We talk often about how it is the people that make Proctor such a kind, supportive, loving community. As we rapidly approach June 30 and the final official day of the 2019-2020 academic year, we bid farewell to eight talented faculty and staff who have dedicated a portion (or in some cases all) of their professional life to the Proctor community.
In just one week, we welcome new and returning students to campus for the start of the academic year. As our students arrive back on campus, they will be greeted by a group of outstanding educators new to the Proctor community. For the past few days, new faculty have gone through their own orientation learning about Proctor and all of the systems and structures. Please welcome these new faculty and staff members to Proctor and learn more about them below!
A few summers ago, I had the privilege of building dry stone walls with fellow faculty members Josh Norris '92 and Peter Southworth. It was hard work. Really hard work. But the results of that work were tangible. Each day, we would walk away from the job site seeing what we had built; the perfectly placed foundation rocks, tetris-like fits locking the wall into place, flat tops and square corners that made you appreciate the miles and miles of centuries-old stone walls lining New Hampshire’s woods. There was an immediate gratification with this summer job, a satisfaction that provided a welcomed contrast to the feedback mechanisms associated with teaching adolescents.
Throughout the month of March, we will profile different female faculty and staff members in celebration of Women's History month. Thank you to faculty member Kelly Griffin-Brown for spearheading this project. Check out our first profile on faculty member Terry Stoecker below.
We all deserve to experience what it is like to be a part of a great team at some point in our lives. Great teams know themselves. They understand who they are. They know their strengths, their weaknesses. Each member understands individual roles within the group, and the coach knows how to optimize the performance of the group. It really is magical to watch a team firing on all cylinders. We had a chance to watch a few of those teams this winter including the girls’ varsity basketball team as they made a run to the NEPSAC Championship game over the weekend.
Roughly 40 prospective families arrived to a bitterly cold campus early Saturday morning, immediately feeling the warmth of the boarding school community into which they stepped. Boarding schools are an enigma for many who are unfamiliar with our holistic approach to education. However, for those of us who have chosen to make Proctor our home and have committed our life’s work to helping our students navigate adolescence, the immersive nature of boarding school life simply makes sense.
Students have departed campus for the week and we wade through the grading of final exams, writing of end of term comments, plowing of weekend snow, and tying up of loose ends before a few days truly "off", we pause to thank those that surround us. Working at Proctor is a choice. It requires each employee to put into perspective the greater goals of the work we do: empowering a generation of young people to make a difference in the world around us. It's hard, emotionally and physically exhausting work, but also incredibly rewarding to work with this group of students AND adults who have chosen Proctor.
