By Marcos Flores

On October 27, 2011, while students at PHS were in their first period classes tired and sleepy, Teen PEP was on its way to Camp Ralph Mason in Sussex County which is about an hour away. We were ferried to an overnight retreat in the middle of the woods with people who were still strangers to us. Only our second mothers, the Teen PEP faculty advisors – Ms. Cilento and Ms. Petersen, knew what would be in store for us.

Although we knew each other, we were conversing and mingling as if it were our first encounter. On that chilly and damp day, we sat comfortably in a room around a warm fire where everyone shared their innermost personal feelings. Naturally, tears were inevitable.

The bravery and strength of everyone was so overwhelming, as all the students spoke of the sad times in their lives and how they conquered them. Our eyes were opened to the genuine side of each other, the side we would later get to know and appreciate.

As requested, we each brought along something personal that was tangible and pertained to our unique qualities. We were then asked to share its significance. What we learned about each other that evening could not have occurred in a classroom.

During this overnight retreat, we discovered there was an enormous amount of talent among our teen members. Besides leadership skills and awesome problem solving skills (which were used the next day in the team building activities with Ryan from the Camp Mason Staff), we were wowed with impressive singing from classmates who we never knew were able to sing. The entertainment never ended until the early morning hours.

The purpose of our retreat was to build a working team among Teen PEP members and form a bond, one that would enable us to successfully conduct future workshops and learn from our second mothers. Surely, this was a once in a lifetime priceless experience.