The theme that runs throughout the term on Mountain Classroom is borders: physical borders, emotional borders, cultural borders, ethical borders. Proctor's Mountain Classroom program enters its third week of the term after a recent trip to the Akwesasne Reservation in northern New York state bordering Canada.
Mountain Classroom, Proctor's longest running off-campus program, began in 1974 when David Fowler, Chris Norris and others leading the school at the time were bold enough to augment Proctor's educational model (watch more about this evolution as a school). Forty years and hundreds of Mountain Classroom alums later, lives have been transformed by the experience, including those of current Mountain Classroom instructors Peter Logan '01 and Coco Loehr '08. Now it is their turn to transform lives!
Do you like beauty? Do you like making beautiful things? Can you envision looking out the window at rolling French countryside and hearing the clickety-clack of a train?
The final weeks of the fall term took the fall 2014 Proctor en Segovia group on their final excursion to Andalucía. There students were immersed in the study of the history and culture of Islamic Spain in Granada, Spanish colonialism in Cádiz, and Iberia’s Roman roots in Bolonia. We also enjoyed many of the region’s more contemporary contributions to Spanish culture, such as flamenco music and culinary delights.
Those of us with small children know well the malleability of their young brains. Between the ages of 0-3, the human brain is incredibly plastic; changing in response to experiences, both positive and negative. What we often forget is the second most malleable stage of brain development occurs in adolescence. It is during this time the brain develops whole new brain circuits for the last time. Our approach to education seeks to capitalize on this opportunity!
Ocean Classroom concludes its term-long adventure aboard the Schooner Roseway this week. Sailing from Gloucester to St. Croix is most certainly an experience of a lifetime. When students (now sailors) return home next weekend, parents will see transformed adolescents; individuals filled with confidence, a passion to learn, and an appreciation for hard work. As the sun sets on this term on Ocean Classroom, the power of learning at sea is only just beginning to filter back into the Proctor community...and THAT is what makes our off-campus programs so exciting!
