The Buzz

The fiery reds and oranges of mid-October maples have given way to the rusts and browns of November oaks. Forecasted snow tonight confirms winter is near; the inevitable changing of seasons upon us. It is hard to imagine a more pleasant weather pattern than Fall in New Hampshire - cool nights, warm days, abundant sunshine, and scenery to match. A look through Proctor’s Flickr page looks like one big brochure for boarding school, and yet when we experience a few rainy days in a row, we seemingly forget the beauty that so recently surrounded us. 

As Proctor Academy’s Ocean Classroom program enters its six week at sea, the student crew aboard schooner Roseway enters waters off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. Live a term at sea vicariously through the photos and student journal entries below!

Each year, Proctor’s Allan S. Bursaw Chapter of the National Honor Society inducts members of the senior class as academic leaders in the community. Selected by a committee of faculty, members of the National Honor Society have demonstrated excellence in the organization’s four pillars of character, scholarship, leadership, and service. 

At most high schools, students would probably get in trouble for scaling the walls of buildings around campus. However, since the Rock Climbing team began in 1973, students have been encouraged to climb the walls as they participate in this activity almost every afternoon. 

One of my favorite podcasts is Guy Raz’s How I Built This. There’s something about the raw, unfiltered stories he tells of entrepreneurs and their journey that resonates with the work we do each day with adolescents at Proctor. Very few successful businesses, or students, have a linear path to success, and it is during the valleys where lessons are learned and business models are refined. 

Proctor Academy’s Ocean Classroom program has entered week four at sea, voyaging through the Long Island Sound and past New York City bound for the Chesapeake Bay. After five days docked in Mystic, Connecticut, the student crew of 21 was eager to get back on the water for the next leg of their journey. Read more from the past week’s Ship’s Logs below! 

We like to be right. It’s affirming, pumps us up, and boosts confidence. We crave it, moving from one island of affirmation to the next, hopscotching the confidence squares. We can be talking about sports, politics, religion, race, or the best way to fix a lawnmower. We feel good when we get it right, when we “win,” when we get that chemical hit of dopamine. Gradually, however, with perspective, we realize that being right isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Sometimes being wrong can be a good thing. 

Tucked into the middle of New Hampshire, the Blackwater River winds 37 miles through fields and woods and towns from nearby Pleasant Lake to the Merrimack River. Here at Proctor, the kayaking team is fortunate to be just a short drive away from the Blackwater, which allows the team many opportunities to learn and train.