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Every year all the classes at Father Ryan have individual class retreats that are held off campus. The Seniors' retreat is held at the beginning of the school year so the class has a chance to unite and become closer during their final year at FRHS. The Sophomore retreat occurs in January, and then the Freshmen one is in March. The Junior retreat is held last in April to give the class a chance to bond more closely as they get approach their last year.
The Freshman retreat focuses on a relationship with God and others. The freshmen are divided into small groups which the Seniors lead. They conduct frank discussions concerning self-esteem, reaching out to others for help, and experiencing the sacraments to be closer to God. It is always a fun and new experience for the freshmen; they come away with a better understanding of the spiritual experiences that are available to them at Father Ryan.
The focus of the Sophomore Retreat is "choices". The retreat presents issues and topics with which sophomores will have to contend as they go through high school: smoking, alcohol, drugs, relationships. The goal of the retreat is to get them to look at the choices they will have to make before they have to make them and then encourage them to make the right ones. The focus of the Junior Retreat is to come to a deeper awareness and experience of God's presence in daily life: to find and to experience God in community, struggles, nature, and friendship. Exericses involves students participating in activities that require a group to work together to solve. Students also listen to talks given by Senior team members and share in small group discussions. A nature walk also offers some time for reflection.
last updated on March 30, 2000 by A. Emmanuel
