Our two-month adventure in Europe started in the United States, specifically in Boston after we said goodbye to everyone’s parents and Kayden. There was obviously a very indisputable sense of excitement among us that night. We left Boston that evening and after hours of flights and layovers, we finally found Dave and Jen waiting for us at the airport, along with Fifi and Liv. At last, we were all united.
More than 150 families will attend our three Admission Revisit Days over the course of the next week. Each will walk away with an authentic sense of who we are as a school. More importantly, perhaps, each will have the chance to talk to our students about how Proctor’s educational model has transformed their lives.
Hello all from California! Our Spring Mountain Classroom group is growing in spirit and unity every day. As we drove from the airport towards our first campsite, called Mission Creek, we overheard our instructors Peter and Lori engaged in a conversation about genetically engineered foods, or GE foods, which immediately set the bar for our expectations of the term.
While we obviously must avoid placing our students in danger, we must allow them to explore their world. We know there is no better way to learn than to live, and there is no better way to build confidence and courage as a learner than to actually be responsible for navigating life. At Proctor, we seek to provide a living education, not an observational one.
Living with a host family in a foreign city, country, culture, and language is certainly one of the most challenging, and sometimes exhausting, experiences possible for any student. By the end of a term living abroad in Segovia, however, Proctor students almost without exception rank the homestay experience as one of their very favorite aspects of the program. Here students write of their experiences living with Spanish families and reflect on the deep learning that occurs from living life en español.
I am thrilled to be the one that gets to write about our final week on European Art Classroom. As the term comes to a close, there is sadness but also cheerfulness around the house. I think I speak for everyone that we are all excited to be going home, but we are also sad that this great adventure whipped by and has come to an end. Secretly, deep down we know that after a few days of being at home, we will start to miss our second home in Aix.
In this post, Proctor en Segovia Winter 2015 travels to Barcelona, experiences Carnaval week in Segovia, and welcomes several families for Spain “family weekend”!
After a long drive from the Tohono O’odahm Reservation in Arizona, Proctor Academy's Mountain Classroom arrived on the planet known as Joshua Tree National Park. The yuccas here sprout from the ground like Truffula trees, and the plutons are forced up from subduction of continental plates. It’s a land known for its climbs and scrambles, and we were led through its bounties by our talented guide, Nate Pakula from Naturalists At Large.
