As the bus rolls out of State Street, some yell with frustration as Keenan W. ’27 attempts to get the correct answer in Heads Up, others nap while listening to music with headphones in, and Josie S-J. ’27 and Noelle S. ’27 share a phone to watch The Breakfast Club. The 9th grade retreat is underway.

The retreat, which typically takes place near the end of September, is one of the first events that brings the entire 9th grade class together. This year from September 27–29, the Class of 2027 went to the Big Bear Christian Conference Center. 

Halfway into the drive, as we began to ascend the curvy lanes in the hills of San Bernandino, our bus pulled over. Heads turned to the front windows to see the bright orange signs, “HWY 38 CLOSED AHEAD” and “TURN AROUND.” The teachers gathered around in front of both buses and decided to reach our destination by using another highway. At 6:18 p.m., when we should have been eating dinner, our bus turned around, retracing the curvy lanes. Frustrated with the situation, Sophia W. ’27 said, “I’m hungry and sick of being on this bus.” It wasn’t until 8:30 p.m. that we finally arrived and quickly feasted on the spaghetti and

meatballs from the camp.

That night, after settling into our cabins, my friends and I decided to play one of my favorite card games, Spoons. We laughed as Mhairi C. ’27 and Larkin M. ’27 scrambled to grab the final spoon which resulted in a broken pen. The entire night, we ended up yelling and laughing until our stomachs hurt. Other cabins claimed they could hear us.

The simple card game was just one of the many opportunities on the retreat that allowed new connections to grow between the students. For example, the next day, we split into three groups alphabetically, which allowed students to leave their comfort zone in terms of who they hung out with. There were four activities every group rotated through: zip-lining, archery, rock climbing, and a ropes course.

For zip-lining, nerves filled my stomach as I thought about climbing up a shaky ladder and tree. Every step I took, I got more anxious as the distance from the ground grew. However, my fear shifted to excitement as I heard the support from my classmates. “You got it Rebecca!” Lora K. ’27 shouted. “I’ll help pull the rope,” Annika L. ’27 said. With the encouragement, I relaxed and finally made it to the top and swung off the zipline with pride. 

At the ropes course, Abby L. ’27 and I agreed to go first as a pair, not realizing what we had gotten ourselves into. We both made our way up the ladder and came across the course. A thin wire connected two tall trees with ropes hanging above for balance; the goal was to touch the opposite tree you started from. It looked nearly impossible. Our classmates on the ground kept yelling at us for advice or laughing at our fear. At the end, we accomplished it together and I gave Abby the biggest high five. Chloe S. ’27 smiled as she shared her new experiences with the activities: “I liked ziplining because I never been ziplining before.”

Although I got to zipline and move through a ropes course, creating skits as advisories was my favorite activity of the trip. Mr. Baldwin reflected on the skits, “I was watching the skits last night, and I was just thinking about how nice it was that there were so many kids that are willing to be silly or being willing to be funny, and how supportive everybody was.”

My advisory, the Yurchak Advisory, performed a skit based off of the well-known reality show “Keeping Up With the Kardashians,” which we turned into “Keeping Up With the Yurchakians.” In the audience, we cheered and laughed as we watched the advisories perform. We were all amazed at how many times the Wei Advisory could mention “Wei” (way) into their skit and were entertained as the Raines Advisory performed a disastrous version of the Big Bear trip.

“I liked last night, doing the skits, because I felt like the entire grade was very together,” Larkin M. ’27 said, reflecting on the night. 

Coach Allison agreed, and said with a laugh, “My favorite memory was the campfire skits that were happening with advisories. They all were very funny in their own way.” She also teased, “Shout out to my advisory, they made a skit just for me.” 

But students weren’t the only ones who felt more connected to their peers after the retreat. Ms. Wei explained how she got closer to her co-workers: “It requires us leaving and being in this environment, to sit around and hang out with each other, and just talk. It was fun, I enjoyed it.”

Mr. Baldwin added, “It creates an opportunity for us to just get to know each other in a way that we don’t normally get to…And that’s super special too.” 

Before leaving the campground on the final day, the entire freshman class each wrote a letter to our 12th grade selves. “I really do want to be here longer… I really enjoyed it, and I feel like I am getting closer to my friends,” Madi Z. ’27 said on the last morning at Big Bear.

And with that final activity, we boarded our buses to head back to State Street once more. The Class of 2027 resumed their movie watching and sleeping, but this time, students watched and slept with the new friends they had made. I could tell we were coming back as a closer and more connected class. Mr. Baldwin shared a similar sentiment, “You realize this is sort of the point at which in the year when you really have a class rather than just a bunch of kids who come to school.”