Gibbons Retreats are beloved by many students, and over the years, retreats have grown to become one of the biggest parts of our Gibbons community.
Gibbons has maintained a tradition of hosting freshman retreats to welcome the incoming high schoolers. Typically, these retreats take place in the first two months of the school year, however, Gibbons now has retreats that are placed prior to the school year.
The current upperclassmen had their retreats during the school year, which had them make their new connections on their first day of classes, but these freshmen get the opportunity to gain friendships before their new journey begins.
Spiritual life is a major part of Cardinal Gibbons, and many educators are a part of the Spiritual Life Program. One of the most prominent educators is Ms. Meredith McElroy, the main organizer of the retreats at the Short Journey Retreat Center, who has been hosting freshman retreats for the past three years.
Contrary to past retreats, where it was after school and two days, she says this freshman retreat felt different because it was only a single day instead of overnight, which functioned as a quick, fun day of activities. This was good, since most freshmen enjoyed a fun day to introduce them to Gibbons. This year also broke the record of the most students to go on freshman retreats. The feedback given from several educators’ about the new change were positive, this leads to continued discussions about what the future freshman retreats will be like.
“After the retreat, I recognized and remembered people from that day, so it was easy to talk to people and make new friends on the first day,” Miles Clark (class of 2027) said.
The freshman retreats create relationships with teachers, leaders, and other students. These incoming high schoolers now have memories to bond over and forever remember. They spend a day with the people they will spend the rest of their high school years with. This day of fun creates a way for students to connect with people they would have never encountered if it were not for the retreat. Without them, the students would be less connected early in the year as they are now.
This was common among freshmen, most stating that they were glad to have the opportunity to make new friendships.
Along with incoming students and leaders, multiple teachers were present on the retreat, helping students get comfortable not only with Gibbons, but themselves as well.
“At Gibbons, teachers strive to form relationships with their students,” Mr. Zachary Taylor said.
Taylor has been leading freshman retreats for the last couple of years. Besides helping lead retreats, Mr. Taylor is a GFS and Drama teacher at our school. Mr. Taylor explained that as a teacher, he was grateful for the opportunity to get to know the incoming students that would have him as a teacher this year and being able to form real bonds with his students. This is the reason Mr. Taylor, and other Gibbons educators, love freshman retreats so much.
“This year I saw positive benefits from kids who went early or before the school year. The goal is to feel like you belong in the Gibbons community as soon as you join, so this was a great representation of that,” Ms. McElroy said.
