As Mr. Dave Neeson wraps up his first year on the Hill as the director of campus ministry, he is already thinking about making next year’s retreats an even better experience for students in all four grades. 

One of those improvements will involve the Class of 2023. Neeson said, “For the Junior Class, retreats are going to be at South Bend for a day and all juniors are going. We will visit three different campuses and see a presentation at the Digital Visualization Theater that is phenomenal. We’re putting a lot of effort into this junior retreat. We’re creating it from scratch.”

A change for next year’s sophomores is also in the works. Neeson said,  “The National Evangelization Team Ministries have conducted all sophomore retreats (this school) year but in the future, the sophomore retreat is going to be conducted with our teachers and staff. We will also use Brunette Park and not go to Laurel Hall.”

Neeson also noted that next year’s retreats for both the freshmen and sophomores will be mandatory. “(Participating in a retreat) is part of going to school here,” he said and added, “I hope to encourage and create a stronger freshman, sophomore and junior experience that people would desire to go to the senior experience, which we will keep voluntary because a relationship with Christ is a voluntary thing; you can’t force that.

“Our goal is to get constantly better in everything we do, and retreats are no different. I want to review them and fix things that didn’t work well and make them better, but retreats are an opportunity to evaluate where you are at and also to go into whatever battles you have with a little bit more strength and ability to fight.”