Treasured Traditions: Senior Retreat

by Peter Adair ’98

For decades, seniors have opened their final year at St. Martin’s with a class retreat. This anticipated event gives seniors the opportunity to get off campus and reflect upon their time at St. Martin’s. They also have a chance to bond with their classmates, look ahead at the coming year, uncover what it means to be a student leader, and think about the legacy they hope to leave behind at StM.

Interim Head of Upper School Peter Adair, of the Class of 1998, recounts why Senior Retreat is one of his favorite StM traditions.

The Senior Retreat at St. Martin’s is a special tradition that I have been privileged to be a part of both as a student and as a faculty member.

In the fall of 1997, my class and I embarked on our senior retreat, knowing that this was our final retreat and the beginning of the end for our time at St. Martin’s. Many of us had been in attendance at St. Martin’s since pre-k or kindergarten, so the idea of leaving was both exciting and daunting.

I remember playing Capture the Flag and Trivial Pursuit on our retreat, as well as the activities we did with our advisory groups and planning what we wanted our senior year to look like.

Traveling to Camp Abbey earlier this year to visit the seniors at their retreat, I was immediately taken back to my retreat and the fun games and bonding that occurred.

I saw the same excitement for senior year and for the games and activities in advisory; I saw the same eagerness to make senior year the best that it could be.

For the Class of 2019, I hope that their senior year is as enjoyable and memorable as mine was.

The senior retreat, for me, is a wonderful tradition at St. Martin’s. It represents so many of the great traits of the school community, most notably the care and support that we offer each other.

At my retreat and at this year’s, the students and faculty were so engaged and happy to be together, making every moment count and trying to make the year as special for everyone as it could be.

We want only the best for one another, and the senior retreat is a reminder of that belief. I sincerely hope that this year’s seniors find their final year here as joyful, productive, and fulfilling as it can be.

Treasured Traditions first appeared in The Bell in 2007 as a way to document St. Martin’s time-honored traditions. If you have a treasured StM tradition to share, email thebell@stmsaints.com.