Proctor Academy's historic winter Ocean Classroom program joining Proctor students with students from the MET School of Providence, Rhode Island continues their adventure at sea. After two weeks of managing COVID-19 ashore, the Harvey Gamage returned to the open waters, with students aboard.
When I first moved to Proctor and to Andover, the question I most often received from folks was, “Are you excited?” Pausing, I would drink the question in for a while, just to get my bearings each time and to see if anything had changed for me. Each time, after carefully thinking it through, I would say, “Not really.” Or, I’d say, “Excitement is not really the word.” Or, finally, “It just feels ‘right.’” I was not trying to be cagey or obtuse, but I was simply trying to honor the question and the questioner. I am also a stickler for precision. To be more precise takes careful and nuanced answers.
Proctor Academy's Mountain Classroom students are currently on a four day solo in the middle of the desert, but the two weeks prior have been group adventures. Read insights into the Mountain Classroom experience from Ang '22 and Lucy '22 in this week's blog post below.
Proctor's Academic Concentrations lie at the intersection of intellectual curiosity and academic rigor. By empowering self-directed students to design an individualized program of coursework, experiential learning beyond campus, and a culminating capstone, Concentrations assist intellectual development on a sophisticated level. Each of the five Concentrations aligns with intentional interdisciplinary guidelines that students tailor to create individualized academic and experiential plans.
Playing in the highly competitive NEPSAC AA league, Proctor’s boys varsity basketball team under the guidance of second-year head coach Ben Bartoldus ‘10 continues to learn about themselves and develop their identity as a team. It is in this constant state of being challenged by the best teams in the country that Bartoldus’ squad has grown by leaps and bounds over the past season. Read insights into the past year from senior captain Tate Matte ‘22 and Bartoldus.
Living in New Hampshire for my entire life I have become quite accustomed to the wretched glory of freezing cold winters. Part of me, somehow, misses it. In light of missing the cold, I, along with Sasha and Cam, have embarked on a harrowing journey that consists of jumping into the freezing cold pool every day.
In the midst of the daily grind of teaching adolescents, we risk drifting away from our “why”. Why have we dedicated our life to education? Why have we chosen Proctor as the fertile ground into which we will sow our seeds of hope for the next generation? In order to best serve our students, we must nurture daily habits of centering around our “why”, both as individual educators and as a community.
As an Administrative Team, we are reading the book The Social Profit Handbook by David Grant. Core to Grant’s writing is a commitment by organizations to designing rubrics to assess our individual and collective progress toward our mission. Grant notes, “Used wisely, a rubric not only measures success, but also defines it and helps its users maintain momentum toward future plans and goals.” As we surpass the midpoint of the year and students receive feedback through winter midterm grades, we reflect on what it means to understand our individual and collective growth.
