January 26, 2024

2024 Catholic Schools Week Supplement

A senior retreat brings ‘a family’ even closer together

By John Shaughnessy

At 18, Yolett Perez shares something in common with many of the 1,350 seniors in Catholic high schools in the archdiocese.

A senior at Father Michael Shawe Memorial High School in Madison, Yolett has experienced one of the most defining and emotional times of her past four years in school—a retreat with her senior classmates that has brought them closer to each other and to God.

“That’s the moment where I experienced why Shawe is super important to me,” Yolett says. “It was a three-day weekend retreat where our class got to get together in a cabin. We all got a lot closer, and we opened up about things that we might not have known about each other. That was a great experience.

“It meant a lot to me to learn more about each other because we’ve been going to school together all our lives, and sometimes we don’t know what people are going through. It just opened up a lot for me. It makes me closer to them. It makes us unite a little more, makes us feel more together.”

That insight also reveals a great deal about Yolett, who has played on the girls’ golf, soccer and basketball teams at Shawe and is a member of the school’s National Honor Society and its French and Spanish clubs. After all, she has experienced most of her life so far with her classmates.

“I’ve been going to Shawe and Pope John XXIII School since kindergarten,” says Yolett, a member of Prince of Peace Parish in Madison. “The schools are right next to each other. I’ve known everyone there my whole life. And I like how small it is.”

She also appreciates the immense impact that Shawe has on her faith.

“Being at Shawe has made me realize the importance of my Catholic faith. We go to church once a week. We do rosaries, and we participate in the Catholic teachings.”

Then there is the life-changing impact of her classmates on her.

“Most of us have known each other since kindergarten,” she says. “We’re all just like siblings basically. We’re all just one big family.” †

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