Will You Be the Next ‘Peter Pan’ of Proctor Academy?

By Mattie Dickinson

Can you imagine having one of your high school teachers become your coworker? Over thirty faculty members at Proctor have this awkward experience daily. Two shared the experience of returning to Proctor and making their high school their workplace.

Ben Bartoldus ‘10 is a history teacher, dorm parent in Gannett, and the varsity basketball coach who was shaped by this sport. “My objective as a college athlete was to, obviously, play professional basketball. Overseas, not in the NBA. And when that didn’t come to fruition, I think my next professional goal was to take over this basketball program. My experience here, both as a student and an athlete was tremendous and I learned a lot. It was definitely molding and impactful and the people here are pretty dope. And I think I wanted to be a mentor to someone… I think the relationship aspect of Proctor drew me back.” Ben also shared many of his fond memories, which usually involved messing around with his friends. If you want to know more about those shenanigans you’ll have to ask him yourself.

Ben was drawn back to Proctor because he was offered a position coaching basketball. Ben’s first year here as a teacher and coach was in 2019. So far, he hasn’t had a “normal” school year until 2022. Ben has always been interested in teaching because he comes from a family of teachers.

As a faculty member, one thing Ben would like to see reinstated in Proctor’s academic model is smaller class sizes. He remembers his biggest class had ten students and he received more one-on-one time with his teachers. Ben continues to love how he, along with every other faculty member, can cultivate the relationships between students and faculty. “We are able to connect with everybody that comes through here in some capacity in a meaningful way.”

Chris Jones ‘04 is an Athletic Trainer, dorm parent in Burbank West, and the ski jumping coach. When reflecting on his experience as a student, Chris recalled the funny way he returned to campus. “You could make the argument that my old ski jumping coach was requiring me to come back to Proctor when I was a sophomore here.” After Chris was hired as the ski jumping coach, he was offered a position to be an athletic trainer, and the school offered him a position to be a dorm parent in Burbank West.

As a faculty member, Chris observes, “We do community so well and I think that’s one of the biggest draws to this place, … living in a community like this is just so cool, you just don’t get this feeling anywhere else.”

Both Ben and Chris were drawn back to Proctor for coaching roles, but in reality, returned to join the loving community they knew as students. This experience is so similar for all the ‘Peter Pans’ on campus. So what current student do you think will work at Proctor some day and be the next Proctor ‘Peter Pan’?

Did The Chicken Ski Across The Road?

By Griffin Stewart

January 7th was a beautiful sunny day. Although there was quite a bit of action at the Proctor Ski hill, the day went smoothly for ski patrol. However, that was all subject to change when the Proctor nordic team stopped me. The nordic team, notorious for their interesting view on their sport and constant complaining of injuries, stopped me once again for my assistance. I just wanted my daily hot chocolate, but I reluctantly listened to their query. Swarmed by racers, all talking all at the same time, Pete then stood and calmed down the mass of skiers. He calmly explained why they were all so frantic. Someone stole the beloved nordic rubber chicken, a messiah to the racers. I responded with, “Why not just get a new chicken?” The backlash was swift, almost like I insulted their very existence. I promised them I would look to the ends of the earth to find their Messiah chicken.

I set out immediately to find the chicken. I questioned a few racers about the last time they saw the chicken and where it was. One racer stepped forward, and it turns out she was the caregiver for the chicken before it was stolen. She explained how she placed it for safekeeping in the girl’s locker room but returned the next day to find the chicken gone. This lead was a breakthrough for the investigation. This narrowed the suspects down drastically. I then looked in every nook and cranny of the lodge to see if the chicken had returned. When I came out empty-handed, I turned my attention to the alpine skiers.

Alpine skiers are known for wanting to have a good time on the hill, generally, a fun crowd to be around. Which led me to believe they had something to do with the disappearance of the chicken. After each skier finished a run, I would ask if they knew of a rubber nordic chicken. With ski- ers asking in return, “Why would you or I care about their rubber chicken?” I almost lost hope in the investigation until one alpine skier revived my hope. He preceded to tell me he saw the chicken recently in the possession of another alpine skier. For the safety of the suspect, we shall call her Naomi. As the story goes, Naomi walked into the locker room, tired from a long practice, and saw a rubber chicken on the ground. Seeing that there was no protection for the chicken, she took it as a trophy for the team. After the kidnapping, the chicken was now the wrongful property of the alpine team.

I had to wait until Monday to present my findings to the Nordic team. At the hill, I told to tell the nordic team of the whereabouts of their messiah chicken, but I was too late. At the bottom of the lodge, the nordic teams ginathered mourning something. I asked the nearest skier, and I was shocked to hear what had happened. Late on Sunday night, a nordic skier went looking for the chicken. They opened the back of one of the alpine busses to find the lifeless body of their Messiah. They rushed the chicken to the health center, but were turned away, all because it was a rubber chicken. All hope was lost, so they brought the body back to the ski hill and had a Vigil for the bird. I didn’t have the will to tell them who enacted this heinous crime. Perhaps one day this will help them in their mourning process.

In 2008 PEA made a declaration of bottled water independence, which made Proctor stop buying plastic non-reusable water bottles unless there was an emergency. Alan said, “Since that declaration, we have had graduations, reunions, and other events where bottled water was not featured, but coolers filled with local carbon-neutral tap water. This really promoted a, reduced, reuse, refill culture at our school and I was very proud of those students that worked hard to make that a reality that has lasted so long and has prevented pollution and saved us money.”

What are the upcoming plans PEA has for this year? Johny is excited to incorporate more plants into the buildings. Johny said, “Before I leave campus in March, we are trying to introduce plants into the dining hall![Have you heard] of forest bathing and how plants actually help clean the air. Well, we bring the natural world inside, cultivate a connection to and clean the air inside the building. This will not be a responsibility of the dining hall so we will look towards my fellow peers to let this be a success.”

Students Taking Action Make Proctor Greener

By Rose Werner

How can we help Proctor be more environmentally friendly? PEA wants your ideas and energy!

PEA, Proctor Environmental Action, is run by students. Johny Cash, also known as Shirley Frautschi ‘23, is the student leader this year, and Alan McIntyre is the advisor to this club. In Alan’s words about what the focus of PEA is, “...the club is to build appreciation, awareness, and understanding of environmental issues on a global scale that affect us directly on the local level.” PEA is a well-known club in the Proctor community that helps bring awareness to the environment.

PEA has helped organize many important events throughout Proctor’s history. As PEA started in 1988. When interviewing Alan about PEA, he said, “Well, we did ‘hijack’ a bus to go down to the New York City climate action march back in 2014. We didn’t really hijack the bus but we did take it over and filled it with 30+ students and faculty to March in NYC.”This was a huge event for PEA especially since most events this size have to get permission from several members of the administration to receive the green light for such a project.

In Alan’s words, “At this time, students are planning a dorm vs recycling challenge. However, student interest can take this club anywhere! We could have a guest speaker, a wildlife adventure, a protest or demonstration, an art installation… Who knows, it will be up to PEA to make it happen.” Hopefully this year we will see these take action and help educate students and faculty about these beneficial projects.

Students run this club, but they rely on the passion of other students that want to talk about how we can help. PEA encourages others to come and join the club even if they don’t know much about the topic. One of the topics this club loves to bring up is what should Earth Day look like at Proctor this year. Stop by PEA and come listen to other opinions or speak your mind about how we as a community can make Proctor a greener place.

SDL-See From a New Perspective

By Lauren Anzalone

Throughout the first few days of December, I joined three other Proctor students at the Student Diversity Leadership Conference. Sydney, Jaden, Emma, me, and nearly two-thousand students from a multitude of states and countries participated in the three-day conference located in San Antonio, Texas.

One of the four students to venture to San Antonio for this year’s conference was senior Emma Do. She told me about her experience regarding the intense schedule. “Each day, we would have back-to-back sessions for 13 hours about heavy topics surrounding social injustices against our ‘core cultural identifiers,’ such as gender, race, socioeconomic status, ability, and more. Still, the energy of SDLC was phenomenal, and I made so many new meaningful connections with people from all over the country….”

Emma attended affinity group meetings: “I went to the Asian American and Pacific Islanders Affinity Group and was met with a room full of students from countless Asian cultures. I had never been in the same room with so many Asian people before, and I had an incredible time getting to know so many people and learning about their experiences as one of the few students of color in their school.” This is one of the things SDLC is known for, being a place in which students of color at predominantly white independent schools can relate to other students and discuss their experiences. The affinity groups created a great space for students that identified in similar ways to dive deeper into the conversations involving race, sexuality, and gender, and how those things affected them.

As one of the students that participated in SDLC this year, I can confidently say that this is something more students should experience. Although I am not a person of color, listening to other kids’ experiences at their schools and how the different parts of their identities affected their lives was incredibly eye-opening. It also invited me to reflect on Proctor and how I think the community can improve. When compared to some other schools I heard of at the conference, Proctor appears to be having more conversations and willingness to embrace these different aspects of identity.

For example, some of my peers at the conference explained to me that they did not have a diversity committee or alliance club, and seldom were those topics mentioned in classes. I am grateful that some of Proctor is working towards opening opportunities to change our education. However, part of me worries that too many people refuse to engage in these discussions or become defensive when learning about some of the more sensitive subjects. In addition, I sometimes feel that some of the conversations are hollow and lack substance; students or faculty are simply agreeing with others in order to not be deemed ignorant or “politically incorrect.” I hope to see a change in some of the people of this community, but I think for that to happen people must go out of their way to actively listen.

SDLC was an outstanding opportunity to learn, grow, share, and listen in a way I had never seen in an educational setting before. As Emma said, “Being surrounded by people with the same vision to make a change within the United States educational system and beyond is a privilege I will forever hold dear to my heart.” So, next year will you sign up?

2022 Fall European Art: The First and Only

By Rohan Goswami

Proctor is well known for their five off-campus offerings. On European Art classroom, you get to live in the South of France, not just to paint, but also to travel throughout Europe and learn to live with 7 other students.

For the 2022 school year, Proctor decided to add an extra term for the European Art Classroom. Like any other Euro term, many students applied, and only eight lucky students got accepted into the program.

While we each had unique experiences and outlooks on the program, Ellie Bullion ‘23 and Delaney Young ‘24 shared their experiences with the program.

Traveling to the South of France with a new group of people can be intimidating and nerve-wracking. “I was a little nervous at first because I only knew a few people in the group,” Delaney told me. Not knowing the whole group at first can be a bit scary, but sometimes it can be a good thing. Ellie said, “Even when we first got there and we were all waiting to board the plane I could tell that the group dynamic was going to be good and we would all get along.”

The entire group lived together in a beautiful house in Aix-en-Provence. It opens students up to a new environment and challenges them to learn how to live in close proximity to other people. “Settling into the house was good, I was still a little nervous because it was a big change from what I am used to, but it was fun getting to experience new things for the first time,” Delaney said.

Living in a house together is different from other off-campus offerings. Ellie went to Spain where she lived with host families and compared those living environments to the Euro one, “Getting to know everybody was easier because we all lived together, and I got to know everyone pretty quickly.”

You are not stuck in the same house for the entire term though. You take three week-long excursions to a new city or country. These excursions expose us to different types of art and cultures and usually align with what we learn in our Art History class. Amsterdam was a hit with the group. From the food to the museums and art, walking around, or taking a canal boat tour, it was a common highlight of the trip.

But like every off-campus program, it eventually comes to an end, whether you want it to end or not. “It was bittersweet because I loved the trip and everyone on it,” Delaney said. Ellie observed, “I missed my family and I was excited to go home and go back to my normal life. But knowing I was never going to have that experience again was really sad.”

Anyone who goes on an off-campus program is bound to learn something new. Delaney and Ellie both told me that the living skills they learned while in France will stick with them in the future. Cooking, making art every day, and traveling are all skills we’ll have forever.

If you are interested in applying to the European Art classroom, I have no doubt that you will be encouraged to apply. From Delaney, “I would totally recommend it to anyone applying. It was one of the best experiences I’ve ever had in my life.” And from Ellie, “...it’s a very different experience that you can’t get anywhere else and it’s worth the challenges that come with it.” it would be. I’m getting noticed by a lot of colleges which is the reason why I wanted to come here and take my PG year. Of course, Bridgton is not Proctor, what I mean by that is that the help and love I used to get from Proctor is not the same here.”

Those were the words of Abdou Diop, or “Pape” as he was known throughout his tenure at Proctor. Among Proctor students and faculty, Pape is remembered as a bright and energetic young man committed to playing soccer and keeping smiles on people’s faces.

Pape returned to Andover this fall to compete against Proctor as part of Bridgton Academy, a post-graduate preparation program in Bridgton, Maine. Pape wrote to me stating, “To be back even if it was for one night was an absolute happiness that I cannot describe. It was just awesome. It’s always touching and nice when people show you love, cheer for you and make you feel important. It was an unforgettable night for sûre. If I could rewind the time, and live that moment again, I would do so.”

Pape in the Present

By Ty Chermsirivatana

“My experience in Bridgton is going very well. I would even say better than I thought

His experience at Bridgton is going very well as he’s getting noticed by colleges and making new friends. He remarked, “It’s a very different experience for me, definitely tougher but I’m fine and that’s the important thing.” Pape highlighted the connections he made at Proctor and that he felt loved. He’s very grateful for everyone at Proctor who helped him through three years (and one torn ACL) at Proctor.

I asked Pape if he had any words or messages to his fans and supporters at Proctor. “The only thing I want to say is thank you for these three wonderful years that I spent there. My experience at Proctor is the most beautiful and wonderful experience I have ever had in my life. So I say 1000 times thank you. I love y’all.” Pape is currently looking for a college with a good soccer program and plans to get a degree in nursing or criminal justice, so he can take care of others.

Sherlock: Nicotine Patches Or Pipe Smoking?

By Rebecca Zhang

The TV Series Sherlock, produced by the BBC, was first aired in July 2010. Created by Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss, there were thirteen episodes separated into four seasons with three episodes each and a special premiere. Famous actors Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman played Sherlock Holmes and John Watson in the fantastic series.

I didn’t expect to like the series before I watched it. Honestly, I disliked that the producer set up the whole story in modern 2010 London as soon as I heard about it. I was skeptical and ready to criticize the series and get back to reading the original novel written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. As a fan of Sherlock Holmes, my personal favorite character, I was one hundred percent loyal to the novel. But things tended to happen in a totally opposite way. This BBC series is now my all-time favorite TV series. Why? What makes me change my mind?

First of all, he’s the perfect actor. As you might know, Benedict Cumberbatch is an elegant English actor who physically fits Sherlock from Conan Doyle, and at the same time, he really knows how to mold a genius. He’s such a great actor, and you can see from his eyes and his tiny movements that Benedict is being Sherlock, not performing. Martin Freeman is smart enough to be the foil of Sherlock but not as silly as some other movie versions of it.

Secondly, the two brilliant creators and producers, Moffat and Gatiss contributed the most to the whole series. Instead of using everything in the novel as a script, these two producers have made many changes to habits that better suit the characteristics. Since the background of this show was in 2010, Sherlock no longer uses his symbolic smoking pipe, but nicotine patches. John has his own blog site online and constantly checks how many people have seen his posts.

The friendship between Sherlock and John is another success. I remember almost every dialogue in the series after watching Sherlock more than fifteen times in twelve years.