The Fall Leadership Retreat is a time for staff and students to connect, celebrate, create, and dream together.
This fall we went back to Camp Beechpoint for our leadership retreat. Our student advisors, executive director, and program director spent time in the campground’s contemplative atmosphere reviewing the history of CultureWorks and getting to know new members of our student advisory council.
Jack Burk, a board member and one of our favorite photographers in West MI, led students through a Photography Scavenger Hunt that got them exploring the woods and its flora. “I felt like we were given a lot of creative freedom,” said one of our students who had the most fun at this activity. The team building initiatives course tested staff and students in patience and perseverance while avoiding imaginary lava. The now legendary Sonnet Quinn visited us on Saturday night to push us out of our comfort zones and into different voices and characters. There was laughter while we improvised and moved together by the lake. We also touched on the importance of personal history while sharing the history of our names. Each of us told our stories one-by-one while building community and cohesion between new and returning students.
We spent most of our time there in reflection about our personal goals and what might be around the corner for ourselves, this community, and CultureWorks. We put our dreams for our neighborhoods and towns onto paper in a collage workshop that I (Candice) led. I was moved by the students’ enthusiasm for building a world from their view, and it gave me hope after a long two years since COVID’s arrival and periods of isolation. Over a small campfire, a few students discussed their futures, hopes, dreams, and thoughts on life past adolescence. I was grateful to be a part of all of these adventures and conversations with members of Generation Z. They give our staff the ability to see the brighter and kinder future they envision for themselves and our society as a whole. I look forward to sharing more of that vision with you in the coming year.
