Sophomore Retreat 2021

On Friday May 7, 2021, Gwynedd held a sophomore retreat that was centered around service, along with a PAL 2.0 presentation and an exciting Cupcake Wars activity to end the day. Throughout the week, both the retreat leaders and service project leaders were hard at work planning the morning of the retreat. Each group was given the opportunity to participate in three out of the five service projects that were created, carried out, and led by the five service project leaders. Mr. Fromhold and the teams he assembled played a major part in making sure the morning ran smoothly. The five service projects that the sophomores carried out were creating heart-shaped pillows to give to hospitals, decorating onesies for struggling new moms, making Saint Patrick’s Day bags for children in hospitals, creating different stress-relieving fidgets, and assembling “Treatment Treasures” for the sick. All the sophomores carried out these service projects diligently and creatively and the results were amazing.

The service portion of the day was followed by Mrs. Roberson’s PAL 2.0 presentation that gave the sophomores insights to the hurtful stereotypes Americans associate with certain cultures. The sophomores began with an exercise called “I Am…But I Am Not…”, which allowed them to see small stereotypes that are associated with their own identity. Mrs. Roberson then showed a video that addressed different stereotypes associated with specifically the Asian culture, which was followed by a discussion led by each groups’ facilitator. The final activity of the day was Cupcake Wars, which was led by student council. The sophomore class broke up into groups of 3-4 students and were each given a cupcake to decorate within twenty minutes. When the time was up, each group picked one cupcake to submit to the judges, who declared Table 22 as the winners. Overall, the retreat was a great opportunity to get involved in service and become closer with fellow classmates, but it wouldn’t have been possible without Mr. Fromhold, Mrs. Roberson, Mrs. Battisto, the multiple groups of student leaders, and all the teachers who proctored the different rooms throughout the day.