Middle School Courage Retreat

  

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Recently, our Middle School students, staff, and parent volunteer leaders participated in a Courage Retreat conducted by Youth Frontiers.  During the retreat, students spent a high energy and interactive day learning to do the right thing, despite their fears.  Integral to the retreat was addressing the powerful role of fear in their lives, and the challenge of doing what they know to be right, even if the crowd is doing something different.  The retreat centered on the analogy of the "ripple effect" of courage-demonstrating how their actions, no matter how small, have an impact on everyone around them.  Each student made a commitment to an Act of Courage, a specific action that will make our school a better place.

  

Here are some comments from the small group leaders (volunteer parents):

  

“Being an elementary parent, I did not know a majority of the 6-8th graders. It was so inspiring to see how they behaved in front of an outside company. Respect for speakers and one another was apparent. I was so impressed by the way students with different personalities were able to come together and share personal feelings. My small group students were insightful and really gave me a gift that day. I am proud to send my children to St. Stephen’s and feel at ease knowing that they will be getting much more than an education in middle school.”

Angie Burnes

Parent of a 1st & 3rd grade student enrolled at St. Stephen School

  

“It was wonderful! The middle school students really amazed me with their maturity and closeness. They TRULY care about one another, how often do you see that in a school setting? Loved it.”

Heidi Staggert

Parent of a 2nd & 4th grade student enrolled at St. Stephen School

   

“What an incredible fun day I shared with the middle schoolers at the Courage Retreat. It was amazing for me to see the interaction between grades, respect of each other and the positive attitudes they all had. As a parent of a 2nd & 5th grader, how truly blessed we are knowing what great opportunities are in store for them in middle school.”

Barb Novinska

Parent of a 2nd & 5th grade student enrolled at St. Stephen School

  

  

“It was an honor to be with our middle schoolers at their courage retreat. I was there in a volunteer capacity to help facilitate discussions yet I gained so much from the students honesty about what they face in their day-to-day lives. I was moved to tears at the end of the retreat when students stepped forward to claim what their act of courage was to be going forward. WOW! It was powerful to see them take responsibility for living life in a better way, for themselves and the people around them.”

Peg Pavlik

Parent of a 6th grade student enrolled at St. Stephen School

    

  

“It was one of the most amazing experiences that I have ever had. I was not sure what to expect going into it and I was hugely surprised. The staff was funny and insightful with great stories of their own experiences of middle school. Relatable to kids today. The thing that I was most amazed about was how aware our middle school students are of the realities of life. One of the students had said to me that you never know what is going on in a persons life outside of school and that may be a reason why they are not being nice to other kids. It was a very safe environment to talk about issues that affect the kids today. The use of "Team Building" was remarkable. Watching students cheer on other students that they may not have always gotten along with. I saw students apologize to other students that they had been mean too. I saw students hug each other after it was over. I think I may have learned more than the kids :) I wish I would have had this program when I was in middle school. I hope we continue to run it for years to come.”

Heidi Hilton

Parent of a 4th & 6th grade student enrolled at St. Stephen School