The Buzz

Crafting a mission statement is an impossible task. How, in a paragraph or two, can you capture the entirety of a complex learning community like Proctor? How can you concisely provide the north star toward which your school constantly works? We talk about our core values and key programs, but one short phrase in the middle of our mission statement cuts to the very heart of our beliefs about education: We recognize the potential of each member of the community to stretch beyond what had been thought possible.

Drive along NH Route 11 and you will encounter beautiful scenery, farms, open fields, views of Mount Kearsarge and Ragged Mountain, and the varied architecture that speaks to an evolution of a town without strict zoning laws. You might conclude that while quaint, the village of Andover is far from a cultural center. Take a step off of Main Street into the Lovejoy Library, Wilkins Meeting House, or Brown Dining Commons and you will quickly realize your premature conclusion to be false.  

The twenty-one students aboard Schooner Roseway on Proctor's Ocean Classroom program have begun their third week at sea. They are settling into routines, learning how to live in close quarters with their classmates, and adjusting to interrupted sleep, middle of the night watches, and the unfiltered beauty of the open ocean. Read the past week's Ship's Logs from Roseway below. 

Last week, the Proctor en Segovia group walked part of the Camino de Santiago, a little under forty miles to be exact. The Camino de Santiago is a path that starts in France and ends on the coast of Galicia. The journey across Spain is walked for many reasons. Some people do it as a physical challenge and/or to take time to reflect on an aspect of their lives, but, traditionally, the Camino de Santiago is walked as a religious pilgrimage. 

On some level we see it all. We see teachers tack back and forth from Maxwell to Shirley to Fowler Learning Center, see the maintenance trucks and mowers move across campus, see and hear the coaches on the fields in the afternoon, the kitchen crew roll out meals. It’s pretty simple. The workings of community sit right in front of us and are easy enough to discern. But then there are the other layers.

We thrive when our entire body is healthy, when blood pumps through every vein and we tune into the interconnectedness of individual parts as we operate the whole. The same goes for communities. We are only healthy when every layer of our community feels engaged, heard, and empowered to effect change. 

After a challenging 2018 season that saw Proctor’s Varsity Field Hockey team struggle to a 1-14 record, the 2019 version of the team sits with a 2-1-2 record as they enter the month of October. The squad is proving a long-term impacts of a foundation of hard work, determination, and positivity forged through the hardships 2018 season. With a goal of extending this season into mid-November, coaches Kate ‘01 and Trish Austin's ‘01 have their team laser focused being the best version of themselves each and every day. 

I think back on my middle-school days as the worst part of my youth. My school (like most middle-schools I’m sure) was a sea of insecurity. Kids combatted their fears of exclusion by labeling and othering. These categories created a sense of security and belonging for some, and a sense of loneliness and longing for others. I became more concerned with how I was being seen by others than figuring out my own interests and passions. I thought one day, after observing a popular eighth-grade boy named John strut through the halls with a confident swagger, this kid knows who he is, he has it all figured out. I later mimicked his mannerisms, constructing my identity around what appeared to be the culturally accepted and lauded one.