Building Community

While field trips and class outings are a regular part of life at Weber, the grade-level overnight trips offer something more profound: a structured opportunity for students to engage in hands-on learning, group challenges, and experiences that foster personal growth. Held at the start of the school year, the 9th Grade Retreat invites students to continue building the relationships they began at New Student Orientation with a shared sense of purpose.

 

The 9th-grade retreat was carefully designed to help students connect with one another in deeper and more meaningful ways while exploring Atlanta. The program began on Weber campus in the gym with peer leaders guiding their freshman peer groups through a series of fun, active, and hilarious team-building activities, setting the tone for trust and collaboration. In the afternoon, the group explored Ponce City Market. Later in the evening, the school counselor, Rosie Grinzaid, facilitated an activity called Boundary Breakers, a listening exercise and thoughtful series of questions that encouraged participants to move beyond surface-level conversations and deepen their bonds as a new class.

 

The experience concluded with a visit to the Georgia Aquarium, where students enjoyed moments of shared discovery and connection in a new setting.

 

“There were so many different ways to break the ice, whether we were playing games in the gym, doing activities with our groups, or just walking around the aquarium,” said Zach Rosen ’29.

 

“The 9th-grade retreat offers students an amazing opportunity to deepen their connections with peers outside of the classroom setting. I loved getting to watch students form new friendships and get closer as a grade,” shared Rosie Grinzaid, Associate Director of Student Social and Emotional Support.

 

Kol Hakavod to the Peer Leaders that helped elevate the 9th grade retreat: Daryn Mand, Annie Marcus, Abbey Deckelbaum, Ella Hart Kashdan, Zanden Cohen, Sadie Kitey, Sienna Harris, Sara Diamant, Dylan Dickson, Molly Diamant.

 

Thank you as well to our faculty chaperones: Michelle Geppert, Evonna Bruner, Jordan Crawford, Rosie Grinzaid, Herschel Revzin, and Charlie McQuade.