The junior retreat took place Sept. 27 at Saint Francis Xavier Church in McKean. The day was designed to benefit Prep juniors as a day away to be together to focus on students’ relationship with God and to focus on how they are doing as their own person.

 Fr. Jason served as the leader of the retreat, helping students go deeper in their faith. He spoke about his role.

“To continue to grow in high school through faith and community,” Fr. Jason said. “[It was] also a good opportunity to be with the students in that capacity.”

Campus minister Mrs. Grenci helped organize and plan the retreat. She talked about what she hoped students get out of the retreat.

“Overall recognizing how to live out with the spirit, mind, and body,” Mrs. Grenci said. “That’s why the certain work shops were set up into those 3 different things.”

The three different workshops were separated into sports, a guided meditation, and a rosary walk. It gives students an opportunity to step back from daily life to listen to the Lord and to walk with one another. It allows them to encounter with one another in community.

There was a also sports game portion of the day when students could choose between football and spike ball. They were also fed Little Caesar’s pizza with bag of chips or cookies of their choice along with Taco Bell freezes for lunch.

Junior Alex Hagerty was among the students who attended the retreat.

“[I was] excited about the day and what was going to happen,” Alex said.

Students went through a variety of different spiritual and team-building exercises and got closer into their spiritual relationship with God. The day made them feel “more confident in their relationship with God and themselves.”

Most students were excited about the day and what was going to happen. They took the guided meditation to heart and it made them feel refreshed. The guided meditation was the most enjoyable aspect of the day.