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By Mary Stupart Selfâ€"confidence, sensitiviâ€" ty to others and sharing are difficult concepts to teach in the classroom. But grade eight teachers in Waterloo Region separate schools have found students reâ€" spond to these ideas inâ€" stinctively and naturally in the rural setting of resâ€" idential retreat centres. _ ‘Residential programs are a relatively new concept in separate schools in Onâ€" tario but their popularity is growing with both teachers and students. This year 15 grade eight classes _ from _ separate schools in New Hamburg, Cambridge, Waterloo, Kitâ€" chener and Elmira will spend four to five days durâ€" ing the regular school year with their teacherps and parâ€" ish priests at residential retreats at Mount Mary Imâ€" maculate Academy in Anâ€" caster and Mount Alverno in Orangeville. . As the classes eat, sleep, play and study together in a new rural setting, the teachers have a unique opportunity to get to know their students better and teach them to share and help one another. ‘‘The students interact and learn to accept and be sensitive to each other‘s needs as they work and play together," said Father Ruetz, a religion consulâ€" tant with the separate school board and the coâ€" ordinator of the program. "In my experience, this is a unique program to Orangeville and Ancaster. Basically it‘s not an outâ€" door education program Maire Biebesheimer, upper left, a teacher at Notre Dame school, leads her students in a cemetery study at St. John‘s Anglican church in Ancaster. With her are students Julie Dietrich, left, Wayne Doerr, right, and Stephen Frieâ€" burger, upper right. Teachers, students share in retreat setting although _ outdoor _ eduâ€" cation is part of the proâ€" gram. _ The main thrust is to have an impact on the personal and spiritual development ‘of the stuâ€" dents." Most of the grade eight classes in the region spend their fourâ€"day retreat in Ancaster . The â€" rolling. 100 acre grounds around Mount Mary Immaculate Academy make an ideal setting for the program. Tennis courts, a gymnasâ€" ium â€" and playing fields are just a few of the faâ€" cilities available to the classes for evening sports programs. Furnished residences and hearty meals served by the sisters of the order combine to make the acadâ€" emy a "home away from home* for the students. * Studies of tombstones in the historic cemetery of St. John‘s Anglican Church in Ancaster tell the stuâ€" dents a story of infant mortality, deadly epidemâ€" ics and untimely deaths due to wars. During the daytime, the students make educational field trips to Dundurn Castle in Hamilton. The historic town of Ancaster. which is only a stone‘s throw from the academy. provides the setting for history lessons about early settlers to the area and pioneer life. The Bruce Trail, which is only two miles away, provides an opportunity for creek and contour studies, animal | observaâ€" tion â€" and tree â€" studies. Orienteering, a directionâ€" Regional news and views finding game played with a compass, is another activity that is often inâ€" cluded in the residential program. Group _ activities _ that take place during the reâ€" treat are the responsibilâ€" ity _ of _ the _ individual teachers. The _ more spiritual evening programs are in charge of Father Ruetz, the religion conâ€" Joe Sieber, a teacher at Not Bruce Trail with his students. at Notre Dame school in Kitchener, examines crayftish, captured in a creek on the sultant. Advance preparation for the retreat often involves weeks of planning on the part of teachers. Father Ruetz meets with them before the retreat and offers overall guidelines for the week. However, the program only works because the teachers are committed to it. Each school‘s parâ€" ticipation in the residenâ€" tial program is left up to thk teachers to decide. For during the week long program they have to leave their families behind with babysitters or spouses. ‘‘You have to go along with the program comâ€" pletely or it‘s not worthâ€" while. It‘s a great responsâ€" ibility being away from your family all week," said Maire Brebesheimer, a grade seven and eight teacher from Notre Dame school in Kitchener . However she feels the close communication â€" she achieves with her pupils is well worth the effort. â€" ‘"Our whole day is spent with the students from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. You can relar with the kids here. Students from Notre Dame school in Kitchener take tiime out at Mount Mary Immaculate Academy in Ancaster to do homework related to their field trips. Waterioo Chronicle, Wednesday, November 5, 1975 â€" Page 21 Father Ruetz agrees. ‘‘The one key ingredient is the enthusiasm and commitâ€" ment of the teachers to the type of learning inâ€" volved. That‘s the thing that makes the program work." and they‘re much freer and talk more. We can respond and relate easier with the students outside the class room. You learn so much more about the students that helps you later in the year." Sharing of tasks and thoughts is an integral part of the residential experience for the stuâ€" dents. They keep a daily journal of their thoughts which they â€" read aloud to each other every night. Students also adopt a member of the retreat compaunity as their ""krisâ€" kin~ (Christ child). They anonymously _ carry â€" out extra deeds and thoughtâ€" ful gestures for their krisâ€" kin throughout the week. This spiritual closeness and sharing is kept alive after the students leave the retreat centre by meetâ€" ings and discussions of what took place at the reâ€" The teachers also reâ€" late the outdoor studies at the retreat to class proâ€" jects and courses of study later in the year. treat. ‘This program is for grade eight students beâ€" cause it seems to be a critical period in the deâ€" velopment of the adolesâ€" cent. They are asking more questions and searchâ€" ing more than at any other period in adolesâ€" cence. Because of this searching, their responses and changes are more sigâ€" nificant." The residential program has been restricted to only grade eight students beâ€" cause Father Ruetz feels students at that age are in one of the most critical phases of their life. Father Ruetz thinks the residential program has great potential as a learnâ€" ing tool for educational and spiritual development. ‘"I‘m astonished by the potential. We‘re _ just starting to _ understand what is possible in this livingâ€"learning environâ€"