Monday, September 8, 2014

HS Retreat 2014


As summer draws to an end and fall approaches, there are usually two groups of students. There are those who are excited and ready to start school, and those who are not so much. But at Calvary Christian School, the first week of school is something to look forward to and is arguably the best week of the entire year. This is because on Wednesday morning, the whole high school loads up on the bus and drives up to the campgrounds of SpringHill. These three days are filled with chapels, getting to meet new people, catching up with old friends, making new ones, worshipping, and having a ton of fun.

During chapel Wednesday evening, the theme for the coming year was introduced. It is, “Know fear...No fear.” Basically, we as Christians need to understand fear and what it is in order to have no fear. Our speaker this year was Pastor Jake Kallman from Bridge Bible Church. He spoke about this theme throughout the retreat and helped the students to grow closer to God through it all.  

Besides chapels, there were many other activities planned by both the school and SpringHill. On Friday, the blobs were open, along with the kayaks and canoes. Later that night, we had the traditional This-is-a-Spoon contest between the classes. For the past two years, the class of 2016 had pretty much failed at this. But we were determined not to lose this year. So we practiced over and over again, and it paid off. We actually won! It was a great night for our class.

Other things we did that week included swimming in the pool, playing Ping-Pong and other games in the game room, hanging out in the gym, doing the high ropes course, the class scavenger hunt, and the campfire on Thursday night. The campfire is a really awesome part of retreat. I do not know of any other schools where students are able to stand up and share what they are learning or what God is doing in their lives in front of their whole high school. It is also a real encouragement to hear the testimonies of fellow schoolmates. It is a great way to wrap up the week and the amazing time we have. I am so glad I go to a school where I have opportunities like getting to go on retreat. There really is no other place like Calvary.  

Megan Mitchell, Junior

This year, like every year, retreat was held at the wonderful Spring Hill! On Wednesday morning we packed up all of our stuff and put it in the trailer and on the bus and away we went.  Once we got there we got settled in our cabins and the activities began. First we usually get the option to either go blobbing or going out in canoes or kayaks.  Blobbing is probably one of the highlights of retreat for a lot of us. And when it comes to blobbing Cory Greeno and Isaac Burns are busy men blobbing one after another! There always a high demand! After many laughs and high flying memories it was time to move to a different activity. 

We got to do our class photo scavenger hunts and many more fun activities! This year we finally got to go on the big waterslide! I had seen pictures of it from other years, but I had yet to experience it. So after much persuasion Mr. Maine said he would find out if we could ride it this year.  So when he told us that we would be going on the water slide everybody was excited!  We finally got to ride it and it was a blast!! I think even Mr. and Mrs. Maine enjoyed it! Britney and I decided to go down together and we ended up flipping half way down! We ended up having to scoot ourselves down the rest of the slide. It was a lot of fun! The volleyball and soccer team had practice every day at retreat. Which I had no problem with but I would prefer it not to be in the morning next time. I’m not a very good morning person and I think my team figured that out that week.

 But all in all my favorite part of retreat is our bonfire night. Bonfire night is when the whole high school gathers around the fire and whoever feels obligated can share something. Whether it be a prayer request, an amazing opportunity they had, or something that’s going on in his/her life. I think retreat is a really cool opportunity our school offers because it’s a time where we are able to get closer to the kids we see at school every day, whether they are old friends or new.

Montana Burgtorf, Junior

This year's retreat was as fun as ever. It was a little different from past years, but I think I enjoyed it more. Instead of riding on the bus, this year I got to ride with some of the seniors in Mrs. Kapanka's car. Once we arrived at Spring Hill, we went through the regular routine of eating our sack lunches, a half an hour of free time, and our first assembly. Each year we have a different spiritual theme to focus on, and this year's is “Know fear...No fear.” The messages throughout the week really honed in on that theme. Mr. Maine was the first to speak; he told us about fearing the Lord. Next, Mrs. Kapanka spoke about the gifts God has given us to combat fear. Finally, My own youth pastor, Jake Kallman, came and preached for the rest of the chapels about our responses to fear. He brought his 22 month old daughter with him, so it was really fun to be able to play with her.

We always do many fun and different activities. Usually we do the outdoor zip line, but due to weather, the juniors and seniors got the opportunity to do the new indoor high ropes course. It's a wooden structure with two levels of courses of varying difficulty. I've done similar things before, so I really enjoyed the experience. In the past few years we haven't gotten to do this next activity due to weather yet again. However, it was finally warm enough this year for the big, outdoor, water-slide. It even required inner tubes. They allowed people to go down two at a time, which made the ride faster and more fun.


The very last night we have an annual camp fire and students have the opportunity to share what they learned or decisions they made that week. There were numerous students that shared and it's very touching. Overall, it was a great three days. I'm so thankful our school goes on this retreat

Christi Evans, Junior





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