The Storm King School Class of 2024 took some time recently to get to know one another, set goals, and have some fun at Senior Retreat. Senior Retreat is a yearly tradition where the entire class leaves campus together to get closer to nature and reflect as they work on team-building, leadership, and community. The event helps solidify the bond between new and returning class members, and sets a positive tone for the students’ final year at Storm King.

The Retreat was held at the Black Rock Forest Lodge in neighboring Black Rock Forest. As in the past, the group trekked up to the Lodge on a Saturday afternoon. When they arrived, the class was greeted with pizza, sushi, ice cream, and other treats as they immersed themselves in the evening’s activities.

To break the ice, the seniors got to know one another more closely with a “Circle of Questions” activity. Students were placed in two circles, both facing each other. Each pair took turns answering questions such as “What do you value most in a friendship,” “What, if anything, is too serious to be joked about?” and other deep knowledge questions.

To help them pinpoint their future expectations, the students were also tasked with writing letters to themselves answering questions about their goals and potential challenges: “What do you hope will happen this year? How will it play out? What is your dream for life?”, “What is your greatest obstacle and what action step will you take to overcome it?  The students’ letters were collected at the end of the exercise and will reappear in an end-of-year activity.

The ‘Marshmallow Challenge’ was another fun engineering challenge to find out which group could build the highest freestanding structure using spaghetti, string, masking tape, and a marshmallow.

For their final task, each senior was asked to write down their fears on a card which they placed in a box before heading back to campus. The following evening, a senior bonfire was held at the fire pit near the Art Center where the students threw their cards into the fire, thus burning their fears.

By the end of the weekend, the seniors were tired but smiling and the Senior Retreat’s mission was accomplished: a great time was had by all, the senior class had grown much closer, and each student had a clearer vision of how they planned to make their final year at The Storm King School a great one.