Seventh graders travel to El Capitan

By Ben Jacoby ’22
The entire seventh grade class traveled to El Capitan for retreat during the week of Oct 12-16.  In years past, the class had been split up into two different retreats, one to Camp Craggs in Malibu and the other to Catalina Island. In an effort to keep all the seventh graders together, El Capitan was the only option for retreat this year.
“I think the switch was very successful; I like it because the whole class is together, and it’s hard to get to know people and make new friends if you aren’t all together on a great experience like retreat,” Seventh Grade Dean Kate Benton said.
Teachers and chaperones on the trip said that the students really enjoyed all of the different activities. They said that whether it was kayaking, sailing,or hiking up to a ropes course, the students always had a good time and seemed to have a positive attitude.
“I think my favorite part of this retreat was the attitude of the class. They were all eager and excited to be on retreat and partake in the different activities,” Interim Seventh Grade Dean Vicki Goddard 60’ said.
On retreat, the students said that they were pushed out of their comfort zone and encouraged to do different activities they normally would not do. Throughout all the exercises the goal was for students to learn new things and have experiences that they would not normally be able to have at home.
“At first I didn’t really enjoy sitting on the ground instead of being on a chair, but later I got used to it. I definitely learned to try new things and to just go for it,” William Krausse 23’ said.