by Patrick Torres, Middle School and High School Program Director
The staff here at Theatre Action Project returned from our annual retreat at Mo Ranch on Tuesday. We all look forward to the retreat as a time to get away from the hustle and bustle of the office so we can plan our upcoming year, reflect on the success of the past year, and enjoy each other’s company.
One of the aspects of the retreat that is becoming a tradition is the way we handle meals while we are away. About two weeks before we leave, our Executive Director, Karen LaShelle, divides the staff into teams and assigns each team a specific meal and some descriptive words the meal should convey when it is served. For example, I was on the breakfast team this year, and the words we were given were: 
- Soft
- Purple
- Unforgettable.
I know you are all wondering what a soft, purple, unforgettable meal looks like…well here you go:
After we get our assignments, we all scramble to have secret meetings to plan our meals. And it should be known that we are a pretty competitive crowd! Each team works really hard to make the best meal possible. At the retreat, when we sit down to eat together, it is really fun to discover the words that were assigned to each group and how creative they were at matching their words. But, of course, these meals go far beyond competition. They serve as a reminder that we are all a team – that we all work in service of each other so that we can better serve our students. We feed each other. And on the practical side, the meals and snacks keep us energized so we can spend time thinking of all the brilliant things we are going to accomplish in the year to come.
