Staying true to Bethany tradition, last Friday high school students split into their individual classes and took a day and spent it off-campus. Day away is uniquely created as a time for our classes to reconnect with each other at the beginning of the school year. Our focus for the day is to create relationships, build community, and spend time creating memories away from the classroom.
“Getting the kids off campus in a setting that encourages community and togetherness is a great way to start the year. After having the summer away, this helps students reconnect and set the tone for the rest of the year,” said KP, school counselor.
This year the freshman class spent their day at Camp Mack where they did a ropes course, climbing wall, and other team-building activities.
The sophomores started their time together with a devotion, and then picked up recent storm debris at classmates' homes. They spent the rest of their time playing games, eating together, and swimming.
The juniors spent their day canoeing down the Elkhart river and ended their trip at Shanklin Park. At Shanklin, they were able to eat lunch together and spend time relaxing and sharing stories about their summers.
Finally, the seniors gathered together at a classmate's house where they challenged each other in an intense game of volleyball, swam and played yard games, and of course, ate lots of food together.
“Day Away was an important part of the first week of school for the Senior class. This year, we carpooled to Hope Hoschtedler's house where we listened to Dale Shenk speak on class identity. Together we chose "unified" as the word that we want to embody this year,” senior Matthew Dyck said. “For the rest of the day, we had fun swimming and playing yard games. We appreciated this time hanging out as a class because we aren't often all together.”
