We shared the video below on social media yesterday and it took off like wildfire getting thousands of views from our current parents, faculty/staff, and alumni. The message in the video is simple: every journey starts from what is familiar and along the way evolves into the brand new as you are challenged, supported, and guided by opportunities and the people that enter your life. 

At peak foliage each year, a group of faculty brings the 9th Grade class on a hike through the Proctor Woodlands to the Proctor Cabin while sophomores and juniors are taking the PSAT’s and seniors are working on college applications. It’s a tradition that reinforces how much pure energy and enthusiasm our youngest students possess. 

Over the next four years, more than 80% of this group of ninth graders will take part in one of Proctor’s five off-campus programs. Roughly half will benefit directly from Proctor’s academic support program. They will play countless games in green and white, take the stage as leads in the Spring Musical, and discover new passions in their academic courses and art electives. Some will run into the fences we put in place with our discipline system, and all will be supported by countless adults in their lives. Their journey at Proctor is just beginning even though they already feel like this place is home. 

Today’s hike with our ninth graders serves many purposes. In a very tangible sense, it introduces students to Proctor’s remarkable 2,500 acres of woodlands and allows bonds between classmates to form. In a very different sense, today's hike reiterates a message this group of fourteen and fifteen year olds heard during the admission process, “Your Proctor experience is YOURS. What are you going to make of it?”

No two students travel identical paths through their years at Proctor. Likewise, no two alumni reflect on their Proctor experience through the exact same lens. Each is shaped by the adults and experiences that enter their lives, leave an impact, and alter their direction. We are thankful we get to be those adults, and we cannot wait to see the different journeys this group of ninth graders takes over the next four years!