In Indigenous communities, strong medicine means that you are in the presence of something that morphs and changes the very core of who you are, or even a situation. For many indigenous communities, healing is in the land. It’s even in the rocks and air. Just about everything possesses some kind of medicine or teaching from which a person can learn. Powerful medicine transforms. It heals.
Proximate learning does not occur without risk, but it is in those moments where students are living their education alongside the issues they are studying that world views are transformed.
As the snow guns blaze at the Proctor Ski Area in anticipation of our students returning to campus, Proctor’s USS/FIS Eastern Ski program continues their two week training camp at Panorama Resort in Panorama, British Columbia.
Professional Development days at Proctor look little like they might for a public school faculty simply because the spectrum of responsibilities extends well beyond the classroom. For most teaching faculty, time in the classroom represents only half of their job as they are also advisors, coaches, and dorm parents. Within all of these roles, our core responsibility remains focused on our mission of valuing the individual and recognizing the potential of each member of our community to stretch beyond what they had thought possible.
Nine weeks and 2,000 Nautical Miles later, the schooner Harvey Gamage docked in Brunswick, Georgia completing the fall 2021 Ocean Classroom voyage. For the 22 Proctor students aboard Gamage, their term at sea has changed the trajectory of their lives. They not only learned Marine Science, Navigation, and Maritime Literature, but they learned how to crew a tall ship and how to live together in close quarters. The lessons of Ocean Classroom -- newfound confidence, independence, and perspective -- will accompany these students for the rest of their lives, and we will all benefit from their time at sea when they return to campus in December. Congratulations, OC ‘21!
Proctor en Segovia completed their term abroad and have returned safely home after a nine week immersion experience. The power of living with a host family, exploring the city of Segovia, and learning about all aspects of the Spanish language and culture will continue to impact this group of ten students for years to come. Enjoy a final anonymous reflection from the fall Segovia group below.
Tonight marks the end of our first trimester. Our students feel like they have been through an important transformative time during these last few months. They came into the school masked and will leave having been “unmasked,” while deepening relationships with others and themselves.
