We have a tradition at North Cobb Christian School of taking our Senior Class on a Rafting trip a few days before school starts. This has quickly become a much-anticipated rite of passage in the upper school. The NCCS Class of 2011 loaded up early on Saturday, August 7 to head up for a day of rafting and leadership training at the Ocoee River in Cleveland, TN. This year we were privileged to take 62 seniors and 7 adults, our biggest group ever!
Once we arrived at the rafting outpost, a game of beach volleyball commenced immediately. We have some terrific athletes in this class and the level of competition is high no matter if it is sports, grades, or checkers. There is also a great spirit of fellowship in this class as there was a lot of cheering and good-natured ribbing throughout.
After some time to relax from our long bus ride, we gathered under the pavilion to talk about expectations for the year ahead as well as to decide what this class wants to be known for. The discussion centered on our theme verse found in 1 Corinthians 11:1, “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.”
I asked the seniors to choose some words that they wanted to be known for as they set an example for the rest of our students. They want to be known for things like: humility, faithfulness, unity, love, service, respect, reliability, Christlikeness, and spirited. We had a great time talking through these things and it is obvious to see that this class recognizes the mantle of leadership that has been placed upon them.
We ate lunch together and then spent some time hanging out by the river at the outpost. From there we loaded up in the bus and headed to the put in spot for our rafting adventure. It was obvious that a few of our crew were a little nervous, but they all hung in there! We enjoyed rafting for about two and a half hours down the Ocoee River through rapids such as Double Trouble, Table Saw, Broken Nose, and Powerhouse. Fortunately everyone navigated all of the rapids and we all returned safely and with some hilarious stories to share!
As we made our way back to the outpost, the conversations quickly turned back to school that was coming on Monday and the retreats that were only two weeks away. We spent some time relaxing at the outpost and then began our journey home. We stopped for dinner on the way back. It was a blast to stop at a fast food restaurant with 70 people!
We returned home around 9pm, thirteen hours after we had departed. The crew had some aches and pains, some sunburns, and all of them were exhausted. However, their spirits were high as they stepped off the bus prepared to start school on Monday by walking under the banner that says, “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.”