The Buzz

Most of us go to the technology help desk because we dropped a phone, cracked a screen, forgot a password, or need help with an update. We need something. We go to the tech office humble and looking for help, and when we get to the first floor of the Fowler Learning Center, Anna, Jim, Spencer, Susan, or Seth wait with their store of infinite patient, deep knowledge, and good cheer. Those five manage and work with constant change, continual upgrades, and the persistent (and silly) “user error;” they live professional development. At Proctor, the repair space of grounded work stations, microscopes, and tiny tools is noteworthy and impressive, but the people are awe-inspiring: Anna, I am convinced, can field strip an iPhone (any model) and reassemble it in under ten minutes.

On our way out of Mississippi we stopped In Jackson to meet with lawyers at the Southern Poverty Law Center whose work focuses on the school-to-prison pipeline. Our next stop was in Bayou Sorrel, Louisiana where we spent the day with the Atchafalaya Basinkeeper and Greg Guirard, a local legend who salvages old cypress logs. To finish up our time in the Southeast we ate lunch in New Orleans' French Market and chatted with William Most, a local civil rights lawyer. Enjoy Jon's reflection on our time in the Southeast! 

John Ruskey and Mark "River" Peoples from the Quapaw Canoe Company showed us to an amazing week of paddling that Grayson '18 and Matt '17 have documented below. In our class time we explored James Kilgore's Understanding Mass Incarceration, Richard Grant's Dispatches from Pluto, and a nutritional analysis of prison diets. which allowed us to get to know the prison system through multiple lenses. Enjoy this second update from Mountain Classroom's first three weeks of the term! 

Mountain Classroom began our winter trimester at the Morning Sun Mindfulness Center in Alstead, NH. After orienting the students to the bus, trailer, and living arrangements we all watched The Dhamma Brothers. This film started our first discussion on the term's guiding question: What are the components to leading a fulfilling life? In the Southeast, Mountain Classroom will be exploring the criminal justice system as an obstacle in the pursuit of fulfillment. Our first destination is canoeing on the Mississippi River with the Quapaw Canoe Company in Clarksdale, MS. Enjoy Jaz '17's reflections on our first week together!

Proctor Academy’s winter sports are underway, and with it the excitement of a variety of games and races. The boys’ varsity hockey has been a hub of excitement thus far, with three home games over the past week including two wins and one loss. The energy from the home games has been incredibly positive, with large support from the student body in the stands. Feeding off of this energy is a team who has welcomed a slew of new players to its roster. As the team’s chemistry builds, and new players continue to mix well with the core of returning veterans, expectations are high despite playing in one of the toughest leagues in the country.

Opportunities for hands on learning constantly present themselves to teachers at Proctor. Whether it is designing and building a solar oven in AP Environmental Science, meeting with a K9 officer during Criminal Justice, or studying a local fishery in Biology, students and teachers are constantly immersed in their own learning. The past month has afforded a unique set of hands-on experiences due to New Hampshire’s important electoral votes during the 2016 Presidential Election. Today’s Academic Lens post features student reflections on their front-row attendance at Barack Obama’s November 7 speech at the University of New Hampshire and photography by Sarah Ferdinand ‘18. Many thanks to Social Science teacher Fiona Mills for organizing the outing for more than two-dozen students. Enjoy! 

When Cope ‘17, Jay ‘17, Carl ‘17, and Cros ‘17 began singing “A Prayer for the Children” during Sunday afternoon’s vocal music ensemble recital, it felt as though someone pressed the pause button on life. Their impassioned voices carried the words off the page and into the hearts of the seventy-five parents and community members in attendance. “Can you feel the hearts of the children? / Aching for home, for something of their very own / Reaching hands, with nothing to hold on to, / But hope for a better day a better day.”

For the past ten weeks, Proctor's athletes and coaches have invested blood, sweat, and tears into their respective sports and afternoon activities. As with every season, the Fall Term was filled with ups and downs, triumphs and disappointments, but through every experience is an undercurrent of commitment and learning. On Thursday evening and in assembly on Friday, the community recognized those teams and athletes whose commitment, ability, and leadership were essential to a successful season. While we highlight individual award winners in this post, each member of each afternoon activity should be proud of his or her effort this fall. Congratulations to everyone!