NATCHEZ — McLaurin Elementary School staffers reported for class Thursday, but not at the school.

The school’s staff met at Jefferson Street United Methodist Church Family Life Center.

In the middle of a team-building exercise, an unexpected cry came from the right side of the room.

“Fred is saved!” Shawnette Cheatham, a second grade teacher at Gilmer McLaurin Elementary, yelled as she held up a gummy worm.

Cheatham’s team had successfully solved a puzzle activity in which Fred, a gummy worm whose boat, a cup, had capsized, needed to get to his life preserver, a Life Saver candy, which was underneath the cup.

Participants could only use four paperclips to move the items.

“I got involved in this activity,” Cheatham said.

The activity was part of a retreat for Gilmer’s faculty and staff. At the end of last year, Margie Clark, Gilmer’s new principal, said she sat down with the school’s faculty and staff.

“The district allowed me to get to know the faculty at the end of last year,” Clark said.

And, from the meetings, Clark learned one thing.

“They told me they wanted to be a family,” Clark said.

So, to help facilitate that sense of family, Clark decided to schedule the retreat.

“Everyone’s here,” Clark said.

And Clark meant everyone. The retreat mixed teachers, counselors, custodians and other employees into teams to complete the activities, learning more about each other in the process.

In one activity, participants had to write down information about themselves on a piece of paper. The paper was then made into an airplane and thrown across the room.

Whoever picked the plane up had to identify to whom it belonged.

Acquanette Miller and Shannon Brown, who are both counselors, said it was their favorite.

Miller also enjoyed building a tower out of spaghetti sticks and a marshmallow. Even though their team didn’t win, she appreciated the teamwork aspect.

“That’s the same thing we’re trying to incorporate in the classrooms,” Miller said.

In the afternoon, the classified staff, such as teacher assistants, returned to the school and the certified staff, such as teachers, stayed behind to write mission statements.

Afterwards, it was back to McLaurin to prepare for the first day of school Monday.

For Cheatham, she thought the experience allowed her to learn about her co-workers and build work relationships.

“If we can come together and get along in one place, then we can carry it over into our school building,” Cheatham said.