On Wednesday, September 21, both the Campus Ministry and Student Council teams went on a retreat to the Archdiocesan Youth Retreat Center in Kearny, NJ. Upon arrival, the group was immersed in fun team-building activities and later proceeded inside for a more intellectual discussion of leadership.

In the physical activities, the group had to work together to both find a solution to the issue at hand and execute it properly and safely. With analogies and help from Brian, the supervisor, the group was taught valuable lessons on leadership regarding working with others, knowing when to be a good leader or a good listener, and thoroughly thinking out the solutions to a problem before acting.

Both teams then went inside, where Mr. Martin, Mrs. Gribbin, and Mrs. Otterbein-Yoo led the group in a discussion about their personal idols who possessed the qualities of a great leader, and how their idealization of such people has affected both their trains of thought and actions. Later, groups with each of their members having a unique restriction–either a blindfold, no hands, or no voice–had to accomplish the task of putting together an unfinished puzzle. From this, students learned how to delegate a workload, as well as how to delegate in relation to people’s specific talents and skill-sets. Lastly, the group finished the retreat with a task of setting a list of goals for each team. The student council and campus ministry split up, brainstormed, and set the goals they wanted each of their teams to be able to accomplish by the end of the current school year.