On Saturday January 30, the High School Senate held its annual retreat on campus. The retreat featured a variety of activities focusing on planning, reflection and leadership training.

In a normal year, HS Senate students would have conducted their retreat earlier in the school year, and off campus during an overnight trip. The retreat is designed to plan for the year and provide new Senators with an opportunity to get to know each other and develop successful working relationships. However, due to the Covid-19 situation and protocols, the off campus retreat was not possible this year. Instead, Senators gathered in B8B for a day filled with a variety of workshops, reflection sessions and team-building activities. 

Senate student officers designed and led sessions with the Student Representative and Events Committees focused on planning for the remainder of the school year and reflecting on the achievements and challenges of the first semester. Secondary School Principal Jeff Leppard and High School Deputy Principal Cheryl Hordenchuk also joined the retreat in the afternoon to engage the students in leadership activities and to seek student input on new proposals and the updated school mission statement draft.

Senators thoroughly enjoyed the retreat and numerous students stated they felt thankful that a retreat was able to go ahead given the current challenges. 

Numerous student-led initiatives originating in the HS Senate have been very successful this year in spite of the ongoing pandemic. These include the growth of the Student Initiative Programme which enables students to propose and start their own clubs and activities, regular grade-level student Town Hall meetings, the organization of both virtual and, when allowed, in-person high school assemblies, a fall Spirit Week and the introduction and piloting of a new Student-Teacher Feedback System.