Students at Puget Sound Adventist Academy bonded during Connect 2008, a recent three-day spiritual retreat at Rosario Beach. The retreat is an annual time for students and staff to connect with each other through community service, team-building exercises, social activities, and God-focused interaction.

Connect 2008, organized by Tyler Stewart, chaplain, began with a day dedicated to community service projects. Working together in groups, students and staff volunteered in Forest Park and at Hope Link. Some students also stayed to help with the renewing of Kirkland Elementary and Puget Sound Academy campuses.

Once at Rosario, students and staff continued with an obstacle course, beach activites, mountain biking, hiking, sports, and more. What students and staff like best is how new students are integrated into the student body and how the school grows closer together.

Connect also features a greatly loved tradition: an agape feast where students and teachers participate in the Last Supper, including the traditional foot washing experience. Many students stayed for an afterglow to reflect and share God's work in their lives.

Thanks in part to the retreat, PSAA's student body is connected for the rest of the academic year and beyond. As some students summarized, "Connect brought students together to start off a good year and bring us closer to God."