by Diane Bramble, Middle School Humanities Teacher

Friends 8th graders are in Estes Park this week on their final retreat as a class along with their teachers Diane Bramble, Lindsey Hilliard, and Steve Fragleasso. Here Diane chronicles their adventures and journey in this week’s blog post. Enjoy!

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Tuesday, May 13, 2025 – Hiking, swimming and a mansion!

What a fun, chaotic, hot, happy, amazing, crazy (but in a good way) first day of our Eighth-Grade Retreat (adjectives generated by eighth graders). Knowing we couldn’t check into the Retreat House until 3:00 p.m., the teachers decided to take the students to Lyons for a long hike and a cold plunge. Read on for details.

The eighth graders took a four-mile hike on the Bitterbrush Trail at Hall Ranch. The Boulder County website describes the area as “a landscape of rolling grasslands and sandstone buttes with excellent viewing opportunities for wildflowers, animals, and scenic vistas.” And, we spotted a rare species– a flock of red-shouldered running shirtless boys. See the attached photos for proof. We found an outcropping of rocks and ate lunch in a shady spot. Every hiker felt overheated, so we trundled off when we finished the hike to find cool relief.

The LaVern M. Johnson Park is a historic park five minutes from downtown Lyons. The park is gorgeous and surrounded by sandstone cliffs, but the highlight is the St. Vrain River. I’ve never seen the eighth graders disembark from the Friends’ bus and sprint as fast as they did this afternoon on the way to the river. Everyone spent over an hour doing cold plunges in the creek. Visiting the park was the perfect ending to our Lyons adventures. Next, we were off to see our rental house in Estes Park.  

Upon our arrival at the house, one eighth grader exclaimed, “ohmygod, is that a mansion?!” Yes, it very much appears to be a mansion–a 10,000 square foot house bordered by a river, eight beds, eight bathrooms, a ping-pong table, foosball, table shuffleboard, a six-hole frisbee golf course, a three-hole putt-putt course, and a volleyball/badminton court. After hours of exploring the house and grounds, we settled into dinner, the kids rehearsed for Wednesday night’s lip-synch performances, and everyone played several rounds of the hilarious and deep The Game That Goes There.

Look for our update tomorrow to learn more about the waterfall hike at Glacier Gorge in Rocky Mountain National Park and the lip-synch competition.

“Now I see the secret of the making of the best persons, 
It is to grow in the open air and to eat and sleep with the earth.”  
 –Walt Whitman

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Wednesday, May 14, 2025 – Weather Whiplash

Nature giveth and nature taketh away–moving from 80 degrees and sunny to 32 degrees and snowy in 24 hours–we have weather whiplash. 

Everyone was eager to explore Rocky Mountain National Park today. The morning plan was to hike about 1.6 miles from the Glacier Gorge Trailhead to Alberta Falls. As the hike began, the conditions were mild, with a few eighth graders even wearing shorts. Just as the group arrived at Alberta Falls, the snow began to fall. The kind of snow that floats down from the sky, in giant, fluffy flakes. The kids took the change in weather in stride and enjoyed the unexpected snowstorm. Until the temperature plummeted, and that’s when the teachers decided to hurry back to the bus. 

Once the eighth-grade crew arrived back at the house, the post-hike watchword was warm. As in showers, hot tubs, chocolate chip cookies, tea, fuzzy blankets, and cozy socks. Once everyone felt sufficiently warm, the whole group played a marathon game of Infection, a hide-and-seek game, before dinner. The students prepared a dinner of grilled cheese sandwiches, hot dogs, and corn on the cob. 

One goal of the 8th-grade retreat is to deepen appreciation–for ourselves and each other. Each teacher shared a story from their lives about when they received or offered an act of appreciation. The students participated in an activity called Golden Brick. In this activity, 17 pieces of paper, one for each eighth grader, are positioned around the room, and everyone jotted a short appreciation for everyone else in the class. 

Following the quiet, reflective activity, the boisterous Lip-Synch Performance was an energetic bookend to end the evening. The judging categories were costuming, choreography, lip-sync skill, stage presence, and overall performance. The teachers/judges couldn’t choose one winner because each performer was fantastic. The level of creativity was high, and it was apparent how much time and effort each performer put into the act. Here are some of the top designations: best intensive eye contact, best music video, best building of suspense, best live singing, and many more. 

Tomorrow, more hiking from Bear Lake to Mills Lake (6.6 miles), final council meeting of middle school, solo time for journaling, reading the letters from home, s’mores, and tidying up for the exit from our retreat house.

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Thursday, May 15, 2025 – Discovering Unity

Unity is a thing forming a complex whole. The eighth graders, in community, discovered their true sense of unity today. 

In this dispatch from Estes Park, we have to start at the end of the day rather than the beginning. After a heart-pounding hike and a heart-opening closing council circle, the eighth graders learned how unified they are. 

Students at Friends, from preschool through eighth grade, sit together in a circle at least once each day. The circle shape is intentional–everyone is present and equal, can see and be seen by others, and takes turns with authentically speaking and listening. The council circle is a safe, sacred space. Lindsey leads council circle meetings throughout the school year in Wellness class. The prompt from Lindsey on Thursday evening: What will you take with you from middle school? The talking piece–an object the speaker holds when it’s their turn to speak–was a small tree branch. One brave eighth grader volunteered to share first, took the talking stick, and started to cry. There were murmurs around the circle, “It’s okay…just breathe…take your time.”  This eighth grader spoke the truth for everyone–I love all of you, I’m going to miss every one of you–even the ones who I didn’t always get along with very well, I’m scared and sad and excited.

Transitioning from middle school to high school is daunting. During the retreat, some kids mentioned that the transition feels like leaving childhood behind and moving toward adulthood. Council circles start with each participant saying, “I’m in” after they finish speaking. At the end of the council, each person says, “I’m out.” Last night, when it was time to say, “I’m out,” the kids refused to say those words. “I don’t want to leave.” So, breaking with tradition in the best way, this group of unified eighth graders instead said, “Friends together, friends apart, you’ll forever be, in my heart.” Then, someone spoke up, “Group hug!” Everyone met in the middle of the circle, tears flowing, and held onto each other for comfort, centering, affirmation, and love. Teachers grabbed tissue boxes, kids grabbed tissues, and tears transformed into laughter and release. It’s okay, just breathe.

And then, wait for it, Lindsey placed the manila folders containing family letters in the center of the circle and said, “There’s so much love in this room. There are other people in your life who love you and hold you. They want you to know how much they love you, see you, support you, and believe in you.” The kids were stunned by this reveal–how did their loved ones compose letters without them knowing? Each eighth grader took their folder, found a private spot in the house, and for 20 minutes, pored over the letters. The teachers dispensed tissues and reassurances. Your letters were magical. The eighth graders were enrapt, enveloped, and transported by your wisdom, humor, and love. Finally, the circle reconvened, and some kids shared excerpts from their letters. The eighth graders laughed, cried some more, and then closed their final council circle of their middle school lives. At the beginning of the week, the teachers asked the kids, “What are you most looking forward to?” The unanimous response was, “We’ll be together. It’s just us.” And so it was. 

In Gratitude,

Lindsey, Steve, and Diane