Circles are pretty sweet. The wheel – Revolutionary. M+Ms – Undoubtedly the best part of any gorp mix. 

Proctor Academy's Mountain Classroom program enters its final two weeks of the Spring Term. After winding their way across the Northern Plains, students embarked on a three day solo in the Vedauwoo National Forest. Lucy '22 and Maura '22 share beautiful reflections - each in their own style - of their time on solo. Enjoy this window into perhaps the most powerful experience Proctor students can have in the entries below.  

As the Spring Term winds to a close, Proctor Academy's Mountain Classroom program winds its way east through Wyoming, Montana, and South Dakota. At this point in the journey, students are running the majority of daily operations for the group. In the journal entries below, Gunnar '22 and Romy '23 reflect on how their group has evolved during their seven weeks together.  During the final two and a half weeks of the program, the group will continue their journey east immersing themselves in place-based learning along the way. 

I closed my eyes and focused on my breath. The plane skipped up, sideways, down and seemed to popcorn around in the air. I gripped my armrest on the 50 seater with people silently reciting small prayers in their heads. Or that is what I imagined since that was what I was doing. I slowly opened my eyes to see snow capped mountains. Big ones. Excitement replaced fear, my eyes glued to the window. The snowy mountain tops blended into striated red rock mesas as we landed in Grand Junction after a stop over in Denver. 

No two days are alike on Proctor's Mountain Classroom program. Whether it is climbing the tallest peaks, driving the windiest roads, or rafting down the San Juan River, the lessons learned on Mountain occur through the experiences themselves. Take a seat beside Ada '22 and Hays '22 as they raft the San Juan River alongside eight of their best friends and four river guides. The lessons of the river are powerful. 

Proctor Academy's spring Mountain Classroom students are off and running (or hiking) on the adventure of their lifetime. For the next eight weeks this group of ten students and two instructors will criss cross the American west, winding their way back to New Hampshire through Colorado and the Great Plains before eventually pulling onto campus, parking in front of Maxwell Savage Hall to sprint the rotunda stairs and ring the bell. As Stewart '22 and Alana '23 share in their beautiful prose below, it is the journey itself where students grow, stretch, and evolve as young people. Enjoy this window into the Mountain Classroom experience. 

Just 24 hours after the Spring Equinox, eight Mountain Classroom students arrived in Las Vegas, ready to embark on a ten week journey exploring the natural areas of Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, South Dakota, Wisconsin, and ultimately, New Hampshire. 

Proctor Academy's winter 2022 Mountain Classroom program has come to an end after ten weeks of exploring, adventuring, learning, and bonding as a group. The off-campus experience is like none other, pushing students so far outside their comfort zone that individuals learn to rely on each other, and to understand fully the impact of their individual actions on the well-being of the group. For this Mountain Classroom group, like all groups, that learning has laid a foundation for the rest of their lives. Read more from Colin '22 and Calista '22 in these final reflections from the term.