The Buzz

Not all schools could run a program like Ocean Classroom in the midst of a global pandemic, but when Ocean Classroom director Brooks Bicknell ‘77 proposed a plan to run the program this fall, members of the Proctor’s COVID-19 Task Force rallied to find a way to safely quarantine both students and crew prior to launching the nine week, term-long voyage. The schooner Roseway and its intrepid student crew are now seven weeks into their journey down the eastern seaboard, and having the most abnormally, normal Fall Term of anyone at Proctor. Read more from the past week’s Ship’s Log below!

As Proctor Academy’s Ocean Classroom program enters its six week at sea, the student crew aboard schooner Roseway enters waters off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. Live a term at sea vicariously through the photos and student journal entries below!

Proctor Academy’s Ocean Classroom program has entered week four at sea, voyaging through the Long Island Sound and past New York City bound for the Chesapeake Bay. After five days docked in Mystic, Connecticut, the student crew of 21 was eager to get back on the water for the next leg of their journey. Read more from the past week’s Ship’s Logs below! 

Ocean Classroom 2020 is making its way along the Connecticut coast toward New York City as we publish this recap of the past week aboard schooner Roseway. For the 21 intrepid sailors who once merely called themselves students, this voyage is teaching them how to live, learn, and work alongside each other unlike any other experience could. 

Proctor's Ocean Classroom 2020 continues to explore the coast of Maine as they enter their third week at sea. A surprise maple syrup drop-off near the Isle of Shoals from Brooks Bicknell '77, Jackson Bicknell '11, and Hunter Churchill '01 on Sunday afternoon provided a rare connection to the outside world for our students. Check out recent Ship's Logs from the schooner Roseway for more updates and read on for reflections from students at sea! 

Just over a week ago, twenty-one Proctor students set sail for Ocean Classroom’s 27th year of changing lives through a term at sea. Students and crew aboard World Ocean School’s schooner Roseway trained in Gloucester Bay to wait out inclement weather before heading north to The Gulf of Maine. We will post weekly updates from Ocean Classroom on The Buzz, but encourage you to  check out the daily Ship’s Logs posted on World Ocean School’s website. 

We were having dinner in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, France when I received the call. As soon as I saw the incoming call from Mike Henriques on my iPhone screen I knew there would be no spring term and my heart sank.

Life is unpredictable. If you told us that this spring we would not be in France teaching but instead writing this blog from our unheated shop, turned into quarantine home in western Washington State, it would be hard to believe. Our son and his wife live in the house and Jen and I are quarantining. We all have social distancing stories to share I'm sure - here's ours.