Prefect Council traveled to Big Bear Lake for their annual retreat Aug. 15-17 after a week of on-campus orientation sessions to prepare them for the school year.

Junior Prefect Robby Louie ’26 said the week leading up to the retreat helped the group prepare for the new year.

“The first four days were intense,” Louie said. “We’re at school from nine to three and we have meetings with administrators. We did some icebreakers, got to know everybody and then we drove up to Big Bear. Thursday night through Saturday morning we stayed in Big Bear.”

On the overnight retreat, the group engaged in various group bonding activities. The activities included a bake-off, swimming in Big Bear Lake and karaoke.

Sophomore Prefect Chase Rudoy ’27 said he felt the retreat created a familial bond among the prefects.

“The purpose of the retreat is to create a family environment between us,” Rudoy said. “Which is what I think that we do have, for sure.”

Head Prefect Sasha Aghnatios ’25 said the retreat and its structure was a great success.

“This is my second year in Prefect Council,” Aghnatios said. “Honestly I don’t think the retreat could have gone any better.”

Louie said the retreat had multiple purposes and gave him a chance to start working on projects for the upcoming school year.

The purpose of the retreat is twofold,” Louie said. “The first reason is definitely to get stronger as as a council really is a family.  I think it’s a great opportunity, especially because there’s new sophomores every year so to get close in that way, meet each other and get closer to people that you’ve already worked with before is always good. It’s also a great opportunity to start working on our initiatives.”

Aghnatios said she enjoyed that the group stayed together for most of the retreat.

“What could have been improved from last year was that there were a lot of times when the group was split up,” Aghnatios said. “We would all be together for most of the time this year and there were very few moments when the whole group wasn’t together.”

Senior Prefect Rex Grube ’25 said the trip was useful for connecting with fellow prefects.

“[The retreat] is a great way for us to get to know each other,” Grube said. “Especially people like me since this is my first year being a prefect.”

Aghnatios said this years prefects are very connected.

“We stuck together this time, and it made all the difference,” Aghnatios said. “We’re going to be close this year.”