Faith Formation-Retreat Opportunities
We at St. Mary Central High School embrace the role of Catholic education in giving each student a chance to hear and respond to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Catholic retreats give every student a chance to grow in Christian self-understanding, the spirit of prayer and worship, and the Christian call to service. Retreats are offered each year to every student as an integral part of the St. Mary Central High School curriculum and experience.
St. Mary Central's retreats are under the direction of Campus Ministry with significant input and involvement from SMC parents and faculty. Our retreats take place off-site in natural settings that evoke feelings of peace and reflection. A highlight of each retreat is the opportunity to celebrate the Mass in an intimate setting after a day of meaningful reflection with classmates and friends.
Retreats are considered to be so essential to the SMC experience that the academic year is deemed incomplete unless a retreat has been made.
Freshman Retreat
This retreat is focused on transitions and new beginnings. St. Mary Central faculty and parents welcome our new freshman class and provide an opportunity for them to develop deeper relationships and to experience the meaning of prayer as they begin their high school journey in faith.
Sophomore Retreat
This is a faculty- and parent-led retreat that focuses on breaking the boundaries that separate us from our true selves, separate us from one another, and separate us from God. Students are encouraged to drop their masks, look at the goodness in each other, and invited to come into communion with Godís people.
Junior Retreat
The theme of the junior retreat is leadership development and accepting responsibility in our faith community. Students are challenged to emerge as faith leaders at home, at St. Mary Central and in their communities in the spirit of Christian discipleship.
Senior Retreats
St. Mary Central seniors experience a daylong retreat in the fall semester and a two-day retreat in the spring semester as a meaningful conclusion to their faith education at SMC. The fall retreat is led by a group of faculty, parents, community leaders, and alumni. The retreat focuses on ìaccepting the baton of faithî and accepting the responsibility for faith leadership as our seniors begin their last year at St. Mary Central. The spring retreat is a two-day/overnight retreat led by a group of faculty, parents, and alumni that seeks to assess the meaning of a Catholic education and challenge the students to move beyond St. Mary Central with confidence in their faith.
Service Retreat
St. Mary Central offers all students the opportunity to take their faith beyond the classroom in a weeklong service mission or workcamp trip. The workcamp trip takes place in the summer and is designed to deepen students' faith through service. Workcamp satisfies the school's service hour requirement for one academic year. This experience is also offered as Christian Discipleship, a .5 credit course elective in the theological studies curriculum, subject to the completion of the related organizational and academic assignments.
