“The big question is whether you are going to be able to say a hearty yes to your adventure.” – Joseph Campbell
This week, Mount Madonna School’s sixth and seventh graders embarked on an unforgettable adventure during Retreat Week 2025: Quest. For the second year, dedicated upper school faculty, Angela, Claire, Becky, Luis, Holly, Sangita, Mark, Reginald, Dustan and Blythe, collaborated to design a unique on-campus experience rooted in the framework of the archetypal hero’s journey.
Learning journeys are structured around three key stages: the call, the journey and the return. Retreat Week invites students to take part in a learning journey that challenges and inspires. The call sparks curiosity and introduces new concepts and tools for the adventure ahead. The journey invites students to take risks, solve problems, and step into unfamiliar roles, encouraging perspective-taking, creativity, and resilience. The return offers space to reflect on discoveries and insights, integrating them into daily life and learning.
This year’s Retreat Week theme, Quest, centered around storytelling, world-building, and map-making. Students imagined and developed fantastical worlds, complete with cultures, economies, languages, and legends, inspired by the diverse and historic landscapes of Mount Madonna’s campus. Days were structured around immersive themes:
- Day 1: The Call
- Day 2: Language & Culture
- Day 3: Engineering & Trade
- Day 4: Storytelling & Dance
- Day 5: The Return
Throughout the week, students built academic and life skills across a wide range of disciplines, including mathematics, science, performing arts, creative writing, social studies, music, visual art, and engineering, all while developing essential capacities for future off-campus learning journeys such as self-awareness, active listening, reflection, and teamwork.
Students reflected on meaningful questions:
- How do my actions impact others?
- How can I engage with curiosity and inquiry?
- How can I use my strengths to respond to challenges?
- How do I contribute to a group and navigate team dynamics?
Retreat Week 2025: Quest was more than a thematic academic experience. It was an invitation for students to step into a story of their own making, to collaborate, create, and grow as individuals and community members. We’re proud of the journey these students undertook, and we’re already dreaming about where next year’s adventure will take them.
