Student Council Retreat

Last week our Student Council and their Advisors attended a retreat in Acton.  Please see the summary of the event below written by Kirsten Sjoberg.

This past Monday, September 25, the Student Council went on a trip to begin to know each other and become better leaders. They worked with Adventure In Adventure Out at NARA Park in Acton to grow the skill set need for their positions, as well as brainstorming for the upcoming year.

One the bus ride to the park, the group split into five groups by position (President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, and Student Representative). They discussed with the newcomers what the responsibilities of the position where, gave advice on how to do the best job, and shared our goals for the year. Each group then shared their favorite pieces of advice with the whole council.

Once at the park, we immediately started with ice breaking games, like Evolution, a form of rock-paper-scissors, and Human Bingo, a questionnaire style game. We then split into three random groups. Each group went to a different area of the park to complete further activities.

All of the groups did one more team bonding game, and then started an exercise on effective communication. After forming teams, one person from each was blindfolded and directed around vocally by the other two. After we had a discussion on communication. This lead into a discussion about balance, one of the core values outlined this year.

After this, all the groups joined together for lunch. In between bites, the class governments discussed among themselves their goals and plans for the year. After pizza, they had one last activity to promote teamwork. The activity involved throwing balls into various bins in an attempt to get the maximum number in. Initially, the eight teams competed with each other, standing in front each other's bins, and stealing balls. However, they soon realized that working together was the best way to accomplish the goal they all shared. After this, the student council thanked Adventure In Adventure Out, cleaned up, and quickly headed for the bus.

On the bus returning, we began to plan the upcoming fundraiser for breast cancer awareness by breaking into teams to handle different parts of the week.

Throughout the whole day, not a moment was wasted standing around. Beginning at 7:40am, ending when we got back to school property, the Student Council was planning, talking, sharing, laughing, and overall, becoming better class leaders.

The Student Council as a whole would like to say thank you very much for all the grants from GDEF and Groton’s Trust Funds’ Lecture Funds. This would not have been possible without them. Thank you.