Pacifica Stories

For the past 20 years, Pacifica has begun each school year by taking all students, faculty, and staff on our All School Retreat. What started as a trip up the coast to Santa Barbara with 42 students and eight staff members has grown into a massive operation to transport over 250 students and over 40 faculty and staff to Young Life’s beautiful Lost Canyon in Northern Arizona. Our All-School Retreat nowadays involves school-wide preparation including team meetings, the Morning Madness hall decorating competition, and a huge pep rally. We hop on four charter buses to travel nine hours to camp and spend a total of four days away from school. 

So, why do we do it?

To some, it may appear that Retreat has nothing to do with learning. Will taking four days away from school improve test scores, college acceptances, or sports rankings? Read on to understand the three C’s of our All School Retreat and why it remains a core part of Pacifica’s culture even after two decades.

CULTURE

All School Retreat takes place about two weeks after school begins. This timing is intentionally set at the very start of the school year to build Pacifica’s culture around the values of Retreat. These values include inter-grade friendships, Seawolf buy-in, and joy in learning.

Each student is randomly assigned to one of four color teams leading up to Retreat. These teams are not segmented by grade, but rather have students from all grade levels mixed together. At Pacifica, we don’t want students confined to knowing only the peers from their class; rather, we encourage seniors to know freshmen, sophomores to support juniors, etc. Working together through the competitions and team-building activities during Retreat cements these relationships, and ushers freshmen/transfers into the fold of Pacifica beyond their first-year friendships. 

At Retreat, we also introduce new students to our Seawolf school spirit! Instead of adopting a ‘too cool for school’ attitude, we hope students will take advantage of all that high school has to offer them and build a community that loves to make memories together. Our goal is that every student is involved in some activity at Retreat, whether that be competing in the Pool Olympics, performing in the Lip Sync Battle, or solving riddles to earn team points behind the scenes. This attitude of involvement, risk-taking, and togetherness carries into every other part of the school year: packed spirit sections at sporting events, students feeling empowered to join a new club, or everyone getting excited for Homecoming week. And it all begins at Retreat.

Joy in learning is one of Pacifica’s core values. All School Retreat is one of the most tangible ways in which we live out this value. While our primary focus is to educate students well, we also believe that learning happens most effectively when paired with joy. We take our classes seriously, and there is also time for laughter, rest, and plain old fun.

COMMUNITY

At Pacifica, we believe that we are created to live in community with others. Kids spend more time at school than at home in their high school years, and it is vital for their flourishing to be in an environment where they are known by others. Retreat helps establish a foundation of knowing and being known by others that we carry into the remainder of the school year. No one leaves Retreat anonymous.

Students stay in cabins with peers of their grade level along with a faculty or staff member during Retreat. Each night, as a group, they engage in conversations about life, identity, and faith. This intentional time is set aside to build trust between students, their classmates, and Pacifica staff. When we return to school, it is our hope that each student feels as though they have people on campus who they can trust. High school is not just about grades on a report card, and Retreat helps us communicate this to students as we seek to create connections among existing peers, new students, and faculty. 

There is also free time at Retreat to create memories with their peers that reinforce the strength of our community. Students get to try out the rock wall, fly down the zipline, and brave the waterslides together. Many Seawolves say that Retreat is their favorite part of the year because they get to have fun with old and new friends.

CHRIST

Pacifica’s All School Retreat is also an invitation for students to orient their year around Christ and explore their faith in a new environment. Pacifica weaves Christian values into many areas of the school year, including weekly Chapel, Philosophy/Theology course requirements, and Spiritual Life opportunities. Retreat is a different avenue for our students to engage with the person of Jesus, away from the normal habits and distractions of everyday life. 

Students are asked to listen to a message each night of Retreat. Some years, staff/faculty share their stories of coming to faith. Other years, Pastor DeBenning speaks on stories from the Gospels. Students are given space to reflect on and wrestle with questions of faith and ponder how it might apply to their own lives. In addition to the nightly messages, the set aside ‘cabin time’ encourages them to explore these thoughts with their friends and cabin leader. Some walk away from Retreat with a new question about God, a different perspective on Jesus, or a reinvigorated energy towards their own faith journey. We want to present students with what we believe to be Truth, and allow them to decide for themselves if they agree.  

As we embark on this year’s All School Retreat, we anticipate a week filled with exciting adventure, new friendships, and deepened faith.