While Head Coach Maggie Kennedy has been out on maternity leave for the majority of the season, coaches Hunter Churchill ‘01 and Rachel Moore have been hard at work with the Girls Varsity Hockey team. Although they have had a challenging start to the season in terms of their win/loss percentage, the team is determined to right the ship and end the season on a positive note.
Sometimes it all just seems to fit together. Everything runs smoothly. We walk into classrooms, the gym, the dining commons, our dorms, and it all flows. The lights are on, the floors are clean, the temperature is comfortable, the food is ready. The hours of the days shift smoothly. There’s order. Students and faculty do their best work in this environment, and often it is because of the infrastructure of support that we often don’t see. But we should.
Students in Proctor’s AP Environmental Science course recently visited the Town of Andover Transfer Station as they learned about the waste cycle, trash, and the reality of recycling systems in small town America. Read more about this on-campus example of proximate learning through the eyes of senior Jaimes Southworth, a local Andover resident and four-year Proctor student, in her AP Environmental Science blog below!
When John O’Connor ‘79 arrived in rural Andover, New Hampshire from Houston, Texas as a Proctor ninth grader, he was greeted by a vastly different campus than students enjoy today. Proctor’s current Admissions Office was a local watering hole, Rocky’s Roost, serving 18-year old Proctor students, the west end of campus was wholly undeveloped aside from the Farrell Field House, and the student body was composed of more than 80% boys. But it was never Proctor’s physical plant or enrollment statistics that allowed John to flourish. Instead, it was the relationships formed with teachers and classmates and fundamentally life-changing experiences that laid a foundation for his on-going engagement with Proctor over the past forty years.
Proctor Academy's winter Ocean Classroom program continued its term abroad sailing the World Ocean School's 135 foot historic schooner Roseway out of a home base in St. Croix. Read student entries from the past two weeks at sea below!
Proctor Academy's Mountain Classroom program continues their term-long adventure in the American Southwest. This week's blog post highlights the group's Boulder Mail Trail backcountry expedition. Read more from Paul's '22 perspective below.
As I reflect on this week I instead reflect on the whole experience here in Arizona. This past week in our town Casa Grande, has been chock-full of lasts. When we returned home from Sedona awhile back, it hit all of us that soon we would be leaving our sweet home.
Head Boys’ Varsity Hockey Mike Walsh and Assistant Coach Ian Hamlet are back at the helm and ready to lead the team to another successful season. With nine seniors leading the way, the team is poised to make the most of a shortened season. The 2019-2020 campaign ended in the Lakes Region Finals against Tilton, and the team is already back and looking to build off of last season's late season push.
Proctor's Ocean Classroom winter program continues their eight-week exploration of the Caribbean. Check out the past week's Ship's Logs to see what this crew of eight students has been up to!
The social unrest of the late 1960s and early 1970s America rivals that of today as assassinations of civil rights leaders and politicians, controversial involvement in the Vietnam War, and rise of counterculture movements challenged traditional, all-boys boarding schools like Proctor Academy. For Hank Marks '71, the relative stability found at Proctor during this harrowing time laid a foundation for a lifelong journey of learning, caring for others, and chasing his passion.
Proctor Academy's Mountain Classroom Program continues their term-long adventure in southern Utah. Climbing in Moab, baking competitions with program director Patty Pond who was visiting with former Mountain Instructor Coco Loehr ‘07, studying water rights, a visit to Arches National Park, and so much more punctuated the last two weeks on the road. Read more from Tahg ‘21 and Griffin ‘22 below!
This week was spent in Sedona, AZ and although we have had great previous excursions while in Arizona, this one was by far our favorite.
It’s one of the corners of the school where history is visible, where narrative takes concrete form. It’s behind the thick curtains of the stage, behind a wall with a huge clattering garage door, behind the mystery darkness of the back stage. Penetrate far enough and you step into the scene shop, where the power tools are racked, the trays of screws and lag bolts stack up, the paint brushes and rollers hang over an industrial sink. Pry bars, levels, caulking guns, miter saw, plywood, doorknobs, castors, tape measures, battery chargers, clamps, step ladders surround the visitor. It’s a bright, busy space. It smells of sawdust and paint and dreams.
Courage, like leadership, comes in all forms. Today we recognize the beautiful bravery of our sophomore class as they all stood before their peers to take part in Proctor's 22nd Annual Hays Speaking Contest.
When island hopping in the Caribbean, reliable internet access can sometimes hamper daily Ship's Logs being uploaded to the world wide web. Alas, this week's Ocean Classroom update features student writing and photos from over a week ago, and yet remain just as stunning as ever. Enjoy!
Proctor seeks to graduate students who understand the values of honesty, compassion, respect, and responsibility, and are equipped to proceed with confidence and strategies to become lifelong learners who positively contribute to their communities. Similarly, the Boys and Girls Club of Lawrence, Massachusetts prides itself on working with young people to reach their full potential as productive, caring, and responsible citizens.
After returning home from a week in Sonoita, we spent the week back home in Casa Grande. Monday was a normal day, with classes in the morning and studio time in the afternoon. On Tuesday, we spent the day in the Ironwood National Park, painting.
Proctor's Mountain Classroom program continues its exploration of the American Southwest through place based learning, expeditions, and community living. Read more from Meg '22 in this week's blog!
Proctor is far from a traditional boarding school. Sure, we have traditions (Holderness Weekend, Polar Swim, the Hays Speaking Contest, and Winter Carnival), but we are not driven by them; they are simply nice features layered on top of the core of who we are as a community. We thrive on evolutions and shifts and changes, recognizing that when we become stagnant as a community, we stop growing as individuals.
Proctor’s athletic teams last took part in interscholastic competitions on November 14. For the past 82 days, our students and coaches have awaited this weekend’s first games and races of the winter athletic season. Check out a preview of this weekend’s games and races, as well as our first video team spotlight of the term!
Proctor's Mountain Classroom program ventured to Zion National Park and hiked deep into the breathtaking canyons. Read more from Mountain Classroom and their adventures below!
This week was our first 5 day trip away from our home, Casa Grande. On Monday the 25th we left for our adventure, loading up the van with our painting supplies, bags, crazy creeks, and Carnets (sketchbooks) in hand.
For more than 70 years, Proctor has served as a leader in brain-based approach to teaching diverse learning styles. During an era when most schools uniformly categorized a student with a learning difference as “unable” to achieve the same as a traditional learner, Proctor chose to take a different approach. Faculty worked to understand how students learn and developed an educational model that celebrated and supported a truly diverse set of learners through an integrated Learning Skills program. For Pam Stewart-Martinez '87, the lessons of support and community learned during her time at Proctor ignited a passion for committing to a life of service to others.
