The purpose of the retreats, according to principal Lora Nordquist, includes building leadership skills, developing unity as a class, and challenging students individually as they try new experiences.

"Doing this in the middle part of the year also served as a chance to check in with the kids in smaller groups and see how everybody is doing," she said.

Volunteer coordinator Anne Jacobson did an amazing job working with Hoodoo and arranging for volunteer help, according to Nordquist. "We'd be lost without Anne," she said.

Nine Sisters High School students worked as group leaders for the  day.

The theme that carried through the day was "The balance of life," which focused on how we juggle work, family, health, friends, and spirit.

Brad Tisdel, who is contracted by the school district to help coordinate the retreats, led the students through the team-building portion of the day, which included an activity in which teams took turns pulling one member of the group at a time up or down a slight hill. At each end, students were given a famous quote by Mrs. Biesmann (aka Wise Baboo) to interpret and apply to real life before heading back with tube and passenger in tow.

Nordquist and her husband, John, Mrs. Haynes and some parent volunteers led students through a short lesson on Nordic skiing; then everyone made a trek out on the groomed trails. For the majority of the students, it was their first time on cross country skis.

Ms. Stafford, Mrs. Dunaway, and Mrs. Patton worked in the lodge together where each student had the opportunity to sew together a felted "medicine bag", in which to store something important to them, such as a piece of writing, a picture, or a special object.

Mr. Patton, Mr. Glick and Greg Garretson covered practical measures people can take to survive outdoors during the winter, including how to construct a shelter, how to recognize and prevent hypothermia, and how to build a fire.

Students found the day to be a good balance of adventure, challenge and fun. "We got to do things our parents don't let us do, like build fires," said one student in a debriefing session at the end of the day.

Another summed it up well, saying "It's a good thing to get out, away from the school and have new experiences together. We're lucky."

The retreats are supported financially through the Sisters School Foundation and, in the case of the winter retreat, through the generosity of Hoodoo, which gave the group discounted rates on the use of the facilities and ski rental.

Part of the purpose is simple fun, part is to draw the class together, and part is to reflect on the notion that by developing as individuals, the whole class will become stronger and more dynamic.

- Charlie Kanzig, School Counselor