January 3rd, 2024 Dear Mr. Hinson, PLEASE READ ALL OF THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION CAREFULLY!!! Your son has signed up to attend the Men’s Encounter. The mission of this retreat seeks to provide an opportunity for young men to experience a profound encounter of self, others, and God in the light of Christian faith. One of the most important segments of this retreat occurs on the first night: it is called the Palanca Talk. Palanca is a Spanish term meaning “lever” and this talk asks your son to become more aware of how God’s love is reflected through the love of other people and how this love “lifts us up” like a lever. After this talk, your son will return to his room for reflection where he will find a collection of personal letters from parents, friends, family, teachers, mentors, Marist staff, coaches, and other important people in his life. These letters will all communicate to him what they love, admire, and respect about him. These palanca letters are a secret. To make this a truly powerful experience, we need your help in the following ways: 1. Parent Letter We need you as parents to write to your son sharing what you love, admire and respect about him. We encourage each parent to write separate letters to their son. This letter can be as long as you like. Please mail, email or hand-deliver these letters to Marist. (Please label each letter clearly as PARENT LETTER for (insert your son’s FULL NAME). REMEMBER: IT IS A SECRET… DON’T ASK HIM TO BRING THEM TO SCHOOL 2. Friends, Family, and Mentors Please contact family members (except for younger siblings), family friends, friends from other schools, Marist graduates, past teachers, coaches, youth pastors, and the like; people you think your son would like to hear from or who may have some special wisdom or insight to share. These letters should be written to your son, not about your son. These letters may be mailed or hand-delivered to Marist Catholic High School, 1900 Kingsley Rd., Eugene, Oregon, 97401 c/o Encounter Moderator. Letters can also be e-mailed to boyspalanca@marisths.org. Envelopes/E-mail subject headings should be labeled “Palanca for (insert your son’s full name).” THE DEADLINE FOR GETTING LETTERS TO MARIST IS TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 6th. 3. Other Information *There is no need to contact current Marist faculty, staff, or students to write Palancas; our Campus Ministry Department informs these people and collects their letters. *Please don’t ask younger siblings who may be attending an Encounter one day to write a letter. *Please send letters only. Food and gifts will not be delivered. 4. Final Instructions *We have a tradition of inviting parents to greet the bus on its return Monday afternoon at 3:15. Parents, student body, and staff gather in the front of the school to cheer them as they get off of the bus. Sometimes parents will bring balloons or flowers for their son. This is up to you and whether your son would like this type of greeting or not. Often only one parent is able to get free from work or other commitments to be there and that is understandable. *Thank you in advance for all your love and attention to making this a special experience. Students tell us this is a powerful experience for them and for some it is truly life-changing. We consider this a pivotal moment for Marist students and we ask that you please pray for us as we organize and plan. If you should have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact one of us at aoldham@marisths.org and rmoser@marisths.org. God Bless, Andy Oldham, Encounter Moderator Ryan Moser, Encounter Moderator P.S. After the Palanca Talk (and before your son returns to his room and receives his letters), a letter written to your son by someone he is close to will be read aloud. Like the other palancas, this Out Loud Letter should be written to him (not about him) and seeks to tell him personally what qualities he possesses that makes him unique and special to those around him, in particular the writer of the letter. It is the job of the student leaders to arrange the Out Loud Letters. If they need your help coordinating who should write this letter for your son, one of the student rectors will contact you. Please be thinking of people who know him well and would be willing to write the letter that will be read out loud. The student rectors will need the contact information for that person because they will contact him or her directly. The letter should be 1-2 pages, addressing your son directly to say what qualities they admire and respect about him and why they love him. The sharing of memories, heartfelt or humorous, are often included.