where Seniors participated in a series of pool games and Freshmen created advisory bucket lists and advisory mottos.
The cancellation of the retreats has been received with mixed feelings from students. The school has rescheduled Freshman Retreat to Oct. 21 to Oct. 23 and Senior Retreat to Oct. 28 to Oct. 29.
“I’m sad that they are postponing the senior retreat, but I’m glad they aren’t canceling it,” Senior Melody Yu said.
This sentiment is shared by a lot of students, with many feeling down about the sudden change of plans but happy that they have more time for extracurricular and recreational activities.
“However, I do wish the retreat had been scheduled for a better date,” Melody said. The rescheduled dates fall uncomfortably close to early action deadlines for college applications. After facing pushback from the Senior class, administrators made senior retreat optional to accommodate for these deadlines.
