Twenty-four Hastings High School seniors recently participated in a Peer Leadership Retreat at the Taconic Outdoor Education Center in Cold Spring, New York. 

Through individual and group activities such as wall-climbing and a blindfold challenge, students learned valuable leadership skills, including how communicating and trusting others in the process can lead to positive outcomes. A similar retreat for the freshman class will be held next week.

The retreats are just one component of Hastings’ broader Peer Leadership Program, which is designed to help middle schoolers transition into high school.  

“Throughout the school year, pairs of senior peer leaders team up with groups of ninth graders to teach them about collaboration and discuss problem-solving techniques. Simultaneously, senior peer leaders participate in a daily, for-credit, year-long leadership course taught by Hastings’ faculty,” said high school social studies teacher and Director of the Peer Leadership Program Jeff Conwisar.

See this year's group of senior peer leaders below:

Sharyn Belsky, Elianna Carvalho, Sawyer Dolgins, Erik Ghalib, Ian Harding, Oscar Hayes, Lois Heitler, Mira Hinkaty, Brian Jaeger, Sonya Lasser, Harin Lee, Miles Levine, Erin Lobovsky, Zoe Lohrasbi, Dom Moore, Lionel Muench, Jason Nadler, Shira Oppenheimer, Lucy Richer, Austin Schiffer, Barney Smith, Maya Tadmor, Leon Wang, and Aynsley Zamore

"The program taps into the power of the district's oldest students," Conwisar said. "It helps foster a nurturing environment for all."