Photo by Karin Elton A small group of Marshall Middle School seventh graders form a shape using physical stamina right before breaking for lunch Thursday. The group was among the participants of Courage Retreat, which included high-energy physical activity and discussions about fear and having the courage to be yourself.

MARSHALL — Speaking out — for yourself and for others — takes courage. That’s one of the things 175 Marshall Middle School seventh-graders learned Thursday at the seventh annual Courage Retreat, which took place in the Marshall Area YMCA the multi-purpose room. The retreat is coordinated by Youth Frontiers out of Minneapolis with funding by Pride in the Tiger. Marshall High School juniors and seniors were group leaders and led small group discussions.

Courtney Mauch, a senior, is a group leader this year, but remembers when she was a fifth-grader and participated in the kindness retreat (which is today for fifth- graders at the YMCA). She remembers it had a positive effect on most of her classmates.

“We calmed down more and respected our teachers more,” she said.

Mauch said she was having fun getting to know the younger kids.

“I like meeting the kids and seeing different personalities,” she said.

One of those younger kids, seventh grader Mansi Bell, said she learned to “stand up for others and having the courage to be ourselves.”

Kayla Kesteloot learned from the day that “you don’t always have to be the loudest one. You can let other people get attention too.”

The day was for seventh graders, but youth leader Ammran Mohamed, an MHS 11th grader, felt emboldened by the day. She said she is determined to be more “outspoken in class” and not feel that she needs to hide her intelligence for fear of what others might think.

In the second small group breakout session of the day, kids listed some of their everyday fears. They were asked which is worse: the fear of failure or the fear of rejection? The majority of the group said rejection. One girl, Maya Omwoyo, said she felt pressure to keep up appearances when it comes to back-to-school shopping.

“My mom is the parent of four kids and she can’t always get the newest trends or always get the top-notch thing,” she said.

The Youth Frontiers team included Vanessa Montalvo, a Marshall High School graduate. She told the seventh graders that “the decisions you make in life stick with you all your life.”

She reminded them that they are being observed.

“There are younger kids looking up to you guys,” Montalvo said.

She told how she had a friend in high school but rejected her when other kids didn’t want to hang out with her.

Youth Frontiers team member Maggie MacLennan said that’s an example of following the crowd instead of yourself.

“Our goal for the day is that everyone commit to one act of everyday courage,” she said. “To make their school a better places, their lives better, to be real, to be yourself, courage to join something or wear something you want to wear.”