On Monday, January 18th, the senior retreat, one of Germantown Academy’s newer traditions, took place. The seniors came together virtually to discuss issues that they may face in college. This year, the Senior Retreat was modified to follow COVID-19 guidelines. The virtual platform made it difficult for the faculty and staff to plan a fun and engaging event.
Senior Retreat was created by Dr. Maurer and Mr. Martin, who also planned this year’s virtual event, with the intent to familiarize seniors with issues they may face in college. Dr. Maurer says, “The topic for the Senior Retreat came from alums over the summer who posted on social media that they wish they had more info about the topic of sexual assault and consent while they were at GA.” She continues, “We have been working with the Victim Services Center for a while now to provide information to students, faculty, staff, and parents, so we reached out to them to participate.”
Unfortunately due to the pandemic’s constraints, Senior Retreat had to be virtual. Dr. Maurer states, “We wanted the day to feel special, but the constraints of the pandemic made that very difficult.” The virtual environment made it difficult to discuss the Senior Retreat presentations after the event. Dr. Maurer says, “It would have been great if the presenters and the GA counselors could have been easily available for follow up. We were available on Zoom, but that’s not the same.”
The second unofficial part of the retreat, called Senior Love Day, was planned by Mr. Moll, the Washington house head. This was an event from 1:30 to 3:00 pm to celebrate the seniors with bonfires, and other fun activities like cornhole. Mr. Moll says, “It’s about showing love for our seniors who have lost so many traditional senior experiences throughout this pandemic.” Due to COVID-19, many annual traditions at Germantown Academy were eliminated to fit health guidelines. He added, “The main idea was to allow the seniors to have time to enjoy being with each other. With all the social distancing, virtual learning, and restrictions, the main thing that suffers is the social interactions that students have in their day today.”
To make Senior Love day happen in person, Mr. Moll needed to abide by regulations all while ensuring the seniors would have an enjoyable experience. He says, “In order to accommodate all of the seniors and maintain safety protocols, I needed to call on the faculty to provide many fire pits and an abundance of firewood.” Mr. Moll expresses his gratitude for the help of the faculty: “I was able to have 8 pits burning, and had more than enough wood due to the generosity of the staff and the maintenance crew who filled a GA van full of wood.” Parents also contributed to Senior Love day by ordering food and packaging materials. With the help of the GA community, Mr. Moll was able to have a successful Senior Love day. He says, “It was so wonderful sharing this joyful time with our seniors. I look forward to more of these events as we take one step closer towards normalcy.”
Despite the challenges of making the Senior Retreat and Senior Love day successful, the seniors had positive feedback when asked about the retreat and Senior Love day. Natalie Schildt ’21, a senior at Germantown Academy, states, “The retreat was a great way to connect us with other resources and give us a space outside of GA, which we should probably start getting used to.” She goes on to say, “I think everyone really enjoyed Senior Love day! We finally felt like something was coming our way in return for making it all the way to our senior year.” Although this year has been a compromised experience for the seniors, the GA community continues to work hard to give the seniors the best final high school experience.
