Griffins Put Faith into Action at "Called to Build" Retreat
On Oct. 8, Grade 5 to 8 students from Good Shepherd gathered at St. Paul’s Church for a transformative, full-day faith retreat centered on the theme "Called to Build: Stewards of God’s Kingdom."
Grounded in the Scripture passage 1 Peter 4:10 and connected to the Catholic religious education curriculum, the day empowered students to discover their God-given gifts and put them to work in service of others.
The retreat brought the St. Clair Catholic District School Board’s 2026-2030 Multi-Year Strategic Plan directly into action, weaving its three core themes throughout every experience:
- Believe: Students deepened their relationship with God through prayer, Mass, and sacred art creation—affirming their belief that every individual is made in the image of God with unique gifts to share.
- Achieve: Through hands-on problem-solving challenges, students achieved meaningful goals together that no single student could accomplish alone.
- Accompany: Living out the Griffin credo of Respect, Unity, and Kindness, older and younger students walked side by side in mixed-grade teams. Listening with their hearts and showing patience, they ensured everyone felt welcomed, included, and appreciated as caring members of God's family.
As part of the day, students created tiles highlighting their God-given gifts, which were placed beneath artwork representing the Strategic Plan and displayed in the school.
Zoe Demaiter, Grade 7: “One of them was perseverance, so getting through hard things and not giving up. Another was positivity. The last one was problem solving which I enjoy doing. I think the number one thing I’m going to take away from this experience today is learning about why we do things in Mass and sharing my three gifts.”
Lyla Paluca, Grade 8: “I put patience, perseverance, humour and joy. I had my friends help me and they suggested those ones. I learned to accept all the gifts we have been given.”
Natalie Demaiter, Grade 7: “My tile had encouragement, optimism, and humour and joy on it. I think that represented me pretty well. What I’m going to take away in communicating to other people.”
Liz Gibson, Principal: “We are so proud of our students for stepping into leadership and putting their faith into action. “We look forward to building on today’s work of Believe, Achieve and Accompany in our Griffin school community.”
Good Shepherd extends a sincere thank you to Knights of Columbus Council #7251 for generously sponsoring lunch for student leaders, and to all staff and volunteers who helped bring the Strategic Plan to life in such a practical, heartfelt way. A special thank you to UCC leaders Sam Baresich and Brooklyn Tellier for sharing their Lancer Pride and mentoring students throughout the day.
We look forward to seeing our Griffins continue to lead with faith, compassion, and unity as co-builders of God’s Kingdom!
