I walked through the doors, hung up my jacket, and made a hot chocolate. The smell of good cooking wafted through the air as I entered my home away from home and sat at the third table on the left upstairs in the Brown Dining Commons. 

Mountain Classroom entered the "final phase" of the term in New York before making their way to Vermont. During final phase students take full responsibility for their community culture and all logistics. Exams were held at a cabin over two miles from the trailhead at the Merck Forest and Farm Center. With academics over, the students headed off on a celebratory backpacking loop on the Long Trail.

Each year approximately 20% of the Proctor Academy's graduating class goes on to compete in collegiate athletics. The Class of 2017 is no exception as 27 members of the class (of 109 students) are pursuing careers at the collegiate level, including a remarkable seven NCAA Division 1 athletes! Thank you to all members of the Class of 2017 for their contributions to Proctor's athletic programs over the past four years, and to Rich Tilton P'16, '18 for the photography in this article. 

The conclusion of wilderness solos meant that it was time to embark on our final academic unit in food systems: small-scale sustainable agriculture. There is no better place than Polyface Farm to start the discussions that this unit warrants. From Virginia we drove to Allentown, PA to challenge ourselves physically by running a 10K. And then it was on to Lake Taghkanic State Park in Upstate NY where we camped while visiting farms in the beautiful Hudson Valley.

Proctor Academy's spring athletic season has come to an end after unprecedented rain wrought havoc on game schedules all term. Despite early season snow and mid/late season rains, the Hornets buzzed to historic finishes in a number of different sports as varsity baseball, varsity boys' tennis, and varsity golf all entered their respective Lakes Region Tournaments on Wednesday with undefeated records. Varsity softball and boys' varsity lacrosse also had great seasons, posting an 8-3 record and 13-4 record, respectively. 

Friday and Saturday evenings, Proctor’s theater department presents Beauty and the Beast in the Wilkins Meeting House. The Disney classic adapted for the stage features well known songs, plenty of drama, and wonderful comedic timing by members of the cast. For seniors Cope Makechnie (Belle), Jay Piere (Lumiere), Addie Lindley (Babette), Grey Bechok (Maurice), Cyrus Davis, Matt Arruda, Drew Childs, and Jacqui Morris this weekend provides one final opportunity to share their talents on stage!

During a visit to the Dartmouth Entrepreneurship (DEN) for Project Period, Dartmouth’s Director of Entrepreneurship,Jamie Coughlin, described innovation and entrepreneurship as THE 21st century skill students must possess as they enter the workforce. Over the past three years, Proctor has taken Jamie’s advice and run with it through the development of new courses in Social Entrepreneurship, Entrepreneurship, the adaptation of existing courses to focus heavily on hands-on innovation projects, and the introduction of semi-annual Innovation Nights to showcase student projects each fall and spring.

This spring’s weather has created significant challenges for Proctor’s tennis and golf teams. The rain (and even snow) haven’t stopped boys’ varsity tennis, girls’ varsity tennis, and varsity golf squads from competing, and winning, against the Lakes Region’s finest.  Both boys’ varsity tennis and golf boast undefeated records, while girls’ varsity tennis holds a 5-2 record, as teams head into their respective Lakes Region Tournaments Wednesday afternoon. We were able to catch up with team captains and seniors to reflect on their success this spring.