Building Relationships
9/9/2017
The Middle School Retreat is an essential part of the Middle School Program at PNA. This is the place where bonds are formed among new and old friends alike. It is a place where students and teachers can develop relationships outside of the academic arena. Independence and trust become the underlying foundation and purpose of the trip. This year, the theme of the retreat was loosely based on “storytelling” as this type of sharing requires everyone to present a little bit of him/herself to others. Throughout the trip, students were asked to collect their experiences in a journal so that they could have one life story to tell the group on the last day. There were plenty of experiences to choose from at the camp such as jumping into a 50 degree lake, playing porch tag, capture the flag, and pair squared tag, acting in a melodrama, rock climbing, horseback riding, kayaking, archery, singing on the bus, playing Sasquatch, roasting s’mores, ...you get the picture. Students could also choose a story from their lives outside of PNA. Everyone was able to find the “perfect story” to tell! This year’s batch of Middle Schoolers have already shown themselves to be incredibly dependable, caring, inclusive, brave, and willing! As a result, teachers and fellow students have deepened their trust in each other which ultimately leads to the personal growth we all want to see in our young adolescents. We are now ready for the academic school year to begin in earnest! Comments are closed.
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Sarah Mariner
Ms. Mariner earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Biological Science from Colorado State University, and was awarded a teaching certificate through the University of Alaska, Southeast. Her varied background includes being an environmental education field instructor in Massachusetts, Colorado, and Baja, Mexico. She also served two years as a Peace Corps volunteer in the Dominican Republic. Archives
April 2021
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