Happy Thanksgiving to everyone in the Proctor Family! Check out THIS END OF TERM UPDATE sent out to the community earlier this week to see a few of the many things we are thankful for this Thanksgiving season!

The final weeks of the fall term took the fall 2014 Proctor en Segovia group on their final excursion to Andalucía. There students were immersed in the study of the history and culture of Islamic Spain in Granada, Spanish colonialism in Cádiz, and Iberia’s Roman roots in Bolonia. We also enjoyed many of the region’s more contemporary contributions to Spanish culture, such as flamenco music and culinary delights.

Gratitude. 

On Tuesday night Proctor's remarkable Dining Services team served a traditional “harvest dinner,” our prelude to Thanksgiving and our opportunity to be grateful for all that we have. The simple meal of turkey, mashed potatoes, squash, salads, and pie drew strong praise from students and faculty. The turkey was moist, the salads varied and crisp. The pie on the dessert table disappeared.

Two weeks ago we posted a blog on the importance of diet and nutrition for adolescents. The main message: you are what you eat. The same can be said in slightly different words for any organization: you are what you value. At Proctor, we value many things, but as we wrap up Fall Term final exams, we must ask ourselves: do our assessment methods line up with what we value as a learning community?

Those of us with small children know well the malleability of their young brains. Between the ages of 0-3, the human brain is incredibly plastic; changing in response to experiences, both positive and negative. What we often forget is the second most malleable stage of brain development occurs in adolescence. It is during this time the brain develops whole new brain circuits for the last time. Our approach to education seeks to capitalize on this opportunity! 

Ocean Classroom concludes its term-long adventure aboard the Schooner Roseway this week. Sailing from Gloucester to St. Croix is most certainly an experience of a lifetime. When students (now sailors) return home next weekend, parents will see transformed adolescents; individuals filled with confidence, a passion to learn, and an appreciation for hard work. As the sun sets on this term on Ocean Classroom, the power of learning at sea is only just beginning to filter back into the Proctor community...and THAT is what makes our off-campus programs so exciting! 

Proctor's talented artists were on display Friday evening at the end of term Art Show and Performing Arts Collaborative featuring drama, dance, vocal ensemble, creative video, and instrumental ensemble in the show Revolution. Enjoy the photos below of the evening and be sure to come check out the Jazz/Rock Ensemble's performance "Take Me To The River" in the Wise Center Saturday evening at 8:00 pm! 

Recently, a New Yorker article caught my eye.  “Better All the Time” by James Surowiecki  (November 10^th) is about the relentless investment in athletic performance that has brought staggering evolution to all games and changed the threshold of what we thought as possible. Nutrition, training regimens, equipment, money, and coaching acumen - everything has changed in sports. Surowiecki then progresses to parse how education has or hasn’t followed the performance track, looking at countries that have and have not progressed.

Proctor's blogs from off-campus programs (Ocean Classroom and Proctor en Segovia this fall), feature dozens of samples of student work. Reflections, poetry, creative writing, and stunning photography provide a window into the transformative learning taking place in these programs. 

Today, we explore the work of students on-campus in English classes. Proctor’s English teachers embrace a wide variety of assessments. Enjoy the sampling of student work produced over the course of the past week below.

Proctor's Technology Integration Specialist, Adam Jones, shares the following excerpts from his blog on EdTech at Proctor after a recent professional development opportunity:

Ocean Classroom is now a full week into their time in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Sunshine, warm waters, and continued transformational education aboard the Schooner Roseway! Enjoy these images and student reflections from Logan Marcus '16 and and Christian Takahashi '16. 

Thursday evening, teams met one final time for the Fall Athletic season to recognize individual players with end of season awards. Over the past ten weeks, all of Proctor’s student-athletes and coaches have dedicated tremendous time and energy into creating a valuable shared experience within each team. While every athlete has improved over the course of the season, team awards recognize those individuals whose outstanding contributions through leadership, sportsmanship, or ability made a significant impact on the team’s success this fall.

Last night I ran into Laurie Zimmerman sitting in the English office with a senior who was bent over a draft of his college essay. I could see the essay on her computer, the Word editing boxes filled with suggestions and stacked like matchboxes in the margins.

Adolescents are always on the go. Just read this post from earlier in the week to be reminded of that! 

Proctor's Ocean Classroom has arrived safely in St. Croix after a ten day passage from Charleston, South Carolina aboard the Schooner Roseway! While written reflections by students on the journey will eventually articulate the magnitude of this accomplishment, video footage captures perhaps more than words can at this point in time. 

We all live busy lives. We wake up, and if your life is anything like mine, you are going a million miles an hour before your navigate your way downstairs in a sleepy haze. Your children have their own schedules, and, far too often we forget to think about what their lives are like.