The Buzz

On Wednesday afternoon, the Proctor community celebrated Senior Projects and senior art awards with our first annual Express Fest! For decades, the final Wednesday afternoon of the academic year has been dedicated to showcasing Senior Project exhibits, but as we looked to provide balance to awards given at Senior Dinner, Arts Department Chair Bill Wightman brainstormed a collaboration of art awards, Senior Project exhibits, and an all-school barbeque outside the Meeting House. It was a fantastic way to gather as a community one last time and to celebrate the contributions of our seniors over the course of their Proctor careers. 

 Each spring, Proctor's theater department works magic to build a detailed set, create elaborate costumes, and rehearse for endless hours in anticipation of the Spring Musical. This year, the theater department chose Urinetown, a satirical comedy that satirizes big business, social irresponsibility, the legal system and much, much more. 

Wilderness Orientation and Senior Project bookend the Proctor experience for students. They are incredibly different, but require many of the same traits: a sense of adventure, confidence, passion, and a willingness to disregard comfort zones for the sake of authentic learning. Enjoy this window into Senior Project 2016! 

Mountain Classroom is cruising east! In Colorado we focused their studies on Allan Savory's Holistic Resource Management while discussing the grazing practices at Chico Basin Ranch. Driving north we spent time with JR White Hat, longtime Proctor friend, on the Rosebud Indian Reservation. We then drove through Kansas to learn about the Land Institute's pursuit to develop perennial wheat varieties. Now the students are perfecting their techniques for setting up tarps in preparation for solos in the hills near Green Sulphur Springs, West Virginia.

Mountain Classroom finished their month-long stint in Utah with a week on the San Juan River guided by Kay Harris of Canyon Expeditions. We gardened at the home of Bluff artist, Joe Pachak, and visited the Wolfman Panel in Butler Wash before pushing off on the river in their inflatable kayaks. After traveling through Colorado and visiting the Chico Basin Ranch this last week, we slept last night in Cody, Nebraska. Today we are heading to Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota to spend time with Proctor graduate JR White Hat.

After completing our primitive skills backpacking trip, Proctor Academy Mountain Classroom visited Smithfield's Hog Operations Headquarters in Milford, UT. We then went on to visit Morgan Family Dairy in Circleville as we immersed ourselves in studying large-scale agriculture. We were treated to a number of thunderstorms and rainbows at Otter Creek State Park, which we called home for most of the week before driving on to Moab. We left Moab for Bluff, Utah where we are headed rafting on the San Juan River for the next week with longtime Proctor friend, Kay Harris of Canyon Expeditions. 

Each week a new student gets to write the blog. We can write about whatever we want.  The thing is when teachers give you the freedom to write anything it is either amazing and the words come flowing onto the page, or a painstakingly slow process where you are stuck so long looking at a blank screen that you start to hallucinate or forget what words even are. So where to start?