Sophomore Retreat

To fulfill the Christian Service and Retreat requirements of sophomore year, each sophomore must attend an overnight Urban Immersion Retreat with his homeroom. The retreat will begin Friday at 3 p.m. and will run until about 7 p.m. on Saturday (after we attend Mass together). During the retreat we will be preparing and serving a meal for people who are homeless, working at the Hillside Community Food Bank, and visiting with the senior citizens at the Little Sisters of the Poor home in Totowa.

As we work together with the poor and underprivileged, we will also be taking the time to reflect together. We will process our experiences as a group and discuss the Jesuit idea of a “faith that does justice,” always remembering that we are men (and women) for others. In keeping with this year’s theme of “Hearts on Fire,” we hope that this retreat will inspire the sophomore class to commit themselves to serving our less fortunate brothers and sisters.

The retreat dates are assigned by homeroom. For the 2011-2012 school year, they are:

September 30-October 1, 2011 – Homeroom 2A, Mr. Burokas

October 14-15, 2011 – Homeroom 2B, Sr. Frances Duncan

October 28-29, 2011 – Homeroom 2C, Mr. Gambone

November 18-19, 2011 – Homeroom 2D, Ms. Garcia

December 16-17, 2011 – Homeroom 2E, Mr. Geary; Sophomores in Band HR

February 3-4, 2012 – Homeroom 2G, Ms. Romano; Sophomores in Chorus HR

February 17-18, 2012 – Homeroom 2F, Fr. O'Hare, SJ

March 9-10, 2012 – Homeroom 2H, Dr. Scibilia

March 23-24, 2012 – Homeroom 2I, Mr. Urbanovich

April 27-28, 2012– Homeroom 2J, Mr. Vaznelis

May 18-19, 2012– Open Registration

Sophomores must attend the weekend their homeroom is assigned. If he ABSOLUTELY CANNOT attend that weekend, please contact Mr. Dougherty at doughertyjohn@spprep.org or (201) 547-6486 immediately to discuss other dates. Remember that this retreat fulfills the Christian Service requirement for the year – something that is necessary for graduation.

WHAT ARE STUDENTS SAYING ABOUT THE RETREAT?

Joe W., ’12 said that “Sophomore retreat showed me how many people are living in poverty, and the talks we heard were really helpful with my reflection.”

Alex G., ’12 said that “Sophomore retreat opened my eyes to a life that I could never imagine myself living.”