For the first time since the Covid pandemic, Princes Anne Leadership Workshop (PALW) returned to the retreat center Triple R Ranch at the end of March. This was no small accomplishment, according to junior staffer Tanzie Moore, taking all the commitment and effort the 25 person staff made of juniors and seniors could muster.
Workshop weekend is usually held towards the end of March, and was held from the 22nd to the 24th of March this year. PA students of all grades can attend Workshop as delegates who are sorted into different councils led by counselors, usually senior members of Workshop staff, Moore describes. Delegates are welcomed into Workshop with the “staff intro,” where the entire staff sings and dances to 3 parodied songs, with all lyrics and choreography created by the staffers themselves.
Then the councils break off into their separate groups and go through icebreakers, instructionals (where delegates are taught leadership skills), and rec (where councils compete against one another in games). After getting to know each other and learning about teamwork and decision-making skills, councils are tasked with final challenges: coming up with songs and skits to perform in front of the entire Workshop.
Other activities are sprinkled throughout the weekend, like speeches given by teachers, staff and alumni, and Saturday Night Live (or in this year’s case, Friday Night Live), where delegates and staffers join together for a dance party late at night.
But as said before, it takes an enormous amount of planning and dedication to make sure Workshop runs smoothly with the 127 delegates participating this year in PALW. This year, Workshop staffers had the added challenge of fundraising $20,000 to have Workshop at Triple R, a challenge previous groups of staff hadn’t had to meet since Workshop was moved to PA because of Covid.
This year’s PALW student coordinator, senior Bobby Hylenski, explained the preparation for this year’s workshop began only a few weeks after the one in 2023 ended, really beginning when he was selected as coordinator by the teacher sponsors of Workshop. Soon after that, students were selected for staff, and the planning process began. English teacher and PALW sponsor Nicole Burris elaborated on this early time of planning, describing how the theme was already chosen before the 22-23 school year ended, and how they had made the decision to return to Triple R Ranch then. “We make a lot of big decisions really early,” said Burris.
While the staff was able to do some fundraising over the summer, Hylenski describes most of the summer was used for bonding and getting to know one another. “A lot of people on last year’s [2023] staff almost all knew each other, I was kind of that newer guy,” explained Hylenski. “This year, I knew a decent amount of the seniors but there were still a lot of people that I just did not know well enough…and so being able to meet over the summer and get to know them was really helpful.”
Similarly, Burris values the time staff spent bonding over the summer as well as throughout the year, saying, “I think it was really evident this year how much the staff love and care for each other because they spend so much time doing things together that are not Workshop-related.”
But after school started again in the fall, it was time to get back to work for the staff of PALW. “Once we got back in August, there was a meeting every single week,” Hylenski explained. Throughout the year, the staff progressed from working on bigger, more general elements of Workshop, like planning skits and songs to getting down into smaller “nitpicky” details. “Once we get closer to Workshop…we really hone in, we have a lot more meetings, not just that one day a week that we had set, but also meetings extra days, [and] during One Lunch to get a lot of stuff done,” said Hylenski.
In the end, fundraising did arise as a major challenge, even though the staff was able to pull through in the end. “Fundraising, by no means, was easy,” Hylenski describes. “We took a very long time to reach our goal…but it’s not at all to discredit the amazing work everybody on staff did, because they did amazing. Raising $20,000 as high schoolers is not an easy task whatsoever.” PALW ended up meeting their goal by hosting many fundraisers like casholas, and selling Chick-fil-a, stickers and chocolate to students. Additionally, workshop held a tailgate before a football game and also reached out to local businesses for donations.
After meeting almost every day in the week preceding workshop weekend, the staff arrived at Triple R Ranch on the Thursday before the weekend started — almost a full day before delegates arrived — in order to prepare, which staff and sponsors alike explain was also a lot of work because they had not hosted a Workshop there in so long.
From there though, hosting PALW away from the school this year brought only positives, Moore explained. “I think it definitely increased delegate response,” said Moore. “We had a lot more delegates this year. It’s also good because we can take more delegates, which means that the whole weekend is a lot more fun for everyone because there’s a lot more people you can interact with and a lot more activities to do.”
Junior staffer Alya Bedawi agrees with Moore and adds, “I think a big thing with Triple R Ranch is this idea of detaching. Leadership Workshop is a weekend where you get away from school and you do these activities to build yourself as a leader. Triple R was kind of like a sanctuary.”
Besides the positives that came from Workshop’s location, Hylenski explains the staff is what was really able to make this year’s Workshop special. “I cannot say it enough, I absolutely love the bond between staff,” said Hylenski. “I felt like we were really, really well connected with each other. It was so nice to see everybody get along so well and be able to talk to anybody…there wasn’t any awkwardness in the group…everybody knew each other well.”
Additionally, English teacher and sponsor Kathryne Kontra emphasized the staff’s success during the weekend. “I really like seeing the staff present, in a way, what they’ve been working on all year. I think sometimes people forget that they work tirelessly the entire year to get ready. I think seeing it all come together and [seeing] them build relationships with the delegates is one of my favorite things.”
Hylenski also recognized the relationship between staff and delegates this year, saying the delegates “did such an amazing job just with being really open to the concept of Workshop, especially with it being at Triple R, [and] participating in everything.” One of the main concepts of Workshop is the year’s theme, which this year was “A World Within.” Hylenski explained the meaning of the theme, and his personal connection with it. “It’s the idea that there is more inside than there is on the outside. I think that’s a concept that I struggled with for the longest time. I [previously] thought, ‘oh, I don’t have this, I don’t have that, I can’t be a leader.’ But everybody has [a leader] within them…you just have to look within yourself and bring it out.”
