As the schooner Roseway and Proctor’s Ocean Classroom program voyage south along the eastern seaboard, their educational journey unfolds. As with all of Proctor’s classes, the learning that takes place is transcends books, lectures, and traditional learning. Ocean Classroom is perhaps one of the most extreme examples of experiential learning at Proctor, and therefore, its impact on student perspective is truly transformative.
Proctor's Ocean Classroom aboard the schooner Roseway has made its way through a few days of waiting for Hurricane Joaquin to head to sea, and recently sailed into Manahattan. Their nine week journey along the eastern seaboard en route to Puerto Rico continues to bring out the best in each student as they encounter unforeseen challenge, inclement weather, hands-on learning, research projects, seasickness, and new perspectives.
Students trekked, climbed, hiked, wandered, skipped, leaped, walked, and ran (yes, many of them RAN most of the way) nearly 50 miles across Galicia on el Camino de Santiago. First, enjoy Jaz's "portrait" of one backpacker on the Camino de Santiago. Tales from our "pilgrimage" by Will and Jaz follow.
A week ago, family, advisors, and friends waved goodbye from Gloucester Harbor as the Roseway sailed into the Atlantic and Ocean Classroom began its term at sea. Tomorrow, the group departs New London, Connecticut and sails into the Long Island Sound, keeping a careful eye on Hurricane Joaquin as its path unfolds along the eastern seaboard. Already, the lives of the twenty-two students aboard are being transformed. Read student reflections from the first week below.
On Thursday parents, students, and friends traveled to Gloucester, Massachusetts for the send off of Proctor’s Ocean Classroom voyage on Roseway. The smells of the waterfront, the slap of halyards, and the keening gulls swirled in a gyre of beckoning and possibility. The mix of nerves and excitement, that fuel for adventure, was palpable on deck as families hugged and pictures were snapped. After a little more than an hour of mingling, prowling through quarters, meeting the crew, checking out the galley, parents and guests were asked to leave. Gently but firmly. The engine rumbled, lines were cast off, and the Roseway slipped into the gold of late afternoon light. A farewell cannon clap startled the well wishers on the docks and a final cheer stretched across the harbor.
In their first two weeks in Spain, the Proctor en Segovia Fall 2015 group wastes no time in fully immersing themselves in Spanish language and culture. Luke and Haley write this post!
Proctor’s five term-long off-campus programs provide remarkable cultural immersion experiences for more than 70% of Proctor students. These programs, along with Proctor’s summer service trips, are fundamentally transformative for each student. Some students, however, choose to use the summer months to have additional immersion experiences.
Over the past ten weeks, Mikaylee '17, Sadie '17, Drew '17, and Hannah '17 have lived and learned in the Monteverde region of Costa Rica at The Cloud Forest School. They share reflections on their term off-campus and the relationships made with their host families.
