Joanna de Peña '08 was voted onto Proctor's Board of Trustees this past weekend becoming the youngest member of the board to date. In 2004, Joanna made the difficult decision to leave home in Lawrence, Massachusetts for the opportunities Proctor Academy afforded her. Her passion, confidence, and wisdom beyond her years commands the attention of others whether she was serving as the emotional leader of her basketball team at Proctor or is speaking to an auditorium of inner-city youth about investing in their future. During her recent visit to campus, she shared insights with Freshman Seminar classes, challenged Head of School Mike Henriques to a little one on one in the gym, and reflected on the impact Proctor has had on her life. 

The football game tonight at New Hampton will reveal the way competition courses through the Lakes Region schools. We like to compete against one another, and the contests can be fierce. No school in this grouping, which includes KUA, Holderness, New Hampton, Tilton, Vermont, and Brewster, likes to lose. No player, no coach, no fan. That will be clear tonight, or on Saturday at Tilton where so many of our teams compete this weekend.

Proctor Academy’s football program has been among the strongest in the Lakes Region over the past decade. With undefeated seasons and appearances in a New England Bowl Game in both 2008 and 2012, the program has alumni playing at NCAA Division 1, 2 and 3 schools across the country. This year’s squad is off to a 1-1 start and looks to write another chapter in Proctor Football’s storied history.

Proctor’s varsity field hockey team entered Wednesday’s home game against ISL foe Groton School determined to bounce back from their recent 3-4 overtime loss to New Hampton School. After Groton took a quick two goal lead in the first half, the Hornets had a choice to fold or dig in and fight back. They chose the latter, and notched one goal before halftime to cut the deficit to 1-2. After a halftime pep talk, the young, but experienced, Hornets tallied three unanswered goals to secure the 4-2 come from behind win, improving to 2-1 on the season.

Proctor’s Mountain Biking team hosted its first race of the season when more than 250 riders from nearly two dozen schools around New England descended upon the Proctor Ski Area Wednesday afternoon. Highlights of the afternoon included Scott Johannen ‘17 earning a podium finish for the Boys’ Class A division and Dani Xu ‘19 winning the Girls’ Class C division and Proctor winning the overall team win.

Roughly 130 students have spent the past four days training for their respective fall sports during Sports Camp. With the addition of a crew program this year, Proctor’s Preseason Sports Camp offerings now include seven different sports (boys’ and girls’ soccer, field hockey, football, mountain biking, cross country running, and crew). Triple sessions over the course of five days can be exhausting, but the individual and team progress made during the week has been outstanding.

Proctor Academy’s USSA/FIS ski program recently returned from a ten day training trip to Mammoth, CA where coaches and athletes continued to tighten the gap athletically between ski academies and independent schools by kicking off a four camp prep period for the 2016-2017 season. Traditionally, young ski racers have to make the difficult choice of pursuing elite level skiing at a ski academy or focusing on their academic development at a traditional independent or public school that does not offer the same training options. Proctor’s bold offering to aspiring ski racers is simple: you no longer have to choose.

Different moments throughout the year provide opportunities to reflect on who we are as a community. Ironically, it is usually during the busiest seasons that these moments occur. This weekend was packed with activities on campus, and it was through these varied interactions with students, alumni, and parents that we were all reminded of who we are as a school.