Vienna certainly waited for us, as Billy Joel would say. We arrived and spring pulled itself over the landscape, reflecting pinks and purples against the cloudy white buildings.

As Proctor’s Mountain Classroom program enters its fourth week of living and learning on the road in the American Southwest, students reflect on life without a phone and expeditions in the backcountry in today’s blog. 

Proctor’s sophomore study abroad program in Monteverde, Costa Rica is underway for the spring trimester as six students immerse themselves in Costa Rican culture. Students share their perspectives following their first weeks living with host families and studying abroad. Read more below! 

Living in Colorado and working professionally as an actor and carpenter in the theater industry, Jennifer Summers moved to New Hampshire with her husband, and Proctor alum, Gordon Bassett ‘96 in the summer of 2013 not knowing how her career might evolve. Gordon had just been hired to take over Proctor’s machine shop from longtime industrial arts educator Everett Jones ‘49 and to coach kayaking alongside fellow alum Corby Leith ‘92.

School traditions that are hotly anticipated by the entire school community and that help to expand and amplify the thinking of all who participate are rare. The Hays Speaking Contest does both. The finalists of the event, selected by the participants themselves, serve as a state of the union of Proctor’s current sophomore class. As the event’s host, English teacher Tom Morgan, gives the audience members a glimpse inside of the window of the lives of our students who stand and deliver their speeches.

Proctor’s 2,500 acres of woodlands are a sacred place for anyone who has called Proctor home. This land is deeply rooted in the school’s mission to provide a holistic education that fosters a love for the outdoors and a sense of responsibility towards the environment. The Woodlands are our largest classroom – they allow students the opportunity to study ecology, forestry, and environmental science in a living, breathing laboratory. They, along with Proctor's outdoor science teachers, have taught generations of students lessons about life, our planet, and our interconnectedness that reach far beyond a traditional classroom. 

The Proctor en Segovia Spring 2023 group checks in with this update from the beginning of their nine-week term abroad in Spain. Proctor students live with Segovian host families while studying the Spanish language, history, and culture. In this blog post, Will L. '24  and Sydney '23 immerse us in the first several days of their experience in Spain, from arriving and meeting host families to establishing a new routine of commuting (on foot!), classes, meal times, and afternoon activities.

On Friday, we went to a winery up in the foothills of the Alpilles, or the “Little Alps”. It was a warm sunny day, with a little bit of a breeze, and the trees are just beginning to leaf out again.