By Maddy Baxter

Peer Support trainees and leaders bonded over the ropes course and other activities at the retreat on the weekend of Sept. 10-12. The retreat was at Camp Hess Kramer in Malibu and it was a chance for the students to get to know each other and make new friends.

The students left directly after school on Friday and returned on Sunday morning.

The retreat was organized by Counselor and Humanities teacher Luba Bek, and Psychologist Sheila Siegel. There were 55 juniors and seniors at the camp.

Students were divided into random groups of people whom they did not know well. The first night was spent playing getting to know you games and ice breakers.

On Saturday, the leaders and trainees were divided into random groups and they played trust games and did arts and crafts. After that, they did the ropes course.

“People were afraid of heights and we were all there supporting them. We worked together as a group to get across the rope course and face our fears,” Hallie Brookman ’12 said.

In the night, there was a campfire with all of the students on the retreat. Everyone was given a bracelet and they went around the fire saying what they were going to think of whenever they looked at the bracelet. Many people said that they would think of the new friends that they had made.

“You could go up to anyone and be yourself. Everyone connected through everything that we had done,” Brookman said.

All of the students got really close and gained a new trust in all of these people that they had not necessarily ever met before, Brookman said.

“My favorite part was getting to know new people,” Haleh Kanani ’12 said.

After dinner on the last night, the groups were announced. The four Peer Support coordinators, Anna Romanoff ’11, Jarred Green ’11, Ben Krause ’11, and Beanie Feldstein ’11, decided who would be in each group. The groups usually consist of two junior trainees and two senior leaders.