Retreats
Hamlet Retreat – 11th Grade
One of the joys of being a Tara student is gaining a love for, and an understanding of, Shakespeare. This is no small feat; it comes from working on (and performing) a Shakespeare play in a manner that brings clarity to every word and every image, and an in-depth study of Hamlet. The Hamlet retreat takes place in a mountain home in Red Feather Lakes during the February Intensive. For one week, the play is studied all day long, and the material covered is equal to a three-week block.
“The Hamlet Intensive was probably my favorite academic block in all of the four years that I was at Tara. To be away from school for a whole week in the mountain cabin and do nothing but discuss Hamlet from morning until night was exciting, engaging and so satisfying. With the fire going and the snow falling gently outside, I was transported by our inspired teacher into the world of Shakespeare’s ideas, his language, his questions and his wisdom. I did not even want to stop talking about it at dinner!” – Twelfth grade student
Before-School Leadership Retreat – 12th Grade
At Tara, we view “transitions” as being as important as the actual subjects we focus on, and we spend a lot of time and thought making them meaningful. In this light, both the before-school senior retreat and the one at the end of the year after graduation are of utmost importance to the senior year.
At the beginning of the year, seniors travel with the Tara directors to a cabin in the mountains for a retreat lasting five days. During the week, there are group meetings every morning and individual goal-setting senior interviews in the afternoons. The class also has a group project assignment: to create an Andy Goldsworthy-style art project somewhere on the land from materials found in nature.
The Russian Literature Intensive – 12th Grade
The final week of the Russian literature block is taught as an intensive in a retreat setting. The predominant focus of the week is the work of Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky. Daytimes are spent in discussions about the authors and the themes in their writing, while evenings are devoted to films about them. Students bring their laptops, and a part of each day is devoted to writing a short story in the style of one of the authors that they’ve studied.
Post-Graduation Retreat – 12th Grade
The transition from experiences together into the next step in our graduates’ individual lives is of extreme importance to us, to our students, and to their parents. With this in mind, we go back to the mountains almost immediately after graduation and stay there together for one night and two full days.
The time we spend together in the mountains is traditionally divided into three parts: a review of the past four years, a celebratory meal together, and some fun, be it a good game, singing, dancing, etc. We conclude by talking with about the future and sending our graduates into the world with heartfelt wishes.
One of our graduates wrote us a letter about this retreat to share with future graduates. She said that the retreat serves as a “bookend” to the before-school retreat; the whole four-year Tara experience would not be complete without it.