The Buzz

Last year, we published a blog post You Are What You Assess. As students enjoy a week of vacation following exams, we revisit the message in that post with a look at last week’s final assessments.

As we approach the end of the Fall Term and students are in the midst of completing final exams in each of their courses, we take a look back at recent field trips by U.S. History and AP Government classes. Proctor's teachers continue to work to tear down the walls of the traditional classroom by allowing students to live the history they are studying. 

Some endeavors provide immediate gratification. You put in the hard work and see immediate results. The arts is not one of those endeavors. Students spend an entire term refining their talents, exploring new techniques, trying different mediums. There is no right or wrong, just a constant opportunity to get better. The end of the term provides the community a window into this journey as student work is showcased at the art show and the dance team, jazz/rock ensemble, and vocal music ensemble perform. 

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 shared experience within each team that leads directly to student growth. While every athlete 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.

The fall athletic season is nearing its end and Fall Term exams are just a week away. While we all are anxious about the final week and a half of the term and the significant amount of work that awaits us, we must take a minute to reflect on the past ten weeks and all we’ve accomplished.

We know from the business world investing in a team is as important as investing in an idea. So how do we ensure our ‘team’ is as solid as our ‘idea’? No one will argue with the efficacy of our educational model of hands-on experiential learning infused through authentic relationships with teachers into classrooms both on- and off-campus. The success of Proctor’s educational model, however, is entirely contingent upon its successful implementation.  

Each of the blogs we post to The Buzz attempts to capture the power of a Proctor education through written words and powerful images. We know these blogs help current  families stay in touch with life at Proctor, and from time to time, parents spot their son or daughter in one of the images used in a blog post. We also know prospective families need to get to know us as a community, and our blogs are an important part of that process. 

At first, the title of this blog post was going to be Innovation at Proctor, but then Robotics and Engineering teacher, Josh Norris ‘92, corrected me by saying, “I’m not sure that’s right, Proctor IS Innovation”. A trend at independent schools around the country is to build centers of innovation and makerspaces that afford students the opportunity to experiment, tinker, and develop prototypes of ideas. We, agree these makerspaces are critical to learning. We just have a slightly different approach to integrating these spaces into every student’s daily life at Proctor.