Most afternoon activities at Proctor afford regular opportunities for public performances; athletic teams showcase their progress every Wednesday and Saturday. For Proctor’s drama department, the countless hours of memorizing lines, rehearsing, building and rebuilding an intricate set, the beautiful mess of group dynamics and stress of pre-show nerves culminate in two performances at the end of the Winter Term.
Our Admissions Team often hears the question: What’s a typical day like for a Proctor student? Oh, where do we start. How do adequately explain no two days are the same. How do we succinctly articulate the breadth of experiences that could enter a “typical” day for our students?
What if we, as an imperfect society, sought justice for the oppressed with the same conviction that those in power seek to stay in power? What if we took time to honestly reconcile the racism and oppression on which America was built? What if we, as individuals, made the conscious decision to choose love in our daily decisions? Would we accelerate the slow bending arch of history toward justice that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. promised more than fifty years ago?
We are a relatively small school, 370 students and 90 teachers, where we call each other by our first name. We always say hi as we pass on walkways between classes. We think we know each other. But how often do we merely assign an identity to others based on a first impression of their outward projection of self? He’s a soccer player. She’s a hockey girl. Oh, he’s a drama guy. A gamer. A skier.
When we pause long enough to listen, to truly listen, we can softly hear purpose as the background music to our journey through life. We begin to piece together good out of bad and recenter ourselves on that which holds the deepest meaning in our lives.
The Class of 2019 graced us with their artistic talents over the past four years. Every graduating student is required to take three art courses at Proctor, however, many choose to dive far deeper into their artistic pursuits. The graduates below will be studying art in college next year - be sure to keep an eye out for their work in the future!
I’ve called these places soul corners in the past, the pockets where energy coalesces in a particular way to reveal something of a community’s heartbeat, its delight, its potential. They are not often manicured spaces, prim and dolled up. They have an aura of work surrounding them, of student effort expended and adults guiding. Slocumb is one of those spaces. The tech lab, the woodshop, the machine shop, the forge - all soul spaces. So, too, is the Norris Theater with its paneling, the wooden beams that hold up the grid, the scene shop. It’s one of those spaces that invites lingering. It’s calming and energizing. It’s a place of music, of singing, of acting and set magic, of students making birthday announcements and game recaps. It’s a place of laughter and sometimes somber talks. It’s one of those places that makes Proctor…well, Proctor.
As the year winds down, things are just heating up in Proctor’s Drama department. Opening night of the spring musical is fast approaching (Friday at 7:00 PM is the first show), and the hard work that students and faculty have put into this show will finally be on display.
