By Nemari Morales

Every year since 1991, McCaskey’s Reach Club embraces the tradition of a weekend long retreat to Camp Swatara in Pennsylvania, emphasizing the importance of reconnecting with nature and overcoming obstacles. The Reach Community of the 2023-2024 school year made no exception, despite a major obstacle presented to us. 

Brother Albrecht, a former gym teacher and leader of the reflection center at McCaskey high school served as the advisor of Reach up until late in the school year. Albrecht is well known for his inspiring personality and extroverted nature, going above and beyond expectations each day in the school to empower students and staff alike. Reach was a club he formed in the 1990-1991 academic school year as a support group for students in any sort of need, teaching important life lessons while providing a social circle for students to rely on. Albrecht made it a point to extract the leadership skills of students by encouraging them to research and write important lessons for the group to learn, a tradition that has carried into today’s group. 

Albrecht and many other contributors have made this retreat possible, despite many factors that have stunted the journey. A major example that presents itself is the funding of the retreat – for many years, Albrecht received funding from the School District of Lancaster for the retreat, which was unfortunately cut due to budget shortfalls. Due to the nature of Reach and its devoted members, a special staff and former student of Reach named Karin A. Weidman-Swope stepped up to the plate and has been funding the group’s trips to Camp Swatara since. 

Hiking and camping have never been pleasant experiences for me, and I found myself avoiding the retreat up until the 2023-2024 school year, my junior year of high school. In this time, Brother Albrecht was diagnosed with ALS, a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. Due to this condition, Albrecht’s muscle functionality has rapidly deteriorated, rendering him unable to walk and therefore unable to accompany our family on this trip. Despite such a difficult diagnosis, Albrecht remained positive and encouraged us all to embark on the journey of attending the retreat. Seeing his passion for the event, I felt that perhaps it was time to return the favor for one of the millions of things he’s done for me.

The bus ride to Camp Swatara was exciting yet anxiety inducing at the same time – the members of Reach are all amazing and accepting people, though going somewhere so unfamiliar to me was challenging. Getting to our campsite, we quickly got used to our cabins and met up around the campfire at 5:30pm, where Karin and her family prepared chicken tortellini for supper. While eating, each member of the group was asked if they had any sort of comments or stories to tell about Brother Albrecht, each of us happy to share the love he showered us in. Mr. Peachey, a teacher at McCaskey, shared a story of how Brother Albrecht visited his classroom randomly to share how pleased he was to work alongside him. Confused, Peachey asked if he was retiring due to his age and service to the community. Albrecht responded joyfully:

“Nope! I thought YOU were retiring!”

We all laughed and spoke of our own experiences with Albrecht, reminiscing on how he frequently made a point to empower everyone he came across. Mrs. Kaminski, an English Language Development Teacher at McCaskey responded, “If I could even get close to what Brother Albrecht is, I think I’d be a lot better.” Eric Suazo, a Human Resources Generalist for the district (and amazing hiker) replied with some more insight for us all, saying, “Brother Albrecht said he loved you guys, not because he wanted us to be like him, but because he loved all of your personalities. If he was here, he wouldn’t be saying he wants us to be like him, but to be yourselves.” 

The first night of the trip ended with lots of tears, hugs, and eventually s’mores. Waking up the next morning, we all aimed to brace ourselves for the plans of that day. 

A major part of retreat each year is a group hike up the mountain of the campsite, which is part of the notable Appalachian Trail. Many of us didn’t know what to expect as it was our first time on the trip, let alone hiking up a mountain, but we were frequently reassured by recurring members that the view of the top would compensate for the physical demand of climbing. Breakfast that morning was hearty – coffee, sausages, pancakes, French toast, eggs, and bananas. Everyone ate well while discussing our goals for the hike – mine wasn’t anything extravagant. I wanted to make it up the mountain and back to the campsite in one piece. I was partnered up with Moth Baker and Tahlea Morales, students of McCaskey who shared interesting backgrounds and pulled their weight on the hike. 

“When it started, I felt excited, but the rocks and steepness going up and coming back down made it hard for me. I overcame it by taking breaks when needed, and mainly distracted myself from it by the excitement of climbing the mountain. I did feel accomplished at the end, since many times during the hike I felt like I wouldn’t be able to continue.” Moth says, which I completely agree with. I chugged 3 water bottles on the first section of the hike alone, and by the time we got to the rocks, I was feeling completely discouraged. Yet, my peers frequently offered words of encouragement and assistance up the rocks, and I discovered my liking for climbing. 

The view from the top was beautiful, reminding me of how far we’d traveled to get there. Looking up from our cabins, the mountain looked impossible to conquer. Yet, as we all sat and admired the view, a sense of confidence washed over me. 

Coming down from the mountain was probably the hardest part as there wasn’t any specific path to take, the ground covered in mud and leaves. It embarrasses me to say that I nearly cried of frustration when attempting to walk down, twisting my ankle in all sorts of directions while my sister leaned onto me for support. By the end of it all, my energy had depleted greatly, only to see a familiar van on the road to our campsite. 

I couldn’t pinpoint the exact reason it was so familiar, but the staff huddled around the van encouraged me to come over. I was originally distracted by Mrs. Wagener, yet when she pointed to the car, I squealed. It was Brother Albrecht, who had come to visit us following the hike. Even though his speech was very limited, he still had a large smile and nodded in support of us. When everyone reached the van, his brother listened closely to his speech and relayed it back to all of us. 

“He says he’s proud of all of you guys.”

After such a long and demanding hike, it was fulfilling to hear that Brother Albrecht was able to see so many new members inspired by his devotion, willing to complete the hike for his sake. He stayed around the campsite for some more time, leaving before dinner. That night, we made “hobo dinners” – Karin supplied us with cabbage leaves, carrot slices, onions, and small bags of ground beef to create a burger-like meal. We wrapped them up in aluminum foil and tossed them into the fire, enjoying the other delicacies like cookies, brownies, and cheesy potatoes. Sitting around the fire and engaging in another discussion, everyone was asked to give a small reflection on the hike. Katrin Slesser, a senior of McCaskey and member of Reach for all 4 of her high school years said, “I was proud of myself for having enough confidence to climb the mountain without needing someone to hold my hand the whole time, like the other years.” When it came to Eric Suazo’s turn, he pointed out that the Big Dipper was right above us. I looked up, and found myself amazed as I hadn’t even thought about seeing a constellation. It made me think of Albrecht, and how much of an honor it was to be so close to a star – someone who shines bright and creates light to guide others. 

That night, we practiced some funny skits that encouraged even the shyest members of the group to step out of their comfort zone and have some fun. We collectively came together in a cabin that night to play some games and share some stories, falling asleep peacefully.

The next morning, we packed up our things and sat at a table together to eat breakfast. We engaged in a thoughtful conversation about diversity at our school and stereotypes that we felt burdened each of our respective communities, as well as ways we thought McCaskey could improve. The conversation mirrored what we intend for Reach to assist with: making all of our students feel welcomed and comfortable while getting the best education possible. Right before we left, our group made hot dogs on what remained of the fire and returned home. 

Everyone’s experiences were different, but I can confirm that reflecting on my first retreat, I am pleased with the outcome. On the trip, I was reminded that I am capable of anything I set my mind to, and that I shouldn’t deceive myself into believing anything different. Had he been capable of attending, Brother Albrecht would have definitely said the same.