As a boarding school in a small, rural, New England village, Proctor Academy is hard to separate from the town of Andover. Proctor’s campus lies at the geographical center of town, spanning both sides of Main Street and abutting residences on North Street. Our buildings, fields, and ski area visible to all passersby. Proctor's faculty and staff live throughout Andover, and our local elementary school has been filled with faculty and staff children for over a century. The work of Proctor and the work of the town go hand in hand. 

On the heels of a phenomenal Senior Dinner and Commencement, Reunion 2016 continued the positive vibes on campus with the largest alumni reunion Proctor has ever held! This year's alumni reunion celebrating all graduating years ending in 1's and 6's brought record numbers of alumni to campus to reconnect with each other, faculty and staff, and the campus they called home during their time at Proctor. 

Every commencement has a speaker, and most commencement speakers share a similar message of encouragement to graduates as they enter the 'real world'. Proctor's 168th Commencement welcomed Pudu '16's mother, Leymah Gbowee, to campus not only to watch her daughter graduate, but to share powerful words with the Class of 2016. Her message was less one of encouragement and more one of a directive to the graduating class, and we thank her for the impact she left on all of us. 

Proctor Academy observed its 168th Commencement Saturday morning as 95 members of the Class of 2016 received diplomas in front of family, friends, faculty, staff, and alumni. Each graduating class has a unique personality. This group's personality has been evolving since the fall of 2012 when freshmen members of the Class of 2016 were first packing their bags for Wilderness Orientation. Because each class is so different, every Proctor graduation takes on a personality to match its graduates, meaning this year's celebration of the senior class was certainly one to remember! 

On Wednesday afternoon, the Proctor community celebrated Senior Projects and senior art awards with our first annual Express Fest! For decades, the final Wednesday afternoon of the academic year has been dedicated to showcasing Senior Project exhibits, but as we looked to provide balance to awards given at Senior Dinner, Arts Department Chair Bill Wightman brainstormed a collaboration of art awards, Senior Project exhibits, and an all-school barbeque outside the Meeting House. It was a fantastic way to gather as a community one last time and to celebrate the contributions of our seniors over the course of their Proctor careers. 

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. 

The tumble of the year has been reduced to days. Not too long ago backpacks were lined up in the cage and the first nervous moments of the year played out on Wilderness Orientation. In September we checked weather reports to see if we would be sleeping in the rain, and now we check to see if graduation will be on a clear day. How did it happen so quickly? Are we done so soon? The questions begin to swirl for all of us.

Each week in our Parent Page newsletter, we profile a faculty or staff member in order to help our internal community get to know each other on a different level. This week's Parent Page will feature a profile on Brooks Bicknell '77 that we thought we would share on The Buzz as well! Check out other Faculty/Staff profiles on our past Parent Pages HERE!