Most of us go to the technology help desk because we dropped a phone, cracked a screen, forgot a password, or need help with an update. We need something. We go to the tech office humble and looking for help, and when we get to the first floor of the Fowler Learning Center, Anna, Jim, Spencer, Susan, or Seth wait with their store of infinite patient, deep knowledge, and good cheer. Those five manage and work with constant change, continual upgrades, and the persistent (and silly) “user error;” they live professional development. At Proctor, the repair space of grounded work stations, microscopes, and tiny tools is noteworthy and impressive, but the people are awe-inspiring: Anna, I am convinced, can field strip an iPhone (any model) and reassemble it in under ten minutes.

Opportunities for hands on learning constantly present themselves to teachers at Proctor. Whether it is designing and building a solar oven in AP Environmental Science, meeting with a K9 officer during Criminal Justice, or studying a local fishery in Biology, students and teachers are constantly immersed in their own learning. The past month has afforded a unique set of hands-on experiences due to New Hampshire’s important electoral votes during the 2016 Presidential Election. Today’s Academic Lens post features student reflections on their front-row attendance at Barack Obama’s November 7 speech at the University of New Hampshire and photography by Sarah Ferdinand ‘18. Many thanks to Social Science teacher Fiona Mills for organizing the outing for more than two-dozen students. Enjoy! 

The notion of project based learning was the catalyst for Proctor’s revitalization in the early 1970's when newly appointed Head of School David Fowler, Assistant Head of School Chris Norris, and many others drove the school in a new and exciting direction. For the past forty years, Proctor has led the educational world in experimenting with student-centered, project-based learning, and has developed rich school culture that intuitively embraces the core principals of student-centered learning. We understand, however, that we must never become complacent with our teaching practices, and must continue to identify new and exciting ways to bring real world problem solving into the daily life of of our students. In order to do this, we must spend intentional time BEING students. 

On Tuesday evening, five classes joined together to host Proctor’s annual Fall Innovation Night in the Wise Center while a bitter national election took place outside the Proctor bubble. Students from Engineering, Environmental Biology, AP Environmental Studies, US History, and Social Entrepreneurship showcased their final projects to the whole community through an open house atmosphere followed by individual presentations for each group throughout Maxwell Savage Hall. Innovative learning and student-led projects have long been core to Proctor’s academic curriculum, and Innovation Night allows much of that work to be shared with the entire community.

As residents of a swing-state, we are keenly aware of how protracted this political cycle has been. For the past two years we have seen nothing but political ads on television, a consistent view of lawn signs populating in our peripheral vision as we drive to away games, and a far-too-present rhetoric on social media that ignores common manners and unjustly links the value of an individual to his or her political beliefs. While we are all anxious for the political noise to fade into the background, we are thankful for the learning opportunities the election season provides.

Each day we are reminded that while we often live in a bubble at Proctor Academy there is so much more depth to the world around us. Regular blog posts from Ocean Classroom, Mountain Classroom, European Art Classroom, Proctor in Costa Rica, and Proctor en Segovia help us emerge from the Proctor bubble as we watch peers explore the world and all its complexities.  Similarly, our involvement with Special Olympics and opportunities afforded us through Project Period further expose our students and faculty to a much broader world than our geography would otherwise allow. While Ocean Classroom made its historic entry into Havana Harbor, Proctor welcomed Julie Marner, Executive Director of Burundi Friends International, and Fabrice Bizimana, a native of Burundi and former student of Julie’s, to campus. Over the course of their four days at Proctor and Dartmouth College, Julie and Fabrice provided invaluable insights into the people and culture of Burundi, all while allowing us to live and learn outside our bubble.

There are stacks of books in our house. There is a pile steadily growing in my office. I look at the titles: Braiding Sweetgrass, Being Mortal, Great Modern European Short Stories, Redeployment. I have read many, started more. Where to find the time to get back to, settle down with, and lose myself in their pages? My time to do so has been compromised. I slip into my iPhone. I read the news, browse through editorials, check the weather, check the scores (Cubs won yesterday), check email, text. I multi-task, flicker from this to that and back again. The margin time, the free time, even the uninterrupted work time, is increasingly compromised.

Proctor identifies itself as a prep school. It’s a term high schools around the world use to refer to their focus on preparing students for college or university. While college is absolutely on the immediate horizon for all of our students, we want to expand the realm of ‘preparation’ to more than just college. Proctor Academy prepares students for life.