The 8th grade retreat was a wild ride. Most 6th and 7th graders had the thought of “what are they doing?” “Where did they go?” “Will we be doing the same thing in an upcoming year?” “What was the drama lingering after they came back?” These are some complicated dilemmas that will be addressed in the following.
At 9:00 all 8th grade students gathered in the cafeteria to get checked in. Giddily, all set off to the Magnolia United Church of Christ. There, Camp Long councilors directed us in team bonding games and experiences. Hear from Hiatt Larson about her favorite activity.
“So, Hiatt, what was your favorite game we have done so far?” “Well, I really loved the game downstairs where we had to guide a blindfolded person around, it was really funny!” The game Hiatt is referencing is a game where you are blindfolded, and a team of about ten to fifteen people help guide you around using just their voice to direct you towards an object. The blindfolded person is putting a lot of trust into their team to be able to guide them and not get them hurt. The rest of the team has to use a lot of teamwork to keep the blindfolded person safe. Games like these went super well! Everyone had lots of fun and was able to think creatively and try out new roles they didn’t usually wear. Quieter kids stepped up and became leaders, and naturally louder kids took a step back and listened. These games were very developmental to the graduating class.
After those team activities came lunch! Everyone was excited to roam free, have a bite to eat and have a bit of exercise. There was a Girls versus Boys soccer game that was a lot of fun, with lots of loose balls and cunning goals girls ultimately won (but boys argue that their team came victorious.) Another game that was played was a volleyball circle and other kids just sitting and talking basically becoming pro dodgeball kids whether a soccer, volleyball, or yoga ball was flying their way! There was also a high stakes Blackjack game that journalists had the pleasure of getting a closer look at. With Mrs. Torcaso as dealer and providing a mini lesson on probability, Bryson Green ended up winning a whole piece of gum. Don’t gamble kids!
After lunch the entire class did an exersice where we found our top 5 strengths and compared them to each other. After analyzing data, it was found that lots of friends didn’t share many traits with each other. This goes to show that our friends must be different from ourselves to build a better relationship and being a better person. A really good lesson to teach middle school about choosing friends. The most common traits of the 8th grade were love and humor. Not bad for a seemingly difficult class!
After the retreat had ended, most had come back with a refreshed and happy attitude, but some had other thoughts about the retreat. Some found the retreat overwhelming and boring, while others heard people being mean to their teammates or calling them out when mistakes happened. This was unacceptable behavior; And it was corrected. some argue that no such thing happened, and everyone was just rowdy from being on a field trip. 8th grade students, what do you think? (tell us in the comments!) As always, thank you all for reading and go tigers!
By Hanna Maly
