When freshmen Max Holden arrived at the annual freshmen respect retreat this year, he felt uncertain it would be a good experience. However, his mind changed when he heard his classmates tell honest stories that brought them together.

“I thought it was fun,” Holden said. “I guess my favorite part was when people talked about what we could work on to respect each other better.”

According to counseling department head Barb Nelson, Youth Frontiers, a local business dedicated to building strong school communities, runs the retreat.

“We worked with Youth Frontiers because we wanted to do something that would impact all students and having a retreat around the value of respect is what we came up with,” Nelson said.

Holden said he understands his classmates better now and realizes it’s important to create bonds with them.

“I was surprised by some of the people that went up and shared their stories,” Holden said. “I feel like I understand my class better now.”

Junior Tenzin Jangchup said she enjoyed the retreat, so she decided to volunteer there this year.

“I like volunteering and helping people,” Jangchup said. “The retreat is so helpful to freshmen in their transition from middle school to high school and I like helping them through that.”

According to Nelson, the retreat focuses on building community among students as well as friendships.

“It lets the ninth graders know that they are all here together for the next couple years and they need to support each other,” Nelson said.