The year 12 retreat was held on Friday (19 May 2023) in the school’s auditorium with the theme of ‘servant leadership’. It was a great experience to grow our faith and learn more about working together and leadership.
There were five sessions, 35 minutes each with every homeroom rotating around each session. Following that, we celebrated mass in the church and then to conclude our retreat, Mr Tamayo talked about servant leadership, and we watch a movie about the story of Moses called The Prince of Egypt.
The first session was called the ‘Leader in Me’ led by Nerissa Reyes. In this activity, we had to try and build the tallest structure using only spaghetti and marshmallows. We developed our communication skills and discussed what the best strategy was best to help us win this challenge.
The second session was called ‘I need others to succeed’. This was led by Alexandra Dela Cruz. We learnt the importance of teamwork – in three groups of around 10, we made a ‘train’ by holding each other’s shoulders and the person in the front had to try and catch the person at the end of the ‘train’. This activity proved difficult for many as catching the person at the end was harder than we expected.
The third session was led by Luca Edwards and called ‘I need God to succeed.’ In this activity, we were in small groups and the team was blindfolded except for the leader who guided them. This showed how we can trust each other and God to get us to our destination.
The fourth session was run by Navil Singh, called ‘Why do I need to step up’ and we analysed multiple situations we were given and had to figure out the problem and best solution. There were many different problems involving issues we may come across in our lives.
The fifth session was facilitated by Oliver Tamayo and called ‘What can I do as a Leader?’ In groups, we had to draw a problem we might face at school, then find a solution to that problem and finally present it to the class with an explanation. This showed how we can demonstrate leadership in our daily lives by standing up if we see something that is not right or speaking out.
The retreat helped the Year 12ss reflect on their faith and how we can actively use servant leadership in our everyday lives. It also helped prepare us for next year as Year 13 Leaders in the school. Thank you to all the teachers and facilitators who helped prepare and manage this retreat.
