A Great Start to a Great Year: Freshman Retreat

by: Emily Trock, 9th grade

Camp Butter and Egg was one of the best bonding experiences I have ever had at Saint James School. The retreat is an annual activity for freshmen, along with their peer leaders, to travel to Camp Butter and Egg. We had a great time with all the activities including: team building activities, competitions, ziplining, and canoeing in the lake. It was an amazing field trip that I will never forget.

At 8:00 we boarded the bus and headed to Troy. Once we arrived, we were sorted into groups based on our advisories and played games against each other. With our teams, we had to work together to complete the various tasks. We threw bean-bags into small pillars, teamed up with a partner and used a magnet to move a ball into a hole, and unscrambled words to make sentences, to name a few. My favorite activity was a blind matching game, which consisted of team captains instructing their teams on how to position the objects correctly. The twist was that only the captains could see the desired position however, they couldn’t position the objects themselves. It was all competitive, which really made it exciting!

Then, once we had broken the ice, my advisory headed over to complete team building exercises. This was a great way to bond with my class. Some activities included: playing the floor is lava, using pool noodles to transport balls at a rapid pace, and describing pictures to put them in order. These games helped us improve our relationships with each other and we had fun along the way!

Students enjoyed team building and bonding!

Lunch was delicious burgers, baked beans, chips, and sugar cookies. After lunch we headed to go ziplining! This was definitely my favorite part of the retreat. There were three ziplines. The first one was a smooth-sailing ride. The second one was through trees and was set at a much faster pace. The third one was my favorite. It went over the lake and had an incredible view of the whole camp! I even got to see some of my friends canoeing under me. Then we went down to the lake and got to chat with friends while on canoes and paddle boats. A couple of people got wet but we all had fun just the same.

High Ropes provided a great bonding experience.

This trip to Camp Butter and Egg was a wonderful experience which I won’t forget anytime soon! I look forward to an amazing freshman year; Camp Butter and Egg has been a great start!

The Saint James Peer Leaders are a group of seniors who serve as mentors to the freshmen for the first half of the year. The Peer Leaders meet with their assigned freshman advisories once a week to lead lessons on how to acclimate to high school. This program not only helps with the social and academic transition to high school, but builds relationships and enforces our Trojan Core Values. #wearesaintjamesschool