ASB embarked on an early weekend adventure to the Palomar Mountain Christian Conference Center on August 21, 2025. Upon arrival, students were greeted with tall trees twining towards rich blue skies. This would be their new home for the weekend. On their first full day, students were woken at 8:00 am for breakfast followed by a short lesson on teamwork and leadership taught by Mr. Caire. Afterward, ASB played a series of icebreakers in order to better familiarize themselves with each other. Lunch would be followed by more lessons and activities. Around 1:30 pm, they had free time to take advantage of the center’s multitude of activities such as swimming, archery, shooting range, zip lining, and paintball. Yet another lesson would follow, before the students were let out for dinner. After dinner, students spent about three hours planning for our upcoming events such as Homecoming, Coronation, and other ASB led events. Exhausted after a full day, ASB members headed back to their rooms where some went stargazing, some slept, and some hung out and talked. Throughout the trip, ASB was able to discover a lot more about themselves and about how to help those around them. “Because we didn’t have our phones or service, the retreat helped me learn a lot more about myself since I was forced to be in the moment. It really helped me see what I was like with no distractions,” Sophie Tran, 10, said.
ASB also grew as a whole throughout the retreat. “The retreat helped ASB grow since we were all focused on each other and activities with no distractions. We all got to know each other super well for the short span of time we had. Thus, our team bond became significantly stronger, and we are now more united,” Grace Davis, 11, said.
