On Friday, December 3rd, the Junior class attended their junior retreat. The girls traveled by bus to the National Shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa in Doylestown. The theme of the retreat was compassion, featuring many different bonding exercises and talks prepared by their classmates.

Enjoying some beautiful weather, they started the day in prayer with their classmates. Then the girls listened to a talk from a classmate, Sophie Rhines, and reflected in their journals and in small groups. They then participated in a guided mediation led by Sister Patti. They reflected on their love and compassion for themselves and others and had a moment of peace with their fellow Gwynedd girls.

Following the meditation, the junior class did a few fun team-building activates including riddles and Christmas games to get them in the holiday spirit.

The girls also did a bit of service during their retreat, led by Blue Star Mothers of America, a group of mothers supporting troops overseas. After listening to empowering talks from classmates Kalie Mogg and Hannah Griffin, they packed care packages for the troops and wrote letters of encouragement to include in the bags. The bags were filled with plenty of goodies, candy, and snacks for the troops to enjoy during their deployments overseas.

The day then continued with keychain making put together by Bridget Cahill and a talk from Alaina Holder and Kiki Sullivan. The girls also wrote letters to their fellow classmates for a “rainy day” to cheer up someone who may be having a bad day.

The retreat ended with a montage of pictures of the junior class put together by Alexis Borelli and Laura Tereshko.

The junior retreat was a special time for the class to come together with all their classmates at one time and spend time with one another. The girls were given an amazing opportunity to get to know people in their class they may not have had the chance to spend time with yet.

Thank you to Mr. Fromhold, Sister Patti, and all the retreat leaders for their hard work to put together such a special day filled with bonding and service.