Hornet's Nest | November 3, 2022 | Vol. 8 | Issue 2

HORNET’S NEST Proctor Academy | November 3, 2022 | Vol. 8 | Issue 2

Are There Too Many Assemblies?

By Kellen Healey

Assemblies are supposed to bring the community together, but with over 93% of students believing there are too many, do they actually tear us apart?

Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) is a non-profit dedicated to helping and providing for schools and educators that would endorse assemblies. An ASCD article from 2003 titled “Creating a School Community” reveals that community is a positive factor for students’ health and school pride.

Currently, we have no more club time and assembly meets three times a week, which takes away from students’ free time. In a survey sent to Proctor students, 92% think there should be two assemblies or fewer every week. In contrast to what the students believe, 66% of teachers think that three assemblies are the right amount.

Graph of Studen Responses

When I first came to Proctor from public school, having a meeting with the entire school twice a week was a whole new experience. It was fun to hear about different sports events, what clubs were meeting during club time, and what “weekend love” was offering. The

Often Proctor faculty talk about listening to student voices and helping the students to feel like they are being heard. Most students when asked what they would rather do instead of assembly said that they would either like to meet with their advisor or have club/free time like last year. Although the argument can be made that clubs can meet on Sundays or half days, many students don’t want to give up the little free time they have.

number of assemblies was reduced.

Not everyone shares the students’ views on assemblies, Head of School Brian Thomas thinks there should be “Assembly five days a week.” Whether you feel like the students or like Brian, you should try to find ways to make the most of assemblies.

Graph of Faculty Responses

While students want less assembly time, a strong community has benefits. As the ASCD notes, having a strong community can boost academic grades and happiness. Unfortunately, most students feel neutral or negative towards assemblies which I think would change if the

Why is the debate ongoing? Why haven’t teachers listened? Although students feel like assemblies are damaging to the community, teachers, however, have a different perspective. A few of the faculty

The Buzz about the All-Gender Dorm

By Will Hazen

This fall, Carriage House welcomed a new identity for years to come: it is now the All-Gender dorm.

All-gender dorms at prep schools are not a new idea. At a few other schools, the concept of a non-binary all-gender dorm has been in place as early as 2017. In an NHPR article from May 2017, “Elite Prep Schools Experiment With ‘All-Gender’ Dorms,” Gabrielle Emanuel reported that New Hampshire’s Phillips Exeter Academy would premiere a new all-gender dorm in the 2018-19 year.

For the 2022-23 year, Proctor joined a small number of schools offering all-gender, non-binary dorms on their campuses. I asked

responses even state that like Brian, there should be more. One unnamed faculty member wrote, “I think there should be an assembly every day of the week.” which I feel is absurd. Like other students, I know that assemblies are helpful in bringing together the community, but at such high frequency, it takes away from it being a special event that students look forward to. Instead, it makes students sad.

Obviously, faculty don’t want students to dread assemblies, so what can be done to find a compromise? Optional assemblies, club times, and advisory are a few ideas from students that still build community, but in a way that is more enjoyable for the student body.

Kyle Tremblay, Dean of Residential Life, what was the main reason Proctor needed a nonbinary housing option. Kyle explained, “To create a living option that is safe, comfortable, affirming, and supportive for all students. Our previous model of just girls dorms and boys dorms was not accomplishing that.”

Dorm parent Alicia Barry said that the rules are the same about visitation and other room-to-room visits, “We didn’t want students to feel like they were getting penalized for choosing to live in the all-gender dorm.” The dorm is not just for people who identify as nonbinary but also for allies and people just wanting to be in a friendly, welcoming dorm.

Kyle added, “We believe every student should feel at home in their living space, and having an all-gender dorm in addition to the binary system validates the existence of all our community members.”

Alicia Barry, center

This new style of dorm complements Proctor’s Gender Sexuality Support Plan.

What is the GSSP? The Green Book states several of its goals work to support students that are “exploring their sexual and gender identity…and the process of how they choose to identify, acknowledge and share how they identify their sexual and gender identity.” The GSSP helps students in this process set up a support group and plan which could include living in the All-Gender dorm. This dorm has allowed more flexibility with Proctor’s

The Future is Golden

By Yamni White Hat

Throughout Brian Thomas’s first year, he has met with students of all grades, faculty, and staff, and listened to their ideas, thoughts, and concerns. He is striving to set common goals for the entire community.

Brian stated, “Last year, this year, and next year will be about listening, planning, and doing while setting a common and shared vision for our future. I look forward to hearing more about what the community wants and needs. Probably needs above wants.”

When asked about Brian’s first-year highlights, he talked about the people of Proctor. “The high point was anytime I am with a member of our community and they are in their element, sharing a moment with me or the entire school, being vulnerable in the process. Matthew Mueller, Dyland Teng, Tony Hu, and Lauren Anzalone doing their thing in assembly. Watching Grace and Maks step up and into their leadership journey, making people stop to listen to something important.”

GSSP and has allowed Proctor to better support the needs of the students.

When asked about the all-gender dorm, one returning junior said, “I think it is a good thing. I mean, I don’t want to speak for people who are nonbinary or those who cannot relate to them. But they may feel more comfortable with the term ‘all gender’ for a dorm.” The overall feeling of the dorm is very positive and shows that the Proctor community is working to be more accepting and understanding.

Brian only talked about one low, “The low points are those times when we must make a tough decision about separating someone from the school because they have misstepped. Usually, these are not isolated, but I love seeing how people take the feedback at a disciplinary meeting to heart, shifting their ways of being and seeing themselves.” Along with Proctor, Brian believes in second chances.

Moving forward Brian states, “Our future is golden. We are only limited by our conception of ourselves as people--collectively. I am not a predictor of the future, but if we are willing to get better at the kind of community we wish to be, our prospects are limitless.”

The Proctor community is working to become more sustainable, both financially and environmentally. Lastly, working towards equity and belonging for all is a must in any community and school.

Brian enjoys being in places filled with laughter, joy, and a little bit of quiet. No wonder his favorite place on campus is the Lovejoy library!

More on Brian: What off-campus program would you do, and why?

Ocean because it scares me the most. I like to do hard things that scare the stuffing out of me because it makes me a better human.

Is there a class you would teach?

I would love to teach an English Class. I have three favorites: 1. Writer’s Workshop: We write pretty things and make them better every day, 2. Call & Response: Black Writers and Their Influences, or 3. Literature and Philosophy: Taking a stand--define what you mean by good and evil What is your favorite food? Or what is your favorite musical artist?

I love a well-cooked steak, usually an agedrib-eye; I like mostly all genres of music.

What I am listening to now are jazz singers and virtuosos musicians. Al Jarreau, Kurt Elling, Miles Davis, Clifford Brown, John Coltrane, etc. I’m really loving Al Jarreau right now.

Inside Proctor’s Restorative Practices: Healing Over Hate

By Ty Chermsirivatana

It’s a normal Tuesday at Proctor. You’re spent after a long day and can’t wait to finish. As the last class period begins and work is being handed out, you suddenly hear an offensive comment hurled from across the room toward a classmate. Perhaps it was an insensitive joke intended to lighten the mood, but it’s against the Green Book rules. Now, while this incident will definitely be reported, how the situation is handled is critical to the offender, the victim, and the community at large.

There are usually two types of disciplinary practices that schools adopt: Adversarial and Restorative. The critical difference between the two is what each practice focuses on.

Will Wamaru, Dean of Equity and Belonging

Adversarial practices are what’s considered to be a “traditional system of justice”. It focuses mainly on punishing the offender rather than working on the root of the issue. Restorative practices aim to change the disciplinary game. Instead of focusing on punishment, it allows for more constructive feedback and works on ways to restore the offender’s reputation in the community.

Back to our scenario, adversarial practic-

es focus on punishment. It asks, “Who’s to blame?” and “What punishment is needed?” Under this system, the student would be lectured, given a punishment, and allowed to walk out the door to face consequences. While punishment is administered with some level of communication, there is no healing or constructive feedback between the offender, victim, or the community. Restorative practices aim to change that game.

Under a system of Restorative practices, a mediator, offender, victim, and community members (or some of this group) usually sit down in a circle and constructively discuss the incident. Under a system of Restorative practices, a mediator, offender, victim, and com- munity members (or some of this group) usually sit down in a circle and construc- tively discuss the incident.

At Proctor, this is organized by Will Wamaru, Dean of Equity and Belonging, and Andrew Donaldson, Dean of Students.

This approach does tackle the question of “What happened?” but instead of going straight to the punishment, it asks “What harm resulted?” and “What healing needs to be done?” Restorative practices seek to heal everyone involved. It gives the offender a chance to express their intentions during the incident. Perhaps they were insensitive to the word or thought it was funny. People do not always act with malicious intent but rather a skewed understanding of what is socially acceptable. It also gives the victim

Dean of Students, Drew Donaldson ’92 addresses the Proctor community at one of its tri-weekly assemblies.

a chance to express their experiences because of the offender’s actions. It’s a chance for the offender to understand how their actions have affected others.

After feelings have been recognized, the task of healing is at hand.

Everyone involved in this incident can offer solutions as to how the offender can make up for their actions and restore their role and reputation in the community. The offender could write a letter of apology or do community service work to make amends. Restorative practices understand that healing requires a personal approach. It aims to restore the offender to the community by giving them a task to amend the harm they caused.

To get Proctor’s unique perspective on this, I interviewed Brian Thomas, the Head of the School and a strong advocate for Restorative practices. He explained that “Restorative practice is about working with people rather than for them. It’s about offering high levels of support while challenging inappropriate behavior through levels of control but by putting more control in the hands of the offender and victim.”

Brian explained that if he simply dismisses a rule breaker from school, there is no accountability. However, if he sat down with a student, understood what they were going through, and was still in a process of healing, there are more ways to deal with this student than simply expulsion. You can still be dismissed under the Restor-

ative process if complications arise such as repeat offenses or legal issues.

What we can learn from Restorative Practices is that we should broaden our perspective of others. In our daily lives, we often judge others for their actions without truly understanding why they did them. Mistakes are the essence of human nature. It’s how we learn, strive to be better, and become more aware of the world The purpose of bringing Restorative practices to Proctor is to humanize mistakes and provide clarity on how to rectify them. As a community, should we not strive for a better future for others? I encourage all who read this article to consider healing over hate.

Making Money and Helping People

By Finn Connor

Helping people in poverty and making a profit - there has to be a catch. Nope, no catch at all, just the goal of the Social Entrepreneurship class at Proctor.

The idea of a ‘double bottom line’ is the main focus of social entrepreneurship. A double bottom line is when an enterprise helps solve an aspect of poverty while also making a profit. I am a student in this project-based class and we are currently creating our own social enterprises. In small groups, we come up with a local business idea that has a double-bottom line of helping the greater local community by sharing in the profits.

My group has created HardWood, a woodworking company that creates charcuterie and cutting boards. We hope our enterprise will give previously incarcerated people the opportunity to work in an attempt to lower the recidivism rate. At the end of the course, each group presents our own social enterprises at Innovation Night.

A slide from Brian Thomas’s Restorative Justice Scenario Presentation explaining Fair Process, a Restorative Practice principle. Fair Process aims to rebuild trust, establish clarity and work towards a consensus that benefits all parties involved.

Gregor Makechnie, the teacher of Social Entrepreneurship spoke about how this class can prepare us for the real world. “The class is rooted in Problem Based Learning. During the course of the trimester, we identify social problems related to poverty and then propose solutions that leverage business practices to resolve the issues. In this sense, the Social Entrepreneurship class provided the opportunity for students to work toward attaining the aspirations outlined in the Profile of a Proctor Graduate Statement.”

What are some of the best examples of past businesses from this class? “Students have proposed ideas such as teaching employable skills to prison inmates through manufacturing backpacks made from textile waste or furniture made from broken hockey sticks; producing a hand sanitizer made from corn and aloe grown by farmers in developing countries; creating jobs by cultivating and harvesting algae to be used as a fuel source; manufacturing an induction stove to replace hazardous cooking fuels in rural villages; repurposing plastics removed from the ocean to create surfboard fins.”

Gregor identified some Proctor grads that have had success in creating businesses within this model. “A notable example is Kyle Parsons whose company, Indosole, provides jobs and removes motorcycle tires from landfills in Bali. The tires are repur-

Gaming & the Proctor Rules

By Ben Mensforth

It’s time for a change! Proctor’s gaming and TV console rules are outdated and inconsistent. The location of your dorm and its rules may decide whether or not you’re allowed to have gaming consoles.

Having a rough day? You can’t seem to find a grip on life, have no flow, and feel disconnected from the world around you?

Surprisingly, gaming might be for you. Gaming allows a player to disconnect from the real world and use their brain in a different way to solve complex problems and communicate with others on-

posed as souls for shoes and sandals. Another is Connor Darby who worked for a company that used fair-trade cocoa beans.”

As a class, we have discovered companies we didn’t know were social enterprises. Warby Parker’s Glasses for the Needy uses the onefor-one tactic. For every pair of eyeglasses they sell, they donate some amount of their earnings to non-profits. These non-profits provide training to men and women in 3rd world countries to provide basic eye exams and sell glasses to their respective communities at affordable prices. Another great example of a Social Enterprise is TOMS shoes, which also has a one-for-one policy; for every pair of shoes they sell they donate an adequate pair to a child in need. Before ordering a pair of shoes or those glasses you have always wanted, consider companies whose products are going to help others.

line. According to Dan Brennan, an MD on the WebMD website, “Gaming has numerous benefits for your mental health.” Problem solving while developing quick reactions allow video games to stimulate the senses. Communication and teamwork are required in gaming.

In the Proctor dorms, having a console or a TV over the dimensions of 25 inches is not allowed. From what I have seen at Proctor, dorm parents enforce this rule if the student is not getting his work done and the TV or gaming console becomes a distraction.

If I’m correct in what I hear about inconsistent dorm rules, it matters who your dorm parent is and how you also perform in school. Is it fair for some dorms to permit gaming consoles in dorm rooms while other dorms do not? Should it be a maturity is-

sue where upperclass students have more independence and choose how to relax?

I reached out to Dean of Residential Life Kyle Tremblay with a few questions.

“Who makes the rules for gaming consoles at Proctor?”

She responded, “Like most policies, there is a democratic process around these types of rules. Any community member, including students, can create a proposal regarding what they feel a rule should be. That proposal is then brought before the faculty and student leaders and a vote is cast to determine if the new rule is passed or not.

The current rules for gaming in the dorm have been established in that way.”

I asked about the monitor issue.” Why are the students allowed to bring monitors?”

Kyle responded, “The intention of the use of monitors originates in recognition that some of the work in our offered courses, such as technology or music recording is enhanced by having a second or larger monitor. We also support a community of neurodiverse students, and recognize that a supplement or larger monitor is a useful academic resource to some learners.”

These answers changed my perspective about the rules for gaming at Proctor. I wouldn’t say the system for creating rules is broken or outdated because it’s a democratic approach rather than the faculty just making up the rules as the year goes on.

I would like to see more students getting involved in creating the rules for our school because they apply to everyone.

Favorite Songs - How Does Music Affect You?

By Helen Armstrong

Two hours of driving back home from school on a Saturday morning. Two minutes of a walk across campus on a Tuesday afternoon. Completely different settings, with completely different feelings. One thing these two opposites have in common is the fact that the silence of these possibly melancholy journeys can be filled with music.

It’s something that is taken for granted all of the time: soft guitar melodies used as fillers to replace awkward lulls and to keep us entertained. But why does our brain like music so much?

Understanding how the brain translates sound waves into a structural and musical reward for our conscious self to listen to is a complicated subject. From high piano riffs to low bass notes, your brain has to do a lot of work to connect all the pieces of music together, so listening to a song is a mental workout in itself. However, our brains’ work pays off. When we listen to music, dopamine-producing neurons communicate with neurons in the nucleus accumbens to evaluate and help us obtain rewards. According to a 2013 article titled “The psychological functions of music listening,” from the National Academy of Sciences, music can reduce

anxiety, blood pressure, and pain, as well as improve mood, memory, and mental alertness.

Interestingly enough, unlike primary things our brain finds pleasure in such as food, music doesn’t provide a physical survival value. This then begs the question as to why our brain likes it at all and provides such rewards. But alas, the impact of music on our neurological system is far too complicated to discuss in under 600 words.

Aside from a scientific standpoint of why people like to listen to music, I wanted to understand why someone loves it without having to comprehend complex neurological configurations. So, I reached out to Kally Bryant, who has pursued her interest in music before and throughout her four years at Proctor. I asked her what draws her to music. “I grew up playing piano, so I guess I’ve always sort of been drawn to it,” she said. “But music can really tell you a lot about a person. I think a person’s music taste is very representative of them as a whole, so I like sharing music with people.” Not only does she enjoy listening to it, but music is something that has brought Kally closer to people, just like many before.

Music has evolved into a means for social cohesion and communication; it is a way to bring people together. The history of

listening to music is certainly not new. According to the National Library of Medicine, musical activities go back about 250,000 years, or even more, and the complete origin of music isn’t truly known. For all we know, cavemen could have been sharing their playlists.

Then I asked Kally what she really heard when listening to music; if she found herself listening to a certain aspect over another, or a specific instrument, etc. She gave a slightly niche music theorist response. “I listen for chord progressions, just because I think that’s really fascinating.”

Kally Bryant

Proctor’s Favorites; a Playlist.

Anonymous recommendations & comments.

Courtyard by Bobbie Gentry; “It makes me think of the future and a simple life. It feels like a hug, and I like songs that feel like hugs.”

Beige by Yolk Lore; “Cause it brings me serotonin, and reminds me of camp.”

Rhapsody in Blue by George Gershwin; “The melody is so unique because it shares a lot of different styles such as ragtime, classical and modern.”

China Cat Sunflower by the Grateful Dead; “It’s the song I always listen to when I’m sad, and it helps a lot.”

Heady by Reaper; “I honestly don’t know why it’s my favorite song anymore, but it’s associated with a very happy time in my life.”

Free Ride by the Edgar Winter Group; “It makes me think of summer and my family, and I like the sound of the instruments.”

Run by Coin; “Has a mix of loud and upbeat with a nice melody that almost takes you to a different world where you can dance up and down.”

Though its creations go unknown, and its structural being is somewhat complicated, music is something in our lives whether we know it or not. No matter if we’re aspiring pianists like Kally, or simply someone who listens to the radio in the car, music can bring us happiness and joy. So next time you have that two-hour car ride, or that two-minute walk across campus, think about the songs you listen to. What sounds stand out to you? The drums, the bass, the lyrics? Use the musical world beyond your imagination to enjoy something truly spectacular.