A PROCTOR ACADEMY PUBLICATION | FALL 2018
FINDING VOICE 1
Featured Articles History of the Proctor Fire Company: Alumni Reflections and Photos from 60 Years of Firefighting at Proctor (pg. 16) Where Are They Now? Catching Up with Former Faculty Bert and Lee Carvalho and Yunus Peer (pg. 32) Celebrating 25 Years of Ocean Classroom (pg. 38) Unplugged Engagement: A Look at How Immersive, Authentic Learning Opportunities Naturally Unplug Adolescents (pg. 42) 2
EDITOR AND WRITER
SECTIONS
Scott Allenby
04 Message from the Head of School
CONTRIBUTORS
06 Celebrating the Class of 2018
Sarah Ferdinand ’18 Kristina Harrold
10 Reunion 2018 Recap
Mike Henriques P’11,’15
22 Alumni Stories
Derek Nussbaum Wagler
34 Farewell to Retiring Faculty/Staff
Sam Wyckoff ’19 DESIGN Becky Cassidy
42 Life on Campus: Academic Lens 50 The Campaign for Proctor 52 The Proctor Fund Update
PHOTOGRAPHY Lindsey Allenby Cover Photo by Kate Sabo, Mountain Classroom Proctor’s magazine is published by Proctor Academy. Letters and comments are welcomed and can be sent to Scott Allenby, Director of Communications & Marketing, Proctor Academy, P.O.Box 500, Andover, NH 03216; (603)735-6715; communications@proctoracademy.org. Our Motto “Live to Learn. Learn to Live.” Our Mission Taking inspiration from our motto, Proctor Academy creates a diverse learning and living community: one that values the individual and recognizes the potential of each member to stretch beyond what had been thought possible. Balancing academic rigor, structure, and support with the freedom for students to explore, create and define themselves, Proctor encourages students to achieve their optimal growth. A deep commitment to a learning skills program and a strong emphasis on experiential learning is interwoven throughout Proctor’s academic, athletic, artistic, and environmentally conscious programs both on and off campus. Proctor students graduate understanding the values of honesty, compassion, respect, and responsibility, proceeding with confidence and with strategies to become life-long learners and thoughtful contributors to their communities. For more information about the school, please visit our website at www.proctoracademy.org.
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A NOTE FROM THE HEAD OF SCHOOL Finding voice. As a writer, there’s a sense of tone, a musicality that captures the truth of a moment. Tap the right word sequence and the truth somehow appears, but it’s a delicate, fickle, whimsical process. Sometimes it’s heart rewarding, sometimes heart wrenching, and sometimes it feels like the cartographer who has been sentenced to map smoke. Hopeless. But stay at it long enough and the rewards, first distant inky smudges on the horizon, coalesce into convictions that might take the form of an essay, or social activism, or teaching to be loosed on the world to make it just a little more navigable, a little more hopeful. That’s what we do here at Proctor: help students find their voice. It’s not a straight line, not a prescriptive process. If we have 120 new students arrive each fall, each one of them is going to find a different path to voice. Some might start to find it on an off-campus program, build a little more of it working through a calculus problem set, refine it with friends in a dorm, temper it with advisor conversations. Others might find it through writing or acting. But the chances of finding it here, at Proctor? We believe the chances are very high. The breadth of our offerings, the range of our support, and the strength of the relationships forged at Proctor make it more than probable that a graduate will move on from their Proctor years with a strong sense of self and a willingness to engage. And that matters in these times. In this issue, we bring you up to speed on some of what is happening at Proctor today, but also profile alumni who have moved on from Proctor and into the world with strong voice and sense of purpose. They are making a difference, perhaps bending the world a little more to the hopeful. We hope you enjoy their profiles and our reflections on how we, as a school, continue to find and share our voice with the world around us. Should your travels ever take you back to New Hampshire and through the town of Andover, we hope you will take the time to stop in to visit, reconnect, and share a little of your story. Sincerely, .
Mike Henriques, P’11, ’15 Head of School
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PROCTOR BY THE NUMBERS
24 Legacy Students
Enrolled for 2018-2019 (listed below), along with a remarkable 105 of our 370 students have siblings who attend or who recently graduated from Proctor. We love our Proctor Family! Logan Dunne ’19 | Josh Dunne ’91 Ashley Fletcher ’21 | Dana Fletcher ’86 Camden Fletcher ’21 | Dana Fletcher ’86 Chad Hildner ’19 | Katie Kidder ’91 George Hildner ’22 | Katie Kidder ’91 Frazer Hilliard ’20 | James Hilliard ’80 Britta Johnson ’19 | Eric Johnson ’88 Brynne Makechnie ’22 | Gregor Makechnie ’90 Chloe Makechnie ’20 | Brendaen Makechnie ’92 Hailey Makechnie ’19 | Brendaen Makechnie ’92 Nelson Makechnie ’19 | Gregor Makechnie ’90 Hank McCabe ’22 | Margaret Sova McCabe ’88 Lucy Jane McKain ’20 | Amy Westerman McKain ’84 Ryan Methven ’19 | Diane Fowler ’80 Nate Murawski ’21 | Sarah Murawski ’87 Myles Powers ’19 | David Powers ’77 Birgit Preuss ’21 | Johan Oliver Preuss ’91 William Ragni ’22 | Erick Ragni ’82 Caitlyn Reid ’19 | John Reid ’80 Hannah Stowe ’21 | Jeremy Stowe ’92 Ezra Taylor ’21 | Chelsea Taylor ’90 and Lans Taylor ’89 Ben Warren ’19 | Travis Warren ’91 Jack Wright ’19 | Tim Wright ’83 Teige Wright ’21 | Tim Wright ’83 Sam Wyckoff ’19 | Tripp Wyckoff ’86
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Celebrating The Class of 2018 Proctor’s 170th Commencement
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Stewarding a community like Proctor is never the task of an individual, but rather the responsibility of every person whose life has intersected the school. Whether you consider yourself an alum, a student, a parent, a faculty or staff member, a grandparent, or a parent of an alum, your stewardship of the Proctor community matters. The celebration of the Class of 2018 at Proctor’s 170th Commencement was a reminder of how the collective work of everyone in the Proctor community, past and present, has shaped our school into the perfectly imperfect place it is today. Proctor’s Admissions team greeted each member of the Class of 2018 during their first visit to campus with the rhetoric of self-discovery that takes place at Proctor. Facilitated by relationships with teachers, coaches, dorm parents, and advisors, the young adults who arrived at Proctor for Wilderness Orientation were not the same who walked across the stage at Commencement. The journey to cap and gown is never linear, but the pride students have in their own growth, and we, in turn, have in them, is an emotional reminder of why we choose to dedicate our lives to teaching and mentoring young people. Congratulations to the Class of 2018!
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Commencement 2018
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We must learn to be comfortable with who we are, and not always be yearning to be like someone we admire. In the process of imitating those we see as strong, our individual strengths fade away and we cease being ourselves.
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We all know what makes Proctor special, and it’s not the off-campus programs or athletics or buildings. It’s the Lisa Scarrys. It’s the Alex Estins. The Peter Southworths, Alex Lyttles, and dozens of other faculty and staff who care more about us and about this school than you could ever imagine. They are who make Proctor special.
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Grace Wang ’18 Salutatorian
A R ON L
Commencement | Awards and Recognition
Fred Elroy Emerson 1886 Award Awarded to Khanh Nguyen
A graduate who best exemplifies strength of character, personal dedication, and commitment to the Proctor community.
A student who, during the junior and senior years, has shown the greatest development in attaining the ideals of Proctor.
Charles Levy Award Awarded to Sarah Ferdinand
Robert J. Livingston Community Service Award Awarded to Sophie Nasvik
Charles A. Jones Outstanding Athlete Award Awarded to Kiara Vazquez and Cole Joslin Most outstanding male and female athlete in the graduating class.
Citizenship Award Awarded to Sage Fletcher and Cooper Murphy Best all-around male and female citizens in the graduating class.
Allan S. Bursaw ’67 Award Awarded to Dantong Xu Student who exemplifies high effort and citizenship.
Carl B. Wetherell Award Awarded to Kiara Vazquez Faithful and willing performance of all extra curricular responsibilities.
Andover Service Club Award Awarded to Katelyn Barton
Lyle H. Farrell Award Awarded to Maria del Carmen Gonzalez Aranguren A senior who has performed outstanding service to the school and to his/her fellow students.
Philip H. Savage Award Awarded to Sarah Ferdinand
Student who exhibits outstanding leadership qualities.
Renaissance Teacher Award David Pilla Science Department
Recognizes a Proctor faculty or staff member who has gone above and beyond to make the experiences of students at Proctor more meaningful through their encouragement and support.
For a complete list of Senior Award Winners visit : www.proctoracademy.org/classof2018 8
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A student who has made outstanding contributions to the community through volunteer service to others.
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Class valedictorian.
PROC T
Alice S. Fowler Award Awarded to Chloe Methven
Former Head of School David Fowler (1970-1995), former Board Chairs Bill and Betsy Peabody P’82, ’86, and former faculty member, Mike Stanley P’82, reconnected moments before Commencement 2018 decades after they last worked together to guide Proctor through some of its most transformative years. Proctor stands on the foundation it has today in large part because of the work of these individuals, and countless others like them, whose tenacity for learning and leading forged this community.
Sam Fulton ’18 Senior Speaker
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Alumni two and five years out of Proctor vote for the individual among the current faculty who in their opinion is most deserving of this Excellence in Teaching Award.
Scott Pond Prize Awarded to Anna-Marie Hanlon IT Department
American University Assumption College Boston University Cazenovia College Colby College College of the Atlantic College of the Holy Cross Curry College Denison University Dickinson College Elmira College Elon University Embry - Riddle Aero. University Endicott College Fordham University George Washington University Hamilton College Hobart & William Smith IE University - Madrid Indiana University - Bloomington James Madison University
L IVE ” TO
John O’Connor ’79 Award for Excellence in Teaching Awarded to Ian Hamlet Science Department
College Decisions and Matriculation
Presented to a member of the Proctor community who best exemplifies a sense of adventure, intellectual curiosity, and passion for life
IRE
This award recognizes extra-ordinary service to the Proctor Community by a non-faculty member and heightens awareness of the dedication, hard work, and loyalty of all its employees which makes possible the smooth operation of this institution.
Class of 2018
MY
ACA D E L EAR Nance Patten Barrett Staff Award Awarded to Paul Meyerhoefer Maintenance Department
Lehigh University Lewis & Clark College Marist College Merrimack College Middlebury College Muhlenberg College New York University Northeastern University Pitzer College Quinnipiac University Roanoke College San Diego State University Skidmore College St. Lawrence University Stetson University Syracuse University Temple University Texas A&M University Trinity College Tulane University Union College
Universita Bocconi University of British Columbia University of Colorado at Boulder University of Denver University of Vermont University of MA - Amherst University of MA - Lowell University of MD - College Park University of ME - Farmington University of New Brunswick University of New Hampshire University of North Carolina University of Utah University of Vermont Vassar College Wentworth Institute of Technology Wheaton College Whittier College Yale University
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PROCTOR
reunion2018
Recap!
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The soul of a school is less tied to a physical place than it is to those with whom we share experiences in that place. An aerial shot of Proctor’s campus from the 1960s shows a skeleton of the physical plant supporting Proctor’s 370 students today. But the soul of Proctor? The soul of a school does not live in buildings, it lives in the connections made in dormitories, on athletic teams, with advisors, teachers, coaches, dorm parents. Ask any alum who attended Reunion 2018, whether from the Class of 1953 or the Class of 2013, and they will tell you unequivocally the soul of Proctor that lives in our faculty and staff (past and present) is alive and well. With the largest attendance ever at a Proctor Reunion (over 300 guests), we thank Alumni Relations Director Chloe Duchesne and the Alumni Council of Walter Perry ‘73, Ryan Bowse ‘93, and Marissa Ray ‘08 for the countless hours put into organizing, promoting, and hosting Reunion 2018. The work behind the scenes by Event Manager Debbie Krebs, Proctor’s Dining Services Team, Housekeeping Team, Maintenance Team, and Development Team to pull off this event is remarkable. Thank you to all of our alumni and former faculty/staff who made Reunion 2018 a success! We hope to see you back on campus next year!
Reunion Highlights • Milestone Dinner celebrating classes of 1993 and 1968. • An all-school assembly, campus tours, hikes, solar array tour, quilting and felting projects, time at Elbow Pond, and mountain biking. • Alumni Crafted Beer and Cider Tasting featuring brews from Will Hamill’s ’83 Uinta Brewing Company and Mike Segerson’s ’94 Devil’s Purse Brewing Company. • Late night fire pit and s’mores. • Dance party, drinks, and pizza with Nick’s Other Band. • Proctor Alumni Association annual meeting.
Save the Date!
Alumni Reunion 2019
May 31st -June 2nd | Andover, NH proctoracademy.org/reunion
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Reunion Recap
The Class of 1968
Celebrating 50 Years!
“Proctor was absolutely right for me, as it gave me what I needed to move on in life, to be a successful businessman, and to raise my family. I had amazing experiences at the previous schools I attended, but I found myself at Proctor, and that is an amazing gift to be given.” -Courtenay Taplin ’68
“My teachers at Proctor instilled in me a thirst for learning. What Proctor meant to me was connecting me with people who really cared about me, who nurtured me, who made me love drama, theater, and speaking in front of people. To my dying day I will always thank Proctor for introducing me to those people and for the impact they had on my life. Thank you to everyone who came back for Reunion 2018. It touches my heart to see so many people that I didn’t realize I loved as much as I do.” -Crocker Bennett ’68
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“I just retired from a thirty-three year career as an educator, and it was Proctor that formed my philosophy of education. This school has changed so much since 1968 in terms of physical plant, but it is still so recognizable in its philosophy; a philosophy rooted in the outdoors, experiential learning, community, and relationships. That’s what it’s all about, and that is what this place still gives to its students.” -John Gary ’68
ATHLETIC HALL OF FAME
2018
Induction Ceremony
“I’m so thankful to the Proctor community and to the kids I’ve had the chance to get to know and enjoy coaching during my thirty years at the school. You play the game because it’s a game. Win/lose that’s important, but you play the game because it’s fun. I see lots of kids running around tonight, and for those of you coaching or parenting, remember, fun needs to be the foundation of all we do with our kids.” - John Schoeller Learning Skills and Varsity Football Coach 1973-2002, 2018 Proctor Athletic Hall of Fame Inductee
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Reunion Recap
Jesse Putney ’53
Tori Smith ’13, Nicole Adee’13 and Jamie Gaines ’13
Class of ‘68: Mike Choremi, George Brengle, Jim Bird, John Gary, Crocker Bennett, Courtenay Taplin, Fritz Porter, Russell Materne, Park Smith, Kevin Conway, Charles Flammer, Pete Davis, Mark Holmes, Jonathan Randall, George Fuller, Fletcher Hall
Judy Mitchell, Chris Mitchell ’78, Rob Baldwin ’83, Annie Kaup ’03, Randy Langer ’83, Sanz Morosani ’03, Al Sand ’03, Melissa Friesen, Mike Smith ’03, Bea Pudelko, Ian Lejuez, David Lejuez ’98
Moriah Keat ’13 and Emmalie Snyder ’13
Susan and Lee Ross ’78
Class of ’93: Ryan Bowse, Anneke Van Loan-McStowe and Maxwell Love
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Class of ’98: Back Row: Jonathan Cross, Rod Kidder, Mike Dow, Rob Downey, Fred Owsley, Zach Springer, 2nd Row: Susanna Jesser McGown, Shauna Sylvain Young, Kellie Mickle Magnifico, Shane Wadleigh, Andrew Sandler, Charlotte Mason Poage, Leo Waterston, Kate Talkington Hartwell, Amanda Wood Alksnitis, Katherine Darling, Liza Appleby, 3rd Row: David Lejuez, Andrew Clemons, Rachel Golden-Kirscht, Sara Randazzo, Allison Atkin-Bagley, Dabney (Barrett) Geary, Sarah Taylor, Front Row: Carl Van Loan and George Blair
Class of ’08: Joey Goulart, Marissa Ray, Britt Plante, Molly Prudden, Charles Bush, Brooks Whitehouse, Thayer Maclay, Eliza Loehr, Lindsay Webster and Joanna De Peña
Jim Bird ’68
Zach Kessler ’13 and Brian Higgins ’13
Russell Materne ’68 and wife, Ellen
Class of 1988: Natasha Egan, Christina Scully Manning , Cate Reavis , Chris Shirazi ’89, Jen Hill, Tom Spang, Dan Murphy ’78, Fred Newcomb , Alex Ruschell, Joe Palmer, Tariq Sheikh
Chuck Will P’00,’03 with grandson, Will Munsell
Edna Peters GP’11,’14 and Andrew Sandler ’98
Class of ’83: Dan Morse, Chris Edwards, Andy Wright, Tim Wright, Tod Hannaway, Peter Mueller, Sam Reeves, Jennifer Bardsley Sjostedt, Randy Langer, Virginia Pettengill, Will Hamill, Rob Baldwin, Sharon Zeffiro, Dan Mori, Alex Estin
Class of ’58: Bruce Nourie, Jim Floyd and Norman Cooper
Katherine Darling ’98 and Jen Hill ’88
Tariq Sheikh ’83
Class of ’13: Back Row: Devon Webster, Tucker Phippen, Zach Kessler, Madison Powers, Connor Simon, Brian Higgins, Ryan Peel, Jesser Johnston, Patrick Shine, Harry Hause. Second Row: Emmalie Synder, Colby Rhymes, Lili Gensler, Nicole Adee, Anne Neylon, Jamie Gaines, Tori Smith, Ryan Glantz, Nick Pascucci Holding Sign: Moriah Keat
Bruce Nourie ’58, Charlotte Floyd, Betty Cooper and Norm Cooper ’58
Class of ’03: Stephanie Williams, Mary (Will) Munsell, Mike Smith, Annie (Arthur) Kaup, Al Sand and Sanz Morosani
Colby Rhymes ’13, Anne Neylon ’13, Jamie Gaines ’13, Toi Smith ’13, Lili Gensler ’13 and Nicole Adee ’13
Virginia Pettengill ’83, P’18 and Betsy Paine P’11,’15
Charlotte Floyd and Jill Jones Grotnes
Class of ’78: Kit Norris, Chris Norris, Lee Ross, Chris Mitchell, Heidi Schmidt, Dan Murphy, Garry George, Allan Johnson, Ramon Agosto, Jeff Abrahamson, Jeff Power and Andy Lawrence
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PROCTOR FIRE DEPARTMENT Six Decades of Service to Proctor and the Town of Andover
In 1939, Proctor’s Student Council organized a fire department. Fire chiefs were elected in each dormitory, and a Fire Commissioner to whom they were responsible was elected by the student body. For fires outside the school, the student body was charged to take direction from these elected officers, who in turn, took direction from the Town Fire Department. While the club went on a short hiatus during World War II, in the fall of 1947, Proctor’s Senior Fire Company became a fixture of Proctor’s culture. Over the next sixty years, countless students formed timeless bonds with each other while learning valuable skills and serving an important role as a support to the Town of Andover’s Volunteer Fire Department and the State of New Hampshire’s Forest Firefighters. For those who did not have the opportunity to serve on Proctor’s Fire Department, close your eyes and picture yourself as an 18 year old. You hear the alarm going off in the middle of the night and jump out of bed in Carriage House. You race to get your gear on and hop on the back of Proctor’s seemingly ancient open-top fire truck, zipping through the streets of Andover to respond to a fire. Adrenaline pumping through your veins as you prepare to employ your training in a real-world scenario. This is experiential learning. This is the stuff that builds a school’s culture, teaches lessons in responsibility, and leadership you simply cannot learn in the classroom. You’re part of a brother/sisterhood forged over decades of shared mission and service to a school and a community. In the early-2000s, changes to liability and insurance policies at both the school and town/state level halted Proctor’s fire department program. While the formal fire department may be a thing of the past, the impact of this rich culture of being a first responder has inspired hundreds of Proctor alumni to pursue careers as firefighters and EMTs. Read about a few of these individuals on the subsequent pages and be sure to share your Proctor Fire Department story with us by emailing alumni@proctoracademy.org or mailing a note to Proctor Alumni, PO Box 500, Andover, NH 03216.
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PROCTOR FIRE COMPANY: 1939
(September) Robert Engle ‘40, Richard Sawyer ‘42, Richard Day ‘42, and Lubor Capek ‘40 are elected the first officers of the Proctor Fire Company under the guidance of faculty advisor Roland Burbank.
1947
“Fire fighting has become a major activity here at Proctor. Last fall during a time of statewide emergency, Proctor’s crews were ready to go on a minute’s notice. When we were finally called, we organized in crews from 8-12 hours and then were relieved by a fresh crew. We learned a lot about fire fighting in those four days. We worked hard, griped a lot, and also got paid. Mr. Burbank continued instruction this spring so that the new boys could get their cards. The abundance of rainfall this spring has eliminated any fire danger at present. Proctor has here an activity which is useful and much appreciated by the State.” (1948 Yearbook)
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1947
(October) “Kimball Union found a tired Proctor football squad to play the next week. Many of the team had spent the preceding night fighting forest fires, and as a result the game was dropped 7-41.” (1947 Football Season Summary)
1951
(January) School turns out at an ungodly hour for the chicken coop fire. Fire Company a great help to the town. (1951 Yearbook)
1951
Roy Staveley Jr. ’48 graduates after serving as Proctor’s 1st student fire chief.
(May) Forest fire on Mount Kearsarge. Senior Fire Company responds. (1951 Yearbook)
1949
1951
1948
Proctor acquires its first fire engine, a 1919 Concord AKA Albert-Downing, manufactured in Concord, NH.
1950
(October) First smoke of the season. The Fire Company led by Chief Davis attends to a few flames along the railroad tracks. (1951 Yearbook)
(October) Fire Company helps fight barn fire in West Salisbury. (1952 Yearbook)
1951
(November) Siren sounds at 3:00 am to alert Proctor students and Fire Company. Bad house fire across the road from the school. Boys save much furniture and squirt much water. House partially demolished. (1952 Yearbook)
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Through the Decades 1952
(April) State Forester gives out Forest Fire Fighting cards. (1952 Yearbook)
1955
(September) Cary House Fire. $30,000 damage. Much furniture moved. Fire Company gets a complete workout. (1956 Yearbook)
1956
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(November) Fire Company answers call dressed in best clothes. (1959 Yearbook)
1959
(May) The Senior Fire Company desperate for lack of fires put out a fire started by the recreational crew. (1959 Yearbook)
1961
(February) Fire company fights a huge fire at Poblenz’s barn. Many fire trucks present, many more brave and mighty men there, much water pumped. Barn burns flat. (1956 Yearbook)
(June) “Hardly anyone will forget waking up early one winter morning to the sound of the fire siren and finding the fire just across the street. As everyone will remember it was quite a fire.” - Leonard Elden, 1961 Class President
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1971
(May) 75 Proctor boys called out to battle a forest fire in Wilmot. Over 10 acres burned. (1956 Yearbook)
(Fall) John Knox and George Emeny sought to find new fire rig after pumper failed and bought a recently retired pumper from the city of Medford, MA.
1972
(Spring) New pumper get first workout for grass fire in West Andover. (Fall) New pumper does not fit in fire shed, so new shed built next to Carriage House. Carriage House becomes new fire station housing six firefighters.
1973
Morton House Fire. Fire Brigade stamps out Morton House Fire and saves its cat.
1977
(April) Cary House burns to the ground despite efforts of Proctor Fire Department.
1977-2005:
Proctor Fire Department serves Proctor and the Town of Andover until 2005 when insurance policies prevented the formal program from continuing.
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FIRST RESPONDERS
Jeff Marshall ’88 Deputy Chief and EMT Milford Fire Department | Milford, NH
ALUMNI ACROSS NEW ENGLAND AND BEYOND
Ty Anderson ’95 Firefighter / EMT Nantucket Fire Department | Nantucket, MA Chris Sanborn ’97 RN / Paramedic Harborview Medical Center | Seattle, WA Jack Emerson ’99 Firefighter / EMT Hanover Fire Department | Hanover, NH Scott Kidder ’00 Firefighter / EMT Andover Fire Department | Andover, NH Justin Puzel ’00 Firefighter / Paramedic Keene Fire Department | Keene, NH Ian Gill ’01 Firefighter / AEMT Concord Fire Department | Concord, NH Greg Stetson ’03 Captain / AEMT Franklin Fire Department | Franklin, NH Sam Brown ’11 Firefighter Scarborough Fire Department | Scarborough, ME Evan Gaskin ’11 Firefighter Falmouth Fire-EMS | Falmouth, ME Moriah Keat ’13 Advanced EMT and Crew Chief Saint Michael’s College Fire and Rescue | Colchester, VT
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Since 1939, the Proctor Fire Company has involved students in first responder activities on campus and in the town of Andover. As is the case with so many of Proctor’s programs, experiences at Proctor lead directly to future career paths for our alumni. For the fifteen alums profiled on these two pages, being a part of Proctor’s rich firefighting history has inspired careers as professional firefighters. This group of alumni represents only a small portion of those who have dedicated their lives to saving others. We apologize to those firefighters who reached out but were not included in this profile due to space limitations. Learn more about Proctor’s firefighting alumni at www.proctoracademy.org/firefighters.
CHRIS MITCHELL ’78 EMT Harvard Ambulance Service |Harvard, MA A volunteer EMT in Harvard, MA, Chris and his wife, Judy, work Medical Station 26 at the Boston Marathon, less then a mile from the finish line, every year as a way to give back to the community they love. One memory that stands out to Chris occurred two years ago, “A very dehydrated Air Force Pilot was determined to finish the race, and Judy and I walked with her toward the finish line and thanked her for her service before she walked the last 0.2 miles on her own.”
ALISSA VAN NORT ’91 President and former Firefighter and EMT Camp Blaze Firecamp for Young Women| San Francisco, CA Within her first two years of service in the San Francisco Fire Department, Alissa and a group of fellow firefighters were inspired to start Camp Blaze; an organization that facilitates leadership camps and mentorship opportunities for young women in fire services. Working with more than 120 women volunteering from multiple emergency service and medical fields, Alissa and her cohorts at Camp Blaze ignite and encourage young women to recognize and nurture their leadership skills to pursue their dreams. Learn more at www.campblaze.
JASON JENKINS ’00 Captain / AEMT Franklin Fire Department | Franklin, NH A member of Proctor’s Fire Department for all four of his years at Proctor, Jason knew as soon as he graduated he wanted to pursue a career as a firefighter. Now a Captain in the Franklin, New Hampshire Fire Department, Jason also serves part-time as Proctor Academy’s Emergency Manager ensuring the safety of our 370 students and 150 employees throughout the year by managing fire and emergency drills.
LILLI GENSLER ’13 Volunteer Firefighter Chestnut Ridge Volunteer Fire Company | Baltimore County, MD On her 15th birthday, Lilli’s family awoke to realize their house was on fire. The firefighters that came that night inspired her to become a volunteer firefighter and EMT in her community in 2009. She has now been with the fire department for nearly 10 years and acknowledges she still feels an irreplaceable pride and warmth when helping others in their time of greatest need, just as her fellow firefighters did for her. “My firehouse family contains some of my closest friends and most important mentors, and even though I met them through tragedy I could never imagine my life differently than it is today.”
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ALUMNI Stories
Roth at the Rothy’s factory in China.
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Roth Martin ’91 Creating Through Roots of Sustainability A San Francisco native, Roth Martin ’91 first found himself on the east coast as a seventh grader at the Fessenden School (classmates there with fellow San Franciscan and Proctor alum, Matt Nathanson ’91, actually) before matriculating to Proctor for his sophomore year. From his first interview with Chuck Will in the Admissions Office until the moment he was congratulated by Head of School David Fowler on graduation day, Roth describes his Proctor experience as remarkable. “My teachers, coaches, dorm parents, friends, everything at Proctor was so positive for me. I fell in love with ceramics and design aesthetics thanks to Patrice Martin, skied competitively, gained remarkable independence living 3,000 miles from my family, all while subconsciously absorbing Proctor’s ethos of environmental sustainability that would guide me throughout my life.” As is so often the case with Proctor alumni, the seeds sown by teachers at Proctor take time to germinate. After returning to the west coast for college at the University of Southern California where he studied Japanese, Roth took a year and a half break in his studies after his sophomore year to live in Japan. There he curated his passion for food, sustainability, aesthetics, and design by living and learning in the Japanese culture. After finishing his degree at Boston University, he took his degree in Japanese and East Asian Studies to Glencore, a New York commodities firm, where he rose through the ranks over the next five years. Coming to fully understand his ability as a center-brain thinker as a commodities trader, Roth appreciated the meritocracy of Glencore where he was presented opportunities to grow and evolve his understanding of both the strategic and the aesthetic; a unique skill set he has woven into the very fabric of his innovative, sustainably driven women’s shoe company, Rothy’s. After a return to the west coast with his wife, Emily, and a short stint at a biotech startup in the early 2000s, Roth returned to the world of commodities, this time leveraging his love for aesthetics, by co-founding the Hedge Gallery, the West Coast’s leading 20th and 21st Century Design Gallery, specializing in both modern and vintage ceramics, sculpture and furniture. After eleven years running the Hedge Gallery, Roth began to grapple with the consumptive life that surrounded him. “Married with four children, I had the realization I was surrounded by consumption; the rare items we were purchasing, the auctions, the lifestyle that surrounded individuals able to purchase these items, my own life with our four kids. I knew there was something more for me to do, and I had always been inspired by companies like Patagonia and Toms who are able to take social consumerism to the mainstream. I saw an opportunity, ironically, in the women’s footwear industry.” Roth adds, “I desired to take design and bring it to the something that was scalable, accessible, useful, and environmentally sustainable. I started to think about the intersection of the casualization of American fashion (seemingly everywhere I went there were armies of women wearing black Lulu Lemon leggings with a variety of footwear accessories) and the influx of performance materials that could be integrated into design. It seemed like the perfect opportunity to think about a new product that met people’s needs both in terms of style and comfort.” In the fall of 2012, Roth left the Hedge Gallery and spent the next three and a half years climbing one steep learning curve after another as he sought to understand the footwear industry and the challenges that accompany every phase of the production and distribution process. With a foundational desire to reduce waste (the footwear industry is among the most wasteful of all fashion industries), Roth navigated the turbulent waters of entrepreneurship to create an innovative, incredibly nimble knitting production process (the first of its kind in the industry), built his own factory in China, and sold his first product made of 100% recycled materials in December 2015. The last two years have been a whirlwind of scaling, learning, and making a difference. “Our company is now at the point where we have 350 employees worldwide. We are a digitally native business where we distribute entirely through e-commerce in an efficient, minimal waste model. Our shoes are knit from 100% recycled plastic bottles, and our insoles, adhesives, and soles are all made from recycled or sustainable materials. For us, sustainability is not a ‘bolt on marketing ploy’ in an attempt to sell more product, it’s core to our DNA as a company, and we hope we can serve as an example for others in the industry, both here in the United States and abroad at our production facility.” Those seeds of sustainability and environmental stewardship first sown into Roth Martin’s life at Proctor in the late 1980s and early 1990s have sprouted beyond anyone’s expectations. Learn more about Roth’s journey and his current initiatives at www.rothys.com.
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Alumni Stories
Rebecca (Barban) Leavitt ’02 A Voice for the Voiceless In our search for our own voice, we realize the power of giving a voice to others. As Indian author Arundhati Roy writes, “There is really no such thing as the ‘voiceless’. There are only the deliberately silenced, or the preferably unheard.” For Rebecca (Barban) Leavitt ’02, her journey through Proctor, college, and law school to her current role as an immigration attorney in Boston has consistently required her to draw on her ability to use her voice to help those around her be heard. An unashamed introvert, Rebecca recognizes the role her Proctor teachers played in helping her pursue her passions throughout high school. “I was so very quiet at the start of my Proctor experience, but the beauty of my years at Proctor was there was no stigma attached to me forging my own path. I was never a big sports person, but Proctor helped me find my own ‘thing’ through dance and music. I gradually came out of my shell a bit and gained the confidence to simply be me.” She adds, “Whether it was Anne Swayze and my advisor Patty Pond supporting my independent pursuit of dance and music outside of Proctor, Janet Linn encouraging me to immerse myself in the French language, or Terry Stoecker somehow getting me on stage for the spring musical each year, the collective of the Proctor community encouraged me to step outside of my comfort zone, even if it was new and scary. They allowed me to develop my voice.” By her senior year at Proctor, encouraging comments from Karl Methven after a debate in Modern Foreign Policy reinforced Rebecca’s desire to attend law school. Following her undergraduate studies at Queen’s University where she majored in French, Rebecca enrolled at Roger Williams University Law School. As a third year law student, a clinical experience brought her face to face with immigration law for the first time. “So much of law school is simply preparation to pass the Bar Exam, but during this clinic I had the opportunity to meet and help people in ICE detention facilities, and provide representation in removal proceedings. My parents are both immigrants, my grandparents are immigrants, and this area of law really became interesting for me as I met and saw the immediate impact I was able to have on individuals who were going to be deported.” Early in her professional experience she realized she did not enjoy the “in court” aspects of law, and knew from her clinical work in law school there were more sides of immigration law that better fit her skills and interests. Much of the immigration law in the news today focuses on people without immigration status; however, Rebecca’s work specializes in helping corporations who rely on foreign workers in speciality fields navigate the legal immigration process. “Seeing the career path of the people I work with, sometimes individuals from very, very rural areas of China and India, is so motivating; seeing their lives, the challenges they have overcome, their drive and relentless pursuit of education. They are incredibly hard working individuals, remarkably talented, and I feel privileged to be able to develop relationships with them as I help them navigate their journey into the United States.” While her work with professionals seeking legal immigration to the United States has only been moderately impacted by the current political climate (“Those seemingly simple cases are no longer simple, and we see heightened anxiety on those seeking legal immigration given the current climate around immigration right now.”), Rebecca remains deeply impacted by her first clinical work in an ICE Detention Center a decade ago, and has made it a priority to remain actively engaged in the humanitarian side of immigration law. She dedicates 50 hours a year of pro-bono work in citizenship clinics throughout the Boston area, and is anxiously awaiting an opportunity to join colleagues from her firm volunteering their services to detainees at the Dilley detention center in Texas. “I love my work in the communities of Lawrence, Lowell, and Salem, Massachusetts, and am itching for my chance to travel to Texas. If people are here not in status, their only means of defense in removal is some sort of humanitarian involvement. This work is so important, and I feel so fortunate to be able to help give those in need of a voice the opportunity to be heard.”
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My husband, fellow Proctor alum Sean Leavitt ’02, always references Tom Eslick’s plea to pursue constructive dissatisfaction whenever we have a big decision to make in our lives. Don’t just fit the mold, don’t do what everyone else is doing. Criticize yourself and self-analyze, and then have the confidence to adjust your life accordingly.
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Alumni Stories
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After I had been a student at Proctor for a while it dawned on me that when someone became a faculty member, they were marrying the school. Teachers like Bob and Pam Fisher changed my life by welcoming me into theirs.
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Peter Elbow ’53 Finding Freedom Through Writing Self-awareness is the ultimate tool to have in your toolkit as you emerge from adolescence into adulthood. For Peter Elbow ’53, his career as an English teacher and author of a pioneering and influential book on the writing process, Writing Without Teachers, was borne from his own journey of self-awareness and his greatest challenge in life: writing. A native of New Jersey and youngest of three children, Peter made the journey north to Proctor Academy in the fall of 1949 for his sophomore year after he proposed to his parents he attend boarding school. The unorthodox answer Mr. and Mrs. Elbow gave was simple, “Figure out where you want to go and we will see if it is a possibility.” Having gone to Vermont twice on ski holidays, Peter had fallen in love with the sport of skiing and found Proctor because of its reputation as the “School on Skis”. The sport of skiing would define much of his three years at Proctor, as would his voracious appetite for learning and the deep friendship formed with a young faculty couple, Bob and Pam Fisher. A resident of Morton House, a dorm he remembers as beat up and filled with smoke from the butt room, Peter’s life intersected with the Fishers in the dorm, in the English classroom, and on the ski slopes, “Bob and Pam were in their first year as faculty, very young and so willing to connect with us as students. Bob was a big ski racer himself (as was Pam, for that matter) a great coach, and a dynamite English teacher. He brought passion to the classroom I’d never experienced before, and have yet to encounter since. He’s the reason I became an English teacher and fell in love with ski racing. Quite simply, I wanted to be Bob Fisher.” A quick glance at Peter’s senior yearbook profile (to the left) gives a sense of his significant accomplishments at Proctor: Valedictorian, Harvard Book Prize, Phillip Savage Award for Leadership, editor of the Proctor Press, three year letter winner in skiing and tennis, Improvement Squad, Cabin Squad. But not all aspects of his Proctor experience came easily to him, “I was an eager beaver student, but I was kind of lonely because I didn’t know how to interact with my peers very well. I poured myself into my studies and activities. I became a big fish in a little pond. To experience success for the first time was desperately needed at that time in my life.” After matriculating to Williams College where he majored in English and had a successful career as a ski racer, Peter traveled abroad to Oxford University where he earned his master’s degree. After he started a PhD. program at Harvard he realized just how much he struggled to write formal papers. He was simply unable to complete writing assignments and knew he had to abandon his studies all together. It was a struggle that would change his life, and the lives of countless writers and teachers across the country. Feeling like a complete failure, Peter abandoned his studies and secured a summer job collecting data for the 1960 census, until an old teacher of his offered him a position as an instructor at MIT teaching freshman Humanities. Quickly, Peter came to the realization that while he could not stand being a student, he thrived as a teacher. “My three years at MIT redeemed reading, writing, and the classroom for me.” After MIT, he found himself as one of five faculty members at a startup college, Franconia College, where he helped develop an interdisciplinary curriculum. “We were teaching the way we knew we should teach, connecting with young people who had written themselves off as ‘failures’. I saw the spark for them, saw them experience pleasure in the classroom for the first time, and realized I wanted to change the way education worked. But I also realized that if I wanted to effect this kind of change, I would need to finish my doctorate and face my fear of writing head on.” Peter returned to school, this time at Brandeis University, with focus and intentionality. “I studied myself meticulously. Took notes on each stage of the writing process, the stuck points I experienced, how I got myself unstuck, and recorded every step I took. This is where I learned to write garbage, learned to write badly first, and then go back and edit.” Out of this experience evolved his best selling book, Writing Without Teachers, with its basic premise that has kept the book in print since 1973 and a mainstay in high schools and college writing centers across the country: get students to like writing. Forty-five years after he first published Writing Without Teachers, Peter Elbow continues to explore the power of language. His most recent book, Vernacular Eloquence, researches the relationship between human speech, hearing, and movements of the mouth with regard to ‘good writing’. When asked whether his philosophy around the writing process has changed over the course of his career he is quick to respond, “My philosophy has only deepened. The body knows more about good writing than the mind does, our role as teachers is to simply guide people to ask the right questions as they find their voice. Good writing will emerge from that process.” Learn more about Peter Elbow’s writing philosophy at www.peterelbow.com.
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Allan Johnson ’78
Alumni Stories
Creating a Legacy for the School I Love Arriving at Proctor as a timid, fourteen year old from Akron, Ohio, Allan Johnson ’78 gained a deep appreciation for the community that welcomed him; a community that has remained an integral part of his life more than forty years later. While the Proctor of the mid-1970s looked vastly different than the Proctor of today, the lessons in independence, self-exploration, and fearless problem solving Allan learned continues to define the adolescent experiences of Proctor students today. After a recent alumni event he hosted in Ohio, Allan shared with Proctor’s Associate Director of Development Bonny Morris P’06, ‘17 his commitment to include Proctor in his estate, joining more than 50 other alumni, parents of alumni and friends of Proctor in The James L. Dunbar ’49 Legacy Society. “During my four years at Proctor, I grew from a small, shy midwestern boy to an outgoing and self-assured adult. This did not happen by accident. Proctor gave me the chance to evolve into the individual I am today, and my hope is that my inclusion of Proctor in my estate will open a door to the transformation I experienced at Proctor for a new generation of students.” Traveling from the midwest to rural New Hampshire in the fall of 1974, Allan took a leap of faith choosing to spend his high school years at Proctor. During an era with no cell phones, Facetime, texting, or emails, Allan remembers the only communication he had with his family coming in the form of weekly letters. “At 14 years old, my aunt drove me down to campus from South Conway, NH and I was on my own. I had to budget my money, clean my room, and buy my own plane ticket home for vacations. I so clearly remember writing a check my parents had given me for $119 for my flight when I got to the airport. Autonomy and independence were ingrained in me from an early age. I simply had to figure it out.” Those lessons in independence spanned the entirety of his Proctor experience. Whether it was ending a day skiing at Ragged Mountain with a final run down the backside of the mountain onto campus, playing 3rds soccer for the pure joy of the sport, serving as dorm leader in Smith House his senior year, or walking to Suzie Norris’ house for Latin extra help during evening study hall, Allan came to understand the value in living and learning in a small, tight-knit community where teachers trusted students, and students, in turn, made the most of their Proctor experience. “From the moment I took those first nervous steps into the cold, foggy woods of the White Mountains on Wilderness Orientation with Ken Colburn and Tim Norris as my leaders, I realized teachers at Proctor would offer ceaseless support to their students. It made me want to invest in being a part of the school, and this was such a valuable lesson for me. Had I gone to large public school like my friends in Ohio, I would have never had the sense of place and belonging that I did at Proctor.” Following his graduation from Proctor in 1978, Allan matriculated to Hillsdale College in Michigan, intentionally choosing to replicate the small school experience after his growth at Proctor. After a short stint working on the Chicago Board of Trade options floor for Merrill Lynch, he returned to his hometown of Akron to start his own travel agency. Those long, solo flights between Akron and New Hampshire in his youth instilled a passion for travel, and Allan recognized he could share his love for new places with others. For the next thirty years, Allan ran a successful travel agency “Running your own business is always full of unforeseen issues, especially in the travel industry, and the lessons I learned in my early years at Proctor, to work through obstacles and never be afraid of challenges, served me well in my career.” While he spent much of his adult life traveling the world and has called Akron home for all but a handful of years, the sense of place Allan developed at Proctor never left him. Photos of the campus today elicit fond memories of his time in Andover, but Allan acknowledges it is the relationships he developed at Proctor, relationships that sustain to this day that led him to commit a portion of his estate to the school. “It’s the people who make the school special; the students, the faculty, the staff. Even though there is not a single employee from my era that still works there, my commitment to Proctor has never been stronger. It’s our responsibility as alumni to ensure future generations of Proctor students are able to enjoy the same type of experiences we had as students. For this reason, I encourage you to consider a similar estate gift as I’ve made as a way of sustaining Proctor into the future.”
Please feel free to contact me! Email: allan@ajtonline.com | Phone: (330) 285-7653 | Facebook: “Allan Johnson” | Instagram: @allanjohnson111
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LEARN MORE ABOUT
Planned Giving at Proctor: proctoracademy.org/plannedgiving Allan and his wife, Sally.
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Alumni Stories
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Certainly not everyone will accept you for who you are. In life, we are born alone and we die alone, but we live alongside others. We must love each other for who we are, and not pretend to be someone else.
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Simone Songue ’11 Finding Acceptance for Self and Others Raised by a single mother in Yaounde, Cameroon, Simone Songue ‘11 witnessed from an early age the strength of the women in her life as her grandmother, mother, and sister each worked to carve out an identity, a life for their family. When the opportunity to travel across the globe to attend Proctor Academy presented itself in 2007, Simone followed her mother and grandmother’s example of strength and bravery as she stepped into the uncertainty of a new life abroad. Her circuitous journey home to Cameroon over the past ten years has flown in the face of society’s linear expectations of a post-high school career path, and yet serves as a powerful example of the impact young people can have when they pursue their passions. Simone acknowledges she arrived at Proctor believing she knew who she was: a talented soccer and basketball player who loved to play sports. Little did she know the power of the Proctor magic that was about to be unleashed on her life. As the Proctor community poured its heart and soul into her journey over the next four years, Simone, in turn, immersed herself in all Proctor had to offer: playing soccer, basketball, and softball, taking photography and art classes, navigating and learning from the cultural challenges of moving to a boarding school in Andover, New Hampshire, leading student diversity group efforts, and forging friendships that sustain her to this day. “Without Proctor I don’t know where, and certainly who, I would be today. In those crucial years between 14 and 18, you are either being built up or you are being broken down. So many people at Proctor built me up by loving and accepting me; Gregor Makechnie’s no-nonsense attitude and commitment to each person’s duty to do his/ her part, Beverly Berton’s motherly love and support, Anne Swayze’s leadership and guidance, Marti Adams just making sure I stayed alive in those woods, and Mel and Lindsay showing me an endless world of possibilities when I thought I believed I was stuck. No words can express how grateful I am for the opportunity to call Proctor home during those four years.” During Simone’s commencement ceremony in 2011, Matt Nathanson ‘91 gave one of the most unorthodox, yet memorable graduation speeches the community had ever heard. He remarked, “Your obligation to society is to find your passion, to go after it. The excellence you are trying to reach is your potential as a human being; a fulfillment of yourself that most people do not have because they let fear get in the way.” Simone had no idea the truth these words held for her future journey as she steered through turmoil, indecision, and perceived failure on her way to her current career as a photographer. After attending nearby Colby-Sawyer College for three semesters, Simone left school due to personal issues and was prepared to transfer to a school in Canada when she was in a near-fatal accident that put all of her plans on hold. She decided to return home to Cameroon to recover from the accident, and began working for a small clothing company in 2013 while attending university in Yaounde. After civil unrest prevented her from completing her schooling, she decided to leave the clothing brand she had worked to help build in June 2016, and launch her own career as a photographer. Her work has been featured throughout the country, with her most recent project focusing on gender expression in Cameroon, a topic that is simply not a part of mainstream conversations. “I am still working to find my voice as a photographer, but have recently started this Gender Expression project to bring awareness to gender issues in my extremely conservative country, Cameroon. Coming home was culture shock in its own right after being surrounded by accepting and loving people at Proctor. The project focuses on topics that are not generally accepted, issues I face on a daily basis because I do not ‘fit’ other people’s perception of what a woman should look like.” She adds, “The way I look, the way I dress, I have an androgynous or tomboy look, dreadlocks, tattoos, all this makes people in Cameroon look at me like I am an alien. But my message is that being a woman is not about appearance. It’s not a look. It’s not visual. It’s about who you see yourself as, and that is so important for people to recognize and take to heart. I know I may not change people’s fundamental beliefs about gender and sexuality, but if my work can bring awareness to each of our humanity, help create an atmosphere of dialogue, then we are making progress as a nation and my work is making a difference.” While Simone’s journey since Proctor has been far from smooth, her pursuit of her passion without fear of failure inspires those around her, even those who chose to take a more traditional route to the professional world. The waves of change she has started to create through her photography will continue to wash away perceptions of appearance at a time when humanity needs it most. Follow Simone’s photography at https://www.facebook.com/SimSonPhoto/.
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Familiar Faces: Where are They Now?
Catching Up with Former Faculty Lee and Bert Carvalho | Proctor Faculty 1980 - 2007
For nearly thirty years, Lee and Bert Carvalho helped forge the culture of Proctor Academy in ways few individuals are able. Through Lee’s role as a coach, advisor, Math Department Chair and new faculty mentor, and Bert’s role as coach, advisor, and Academic Dean, the Carvalho’s were instrumental in shaping our institution’s understanding of how we reach students most effectively as educators. A decade after teaching their final class at Proctor, we caught up with Lee and Bert to hear about their life today and their recent adventures. Always up for connecting, Bert and Lee look forward to hearing from their former students (and colleagues) who might happen upon this piece and desire to reach out. Email us at alumni@proctoracademy.org to connect with the Carvalhos. What have you been up to since retiring from Proctor in 2007? We may have officially retired in 2007, but we didn’t really leave Proctor. We spent the next two years living in Segovia, Spain helping my (Lee’s) brother, Derek Mansell run the Proctor-en-Segovia program. We feel very fortunate to have had the wonderful experience of living in a beautiful small city and traveling throughout the country. We were constantly impressed with the bravery of our students who chose to challenge themselves by living with families that spoke no English. After those two years abroad, we returned to our home in Andover where we remained involved in the community and continued to follow the news of Proctor through colleagues still at the school. Do you still return to Andover on a regular basis to connect with Proctor and your former colleagues? This past year we sold our house on Lawrence Street in
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Andover and bought a house in Collinsville, Connecticut where we live with our daughter, Alden ’92, and her family: Won-dly, Lohkoah, and Zigehleh. This has turned out to be a very nice arrangement for all of us. Alden teaches in the Hartford Public schools where she feels she can make a difference and is halfway through an administrative certification program. We get to spend countless hours with our grandchildren, and feel fortunate to be so engaged in their lives and to watch first hand the great work Alden and Won-dly are doing to make this world a better place. What is your son, Matt ’96, up to these days? Matt ’96 lives with his wife, Liz, a horsewoman, in Longmont, Colorado, and serves as the financial manager for a number of specialty restaurants. He continues to play soccer regularly, and has recently discovered a talent and passion for wood turning. It’s so wonderful to see him keep his passions he developed at Proctor front and center in his life.
What are a few of the adventures you’ve been on over the past decade? In 2010, we bought a small RV with Eva Mansell, our former sister-in-law, and proceeded to travel all over the country for six months. We parted company with Eva in southern California where she continues to live, and have been spending a month in Palm Springs every January where we visit Eva and enjoy the International Film Festival. Each summer, we head to Ryegate, Vermont where we are still fixing up a house we’ve owned for 46 years. Just as with our own journey of learning and growing, we’re pretty sure we’ll never be “done” with that house.
What are some of your favorite Proctor memories? For nearly 30 years Proctor was our home where we worked, played, and raised a family living with the students and colleagues central to our life. Some of the best memories: include entering triathlons with faculty and student teams, training for and running the Mount Washington race, Academy Awards and Olympics assemblies, Bert’s month-long trip to Alaska with David, Alice, Peter, Karl, George, Doug and others, and Lee’s orientation trips with Alice and Sarah Will. And of course the beloved places: the Bulkhead, Mud Pond, Bradley Lake, Elbow Pond, the swinging bridge, trails around Adder Pond. Each of these memories brings us back to a time and place that we hold near and dear to our hearts.
Yunus Peer | Proctor Faculty 1985 - 1998 Director of Diversity, Social Science Department Soccer and Tennis Coach After earning his undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Hawaii, former faculty member Yunus Peer embarked on a teaching career that brought him to Proctor in the fall of 1985 as a social science teacher and director of a fledgling diversity program. Growing up in South Africa during Apartheid, Yunus brought invaluable perspective to the Proctor community. Over the next thirteen years, he would serve an instrumental role in helping Proctor understand and appreciate a holistic view of diversity that viewed each member of the community as an individual with unique perspective on the world. With his late ex-wife, Jameelah, he served as a dorm parent in Davis House where they raised their four children: Aliya, Mikail, Nadia, and Avishan. Yunus coached varsity soccer and tennis in addition to his teaching responsibilities. In 1998, Yunus departed Proctor and returned to Hawaii to teach at the Punahou School. Seeking opportunities to expand his influence beyond his immediate students and to continue his father’s legacy of spreading education to the poorest regions of South Africa, he began a Punahou Math and Science mentoring project in 2001 in South Africa. His project eventually joined Teachers Across Borders to form Teachers Without Borders Southern Africa (TABSA). Recognizing his homeland’s continued struggle to provide equal educational opportunities across a racially divided nation, TABSA trains rural South African teachers in math and sciences through an entirely volunteer force of American educators. Since 2001, more than 100 U.S. educators have volunteered their summers to work with over 5,000 South African teachers through TABSA. Conservative estimates measure the scope from this program impacting well over 1.5 million South African students. Today, Yunus continues to teach in the Social Science Department at Punahou School, one of the highest ranked private schools in the United States, and direct TABSA. In a recent letter to his Punahou school community about his summer with TABSA, he remarked, “My father died a free man in 1997 after voting for the first time in his life in 1994 at age 69. It was left to my generation to be part of the next revolution to help rebuild South Africa after the ravages of Apartheid. We are not doing a very good job at it. Zuma and Mugabe are gone, and we have a very, very long road ahead. The effort to build and rebuild continues on many fronts. For the 18th year, I am blessed to have educators from Hawaii and the US mainland who have agreed to accompany me to Bloemfontein, South Africa to help mentor three hundred math and science colleagues from rural schools who did not have the same opportunities at higher education that we are privileged with in the first world. I am eternally grateful for their love and generosity.” Visit tab-sa.org to learn more about and to support Yunus Peer’s work with Teachers Without Borders Southern Africa.
Yunus Peer and the 2018 Teachers Without Borders Southern Africa volunteers.
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ThankYou! Will Ames P’94,’99 | Director of Facilities | 1992-2018 Will Ames first stepped foot on Proctor’s campus as a foreman for a construction crew in charge of renovating Mary Lowell Stone House. After working for a number years on different projects around campus as a contractor, Will entered into a full-time role on Proctor’s Maintenance team. For the next 27 years, Will evolved into an invaluable member of the Proctor community; someone who, like so many employees, refuse to let their job title define the scope of their impact on students. As a dorm parent in Carr House, a parent to two Proctor alums (Karyn ’94 and Alyssa ’99), a regular at Friday morning Polar Swims on Elbow Pond, and always the first to test the strength of the ice on the pond with his plow truck, Will endeared himself to everyone in the community with his zest for life, willingness to do the tough jobs, and youthful sense of adventure. Over the past five years, Will’s role at Proctor evolved to oversee the rapid-fire construction projects within the Campaign for Proctor. His institutional knowledge, technical experience, and ability to simultaneously see both the macro and micro challenges of any project will be missed dearly. Thank you, Will, for dedicating so much of your life to this school and its smooth operation. We’re not sure who will cut the ice at Elbow Pond this winter or who will be foolish enough to drive their truck onto the Proctor Pond before the ice is thick enough, but we have confidence your influence on Proctor and your colleagues across campus will inspire someone to pick up the flame you have so willingly carried. Each Friday at 6:00am, a dedicated group of Proctor students hop on a minibus at Carriage House driven by environmental coordinator Alan McIntyre and make the three mile trek to Elbow Pond. This weekly ritual requires even more dedication than setting an early alarm. During the winter months, “Vulcans” head out at 4:30am to start the sauna fires, and Will Ames cuts a hole in the ice with his chainsaw the evening before. It is these small, selfless acts that epitomize Will’s impact on Proctor and will be so dearly missed.
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Jane Barban P’02, ’05 | English Department | 1983-1985, 2001-2018 First stepping foot in Proctor’s classroom as a young English teacher in the early 1980s, Jane Barban returned as a full time educator at Proctor in 2001 and has left an indelible mark on the English Department and her students over the past eighteen years. Known among her colleagues for her quick wit, wry sense of humor, and infallible command of even the most complex grammar rules, Jane possessed the unique ability to connect with her students by maintaining an incredibly high standard, and then supporting each of her students as they navigated their way toward excellence. Jane’s quiet, firm, loving demeanor resonated with every type of student as she brought to life her love for literature. Students in her class knew they would have to work hard, and yet they knew Jane would work just as hard to help them maximize their potential. The relationships she formed with her advisees mirrored the impact she had in her classroom; deep relationships that have lasted, and will continue to last a lifetime. Thank you, Jane, for dedicating so much of your professional life to teaching at Proctor, and for modeling what it means to be a lifelong learner through your own professional development work. Your impact on Proctor has been significant, and you will be missed!
Best Wishes to Additional Departing Faculty and Staff!
Ted Mastin (1999-2018) | Social Science Ken Guarnieri (2003-2018) | Maintenance Kate Jones (2009-2018) | Learning Skills Maundey Abrahamson (2009-2018) | Health Center Katie Griffiths (2012-2018) | Library Dee Ford (2013-2018) | Security Alf Rylander (2013-2018) | Health Center
Jenny Fisher (2014-2018) | Development Erikka Adams (2015-2018) | Library Carlton Wheeler-Omiunu (2015-2018) | Admissions Brian MacKenzie (2016-2018) | Wise Center Tucker Andrews (2017-2018) | Asst. Equipment Mgr. Travis Glennon (2017-2018) | Social Science Alex Lyttle (2017-2018) | Mountain Classroom
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Navigating Grief David Pilla (1958-2018) Woodlands Manager, Ocean Classroom Director, Forestry and Wildlife Science Teacher Few individuals embody the soul of Proctor more so than Dave Pilla did: Forestry and Wildlife Science classes, Ocean Classroom, Woods Team, Maple Sugaring Project Period, Wilderness Orientation trips, Nick’s Other Band performances in assembly and at family weekends. The depth of Dave’s love for and commitment to his students was matched only by his impact on the thousands of young men and women he taught, coached, advised, and mentored over the past 39 years at Proctor. A graduate of the University of New Hampshire, Dave arrived on campus in the fall of 1980 as a young forestry teacher. Over the next four decades, he masterfully stewarded Proctor’s century old commitment to environmental studies and land conservation. Proctor’s woodlot and acreage grew significantly to its current 2,500 acres through large acquisitions/gifts of land to the school under Dave’s leadership, as did Proctor’s partnerships with local timber owners and tree farm associations. But more importantly, through Dave’s classes, Project Periods, and Woods Team afternoon activity, thousands of students developed a relationship with Proctor’s land. His ability to share his deep appreciation and respect for the natural world, and our role in stewarding it, is a lasting gift to this school and to each alum who took that mindset of environmental stewardship forward with him or her. In 1994, Dave’s love for the sea birthed one of Proctor’s most iconic off-campus programs: Ocean Classroom. With the support of former Head of School David Fowler, Dave helped found The Ocean Classroom Foundation and launched a one-of-a-kind nine week academic program at sea aboard a tall-ship. Now partnered with the World Ocean School, Proctor’s Ocean Classroom program is prepared to set sail for the 25th consecutive year with a single core goal: to provide students with a truly unique life experience. Dave believed in not only providing students the opportunity to live at sea, but to truly live as sailors aboard a traditional schooner where they serve as active crew members while still studying maritime literature, marine biology, history, and navigation. For the more than 400 Ocean Classroom alumni, Dave’s presence during their Proctor journey left an indelible mark. One of Dave’s greatest gifts was making you feel special, noticed, appreciated. His aw-shucks humility magnifying the impact of the words he shared with you, words filled with a depth and wisdom that drew you nearer: words that
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Grief is the price we pay for love, and when you feel the weight of the grief we are all feeling right now, you recognize just how much love lived in the one you are grieving.
Lindsey Degon (1985-2017)
Learning Specialist, Dorm Parent, Coach Too often, we navigate this life of ours assuming we will be given tomorrow. We make plans for ourselves, for our families, set goals for the future. We, as we should, approach our daily life through a lens of hope, allowing ourselves to be inspired by what is possible as we push aside ‘worst case scenarios’ because we don’t want to let ourselves live in fear. And then tragedy enters our world as it did on November 25 when Lindsey died in a traffic accident while on vacation in Florida, with her boyfriend and fellow Learning Skills instructor, Casey McCormack. Optimism is dashed. The layered weight of grief consumes us.
elevated your curiosity as a learner regardless of whether you were his colleague, a faculty/ staff child, or a student; words that affirmed your value as a human and empowered you to tackle whatever challenge lay before you that day; words that always acknowledged those in the community who worked behind the scenes to make Proctor, Proctor; words that inspired generations of students (and adults) to make a difference in the world and to pursue their passions with unparalleled zeal. We grieve with his family, and we carry with us the treasured words he offered to each of us during our individual journeys; words that we will lean on to sustain us and look to for guidance as we forge our way through the coming days, weeks, and months ahead without one of our dearest friends.
Growing up in the small town of Palmer, Massachusetts with her parents, her twin brother, Corey, and an older brother, Eric, Lindsey Degon lived an active lifestyle throughout her life. A 2005 graduate of Wheaton College (MA) where she ran track and field, she actively sought opportunities to broaden her horizons through building relationships with those around her. Lindsey was passionate about understanding the needs of those around her and working to meet those needs to the best of her ability. Lindsey joined Proctor’s Learning Skills Department in the fall of 2014 after pursuing graduate studies in school counseling at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and obtaining her master’s degree in Clinical Social Work from Westfield State University in 2013. At Proctor, she tirelessly and skillfully worked to support her students in Learning Skills and her ninth grade boys in Burbank West as they learned to navigate adolescence. So many were impacted by this news: Lindsey and Casey’s Learning Skills students, residents of Burbank West, members of Casey’s football team, colleagues, alumni, and countless others. Just as Lindsey would daily wrap her arms of support around her students, we now follow the example she gave us as we wrap our collective arms around all those impacted by this tragedy.
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OCEAN CLASSROOM Celebrating 25 Years at Sea
We’ve become a remarkably risk averse society. We allow the fear of “what if’s” to overshadow the “what could be’s” in too many areas of our lives. Twenty-five years ago, Proctor threw caution to the proverbial wind and launched a trimester at sea program that would go on to change the lives of more than 400 Proctor students, countless communities up and down the eastern seaboard, the tallship community, and a small boarding school in Andover, New Hampshire for the better. Nine weeks at sea, no phone calls or email, students crewing a 130 foot schooner, standing watch throughout the night, studying navigation, Marine biology and Maritime History, and forging lifelong bonds with twenty-one other students, Proctor’s Ocean Classroom program redefined “what could be” a high school experience. The brainchild of David Pilla, Ocean Classroom took the best of Proctor’s off-campus programs and married it to his love for the sea. Pilla dove deep into the logistics of a trimester at sea program, weighing the risks of the program with the impact on a student’s educational journey. With the support of then Head of School David Fowler, Pilla helped form the Ocean Classroom Foundation and the Ocean Classroom experience was born in the fall of 1994 when Proctor sent its first student crew to sea. Over the past twenty-five years, Ocean Classroom has become a mainstay in the maritime community as the premier at-sea educational experience. Now partnered with the World Ocean School, Proctor’s Ocean Classroom program continues to change the lives of the twenty-two students aboard Roseway each year, including this fall as the student crew prepares to sail for the first time without the leadership of David Pilla (see page 36). Central to its birth and critical to its annual sustenance over the past 25 years, the Ocean Classroom torch will continue to burn bright into the future. Ocean Classroom will live on; too many lives have been impacted, too many alumni sailors have discovered their love for the sea, too many in the tallship community have witnessed first hand the power of this program. We will forever be grateful for the vision and tireless stewardship of the program by Pilla and all those involved, and as we celebrate 25 years at sea, we look forward to 25 more.
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Ocean Timeline 1986 • Idea for classroom at sea is born when Proctor parents George Dow and Jeff Pope worked with Proctor’s Dave Pilla to move the schooner Sheilly Yates across the Great Lakes. 1992 • Dave Pilla takes a sabbatical year to plan Ocean Classroom. • George Dow introduces Pilla to Bert Rogers, a mainstay in the tall ships community. 1994 • Announcement made during spring assembly that Ocean Classroom would sail for the first time. • First voyage aboard the Harvey Gamage with Captain Bobby Hall. 1996 • Ocean Classroom Foundation forms under the guidance of Alex Thorn, Bert Rogers and Dave Pilla. • Ocean Classroom Foundation purchases the Spirit of Massachusetts from Schools for Children in Boston, MA. 1998 • Ocean Classroom Foundation buys the schooner Westward from the Sea Education Association out of Woods Hole, MA giving the foundation three ships. 2013 • Ocean Classroom Foundation declares bankruptcy due to cost of ship repairs. 2014 • Proctor Academy forms partnership with World Ocean School under director Abby Kidder. 2016 • Proctor students become first US Tall Ship to sail into Havana Harbor in more than 50 years. 2018 • For the 25th straight year, Proctor students depart for Ocean Classroom.
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OFF CAMPUS Finding Your Voice
Mountain Classroom
Ocean Classroom
“Sitting here on the last night
“Visualize if you will. It’s 14:22
of Mountain Classroom, surrounded by a family I will always keep close to my heart, I can’t help but wonder what is to come of us. In 20 years, will we remember the laughs we shared, the stench of our clothes, the epic adventures? Hopefully. I don’t ever want to forget these last ten weeks. After meeting plenty of Mountain Classroom alumni, I have seen how much their time on Mountain has affected their lives. It’s comforting to see that. There is so much to be learned from the people and the world that surrounds us. There are no words to describe how impactful this has been, and will be, on my life. Thank you for the experience of a lifetime.”
on a Sunday afternoon aboard Roseway, and before your very eyes there’s just ocean. It’s been raining for the past four days I want to say. The waves have been rough. People puking everywhere, myself included. Though on days like today where the sun is out, the clouds are thin and the water is rolling up and down with calm leisure, it makes you just realize how lucky we are—to get a chance to see, feel, and listen to such a nice day. If it wasn’t for the fact that I go blind looking at the sun, I think I’d look to see it smiling. Even the early morning was nice before the smiling sun rose from its long sleep. The water was already glowing with light. The bioluminescent phytoplankton almost guiding our way through the dark water of the night. Now I stare at the horizon in hopes of what tomorrow brings, on this adventure of a lifetime at sea.”
- Sophie Nasvik ’18
- Cooper Murphy ’18
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Summer Service
Rosebud Lakota Sioux “There is something incredibly powerful about immersing yourself in a culture you’ve never been exposed to before; the meaningful, touching rituals of the Lakota people are an experience that will stay with me forever. The excitement, fascination, and confusion of being in this strange environment changed me as a person over the course of the highs and lows of our trip. I learned so much more about not only those that live here, but also about life and the world as a whole. And in placing myself outside of my comfort zone, I have learned so much about myself as well; about my physical, emotional and spiritual capabilities and about my limits. I do hope I will be able to return to visit those I met during this trip.”
- Anya Jewell ’20
Since 1972, Proctor’s deep commitment to study abroad experiences has nurtured the evolution of five term-long off-campus programs and three immersive, shorter summer programs around the globe directly impacting more than 80% of Proctor students. The personal growth and self-reflection central to these programs defines each generation of Proctor students. Read a few of the voices that emerged off-campus over the past year and learn more about Proctor’s off-campus programs at www.proctoracademy.org/off-campus.
Proctor in Costa Rica “While each off campus program will ensure a rocky start (similar to the harsh roads in Costa Rica), it will always pay off and you will not regret it. I begin most mornings waking to watch the sunrise and do yoga with someone I now call my best friend, Lila ‘20. I then jump on the bus to school and sit with Tommy ‘20, Kosmo ‘20, and their host brothers, Froy and Gabriel. From there we walk to class, some of which include working and soaking up the sun outside on La Creativa’s stone tables. At lunch, I can be found watching pickup games of soccer or indulging in eleventh grade makeshift picnics. After school, I attend daily activities such as horseback riding, cooking, art class, or playing volleyball before hanging out and then racing home to make the 7:00 pm curfew. This routine-- my routine-- has evolved to the point where I call Costa Rica my home, and the people I spend each day my friends. To imagine being so out of place, uncomfortable, unfamiliar and all in all awkward during my first few weeks here, to now having the feeling that I could almost be considered a local represents the simple beauty in the Costa Rica program when you embrace the experience before you with all you are.”
Proctor en Segovia “The sun retires beyond the dry mountaintops, painted on the baby blue background the beige crayon-like paint lay, looking untouched and still. Tiny dark green specks nurture the soil beneath them adding color and texture to the matte mountains whose lumpy, curvy physiques are comparable to that of a natural, unenhanced female body. Lying, magnificent as the light fades, drawing back from the sea that breaks the mountain range. The fresh, clear blue water dances calmly as if a slow Spanish guitar song. In and out the water rolls, constantly moving and reflecting the sky. The thin clouds hang swirling and traveling in the sky above. The pebbles lay under my feet as I take in the encompassing views and fresh Mediterranean air that brings peace to my soul. Witnessing beauty and feeling immersed by it are two totally different experiences. When one is immersed there is no distraction, nothing else occupying one’s thoughts. Nothing. Simply taking in the views and the priceless earth that surrounds the human race. This is my experience in Spain.”
Euro Art Classroom “When asked by locals that inquire why this group of Americans is wandering the streets of Aix-enProvence, France, or sketching master artworks in our Carnet de Voyages at museums in major European cities, or riding the L140 bus to class every Monday and Thursday, our typical response is “We’re art students.” Art is woven into the underlings of our lives here, and while some may view a term on European Art Classroom as a vacation from ‘real’ school work, I have gained incredible insight into how to suck the marrow out of life, how to cohabitate, and how to listen to that which inspires me during my time on European Art Classroom. I now view art as a necessity within my life, rather than something I love, but often put on the back-burner. I may never have the luxury of living and creating art in this way again, however; I now know that I need to feed the art monster within me on a regular basis.”
- Sarah Ferdinand ’18
- Ellie Richardson ’19
- Emily Catterson ’20
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Life on Campus: Academic Lens
Don’t Take a Picture, You Might Lose Your Soul.
It is a refrain from a song written by my brother, Trent Wagler, and performed by his band The Steel Wheels. The song, based on stories from our grandfather, presents the challenges faced by a young person growing up in the Amish church. The Amish, famous for their buggies, bonnets, baking, and furniture are a sect of anabaptists who broke off from the Mennonites in the late 17th century. The reason for the Amish-Mennonite split essentially comes down to concerns held by Jacob Amman and his followers that the Mennonites were becoming too “worldly.” The goal of the Amish was to remain separate from the “modern” people around them. They saw and continue to see modernity as a distraction from what is important in their lives; a humble life where one’s relationship with God, community and family are the most important. Over the past three hundred years, the distance between Amish and “modern people” has grown significantly, yet the community continues to survive, and even flourish, in a world where for some, the very thought of poor cell service and no wifi is uncomfortable.
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The refrain, “Don’t take a picture, you might lose your soul,” is derived from a rule that prohibits Amish from taking or having their photo taken. The rationale behind the rule is not that the Amish believe taking a picture will steal their soul, instead, appearing in photographs (or wearing flashy clothes) may cause one to lose his or her humility and shift focus away from things that matter. With the ultimate concern that the pride, arrogance and vanity that grows from curating beautiful photos of yourself will lead to an erosion of the relationships you have with God, your community and your family. Earlier this summer, as I pedaled my bicycle through the Amish countryside near my in-law’s home in eastern Ohio, I thought of the challenges our modern culture faces in the ever-changing technological landscape in front of us. I wondered if the challenges we are facing around technology and social media parallel the concerns Jacob Amann and his followers had over 300 years ago. How do we ensure we spend our time and energy on those things that we truly value? In the case of our lives and work at Proctor, how can we continue to create educational experiences for our students that are so rich and engaging they cannot be captured or summarized on Facebook-Twitter-Snapchat-Instagram?
Student Thoughts on Technology Sarah Ferdinand ’18 Every student that graduates from Proctor has spent at least four days in the New Hampshire wilderness, without any devices. On top of this, a large number of us (80% actually) in each graduating class have participated on an off-campus program, device-free. Moreover, several of us (probably more than will care to admit) have had to turn in all devices during a weekend restriction. Clearly every Proctor student knows how to survive without a device. However, one of my personal goals is not just to survive without a device, but to thrive without it. Forgetting about your phone when you’re doing something incredible like Ocean Classroom is one thing, but forgetting about your phone when you’re bored on a Sunday on campus? I must constantly readdress my relationship to my phone, and I regularly catch myself choosing the “easy route” of wasting hours on my phone over getting outside or seeing friends. Having said this, technology remains an incredible tool that can open many doors in the classroom, and beyond. For all the doors technology continues to open for our generation, though, it is imperative we are equally aware of the doors that shut while we are immersed in our digital lives.
When recent alumni reflect on their time at Proctor, they do not turn to their social media accounts of years past to relive their Proctor days, they turn to the memories and relationships they built with faculty and students. These memories happened during experiences that were too engaging or too immersive to capture with a photo or video. They are stories from orientation, off-campus programs, performances, competitions, or classes that commanded their full engagement. Incidentally, alumni who graduated from Proctor before social media existed share many of the same memories.
My personal struggle with balancing technology drove me to start pushing for tech-free events on campus last year. The campout Student Leadership organized in the fall was a tangible effort to breakdown people’s perceptions that being device-free is a punishment or an absolute requirement, rather than a choice. I don’t think that any of the students that participated were thinking, “Wow I really wish I was back in my dorm scrolling through Instagram right now.” One of my takeaways from that night, and what I typically end up thinking about after I go a stint without my phone, is that once the “phone buffer” is down, real creativity and human interaction takes off. It is in these moments when I feel most alive and realize the fullness of my humanity. It’s a gift I do not give myself often enough, and I’m guessing you don’t either.
This is the Proctor experience. This is what we must work to do more of as we think about the educational journey the next generation of Proctor students will have. We must continue to build an educational community that values authentic experiences that change us, force us outside our comfort zone, and grow relationships. The soul of any strong and healthy community exists in these relationships built; actions of the individuals that cannot be captured with a photograph no matter how hard we try. - Derek Nussbaum Wagler, Academic Dean
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Life on Campus: Health and Wellness
Pursuing Balance in the Boarding School Life Since its earliest years, the foundation of learning at Proctor has centered around students connecting on a personal level with their teachers, coaches, dorm parents, and advisors. Statistics prove loneliness has the same impact on mortality as smoking fifteen cigarettes a day. It’s more dangerous to our society than obesity, and yet too often we focus on how we are failing at connecting as a society instead of looking at how we are succeeding. The shared experiences on which a Proctor education is built are rooted in this understanding of the importance of connection through small group experiences: 100% of students take part in Wilderness Orientation with seven other students and two faculty members, 100% of boarding students live in dorms of 18 or less residents alongside faculty families, 100% of students take part in an afternoon activity or compete on an athletic team every day, 100% of students are in multi-aged advisories allowing them to connect across social landscapes.
While we believe we have made considerable strides in our quest to provide students with health and wellness education and support, we recognize the stressors adolescents experience are unparalleled when compared to prior generations. Students face constant external pressures to build a resume, achieve at the highest level in the classroom, on the athletic field, and in the music studio, all while navigating the unrelenting, unforgiving microscope of social media. In our quest to best serve our student body, we find ourselves adding initiatives, programs, and levels of support as a way to guide students through adolescence. Individually, each initiative is incredibly valuable. When viewed collectively, these programs can leave us feeling saturated with “opportunities”, and we must remain acutely aware of this double-edged sword of programmatic evolution. How do we continue to move forward in support of our students while balancing the often frenetic pace of life at boarding school?
Today, Proctor’s Student Life team seeks to augment the organic relationships formed among students and faculty with intentional programming and resources. The addition of a sophomore seminar class (2017) and a junior/senior seminar (2018) program have added considerable depth to the ninth grade seminar curriculum that has long served as the core of a student’s health and wellness experience at Proctor.
We do not have the answer to this question; just as our students’ needs will continue to change over time, so too will our support mechanisms. We must never believe we have accomplished our mission, but rather look for opportunities for continuous improvement. What we do know is that through a dynamic group of faculty and staff eager to connect with students and the completion of new state of the art fitness and wellness facilities, Proctor is as well positioned as it has ever been to help students (and the adults in our community) pursue balance in their lives.
Learn more at proctoracademy.org/studentwellness
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A Recent Timeline of Proctor’s Investment in Health and Wellness 2000
The History of
PROCTOR’S NATIVE AMERICAN CONNECTION
• Growth/Freshman Seminar curriculum initiated. • Sanctuary/Immunity Policy introduced.
2009
• Health and Wellness Speaker Series endowed.
2012
• Sports Nutritionist and Strength and Conditioning Coach added to staff.
• Required participation in ‘active’ afternoon activity each year added.
• Big Sisters Mentoring Program launched.
2015
• Residential Life Coordinator position established. • 9th Grade Boys Dorm started. • Big Brothers Mentoring Program launched. • Multicultural Coordinator position established.
2017
• 2nd full-time mental health counselor added to staff. • Sophomore Seminar program launched for all 10th graders. • Formal Faculty Advisor curriculum introduced.
• Health and Wellness Coordinator position established. • Brown Dining Commons opens. • Day Student Coordinator position established.
2002 2010
2013
2016
2018
• Earlier in-dorm time on Saturday in place. • New fitness center opens. • Wellness studio and new counseling offices in the Farrell Field House constructed.
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The Arts at Proctor
Soul Corners: Slocumb Hall Mike Henriques
To find traction and a sense of laying down tracks, making a mark, having a voice, you need these spaces. It’s not just Slocumb. It’s the Norris Family Theater, the metal shop, the forge, the music studio, the woodworking shop. In Segovia and Aix-en-Provence we have them, and collectively they are some of the most important creative soul corners in our community. In the jargon of the day they might be called makerspaces or tinker spaces, but I like to think of them as soul corners, these eddies within community where one finds a path of one’s own while connecting with something much bigger than oneself. They are both humbling and inspiring. In Slocumb, works in progress and works nearly finished are pinned to the walls, propped on easels, set up on shelves and tabletops. Even empty of students the space feels filled with life: paint brushes and palettes, pottery wheels and blocks of clay, the smell of oil paints and mineral spirits, that thin, comforting patina of clay dust just visible on the wooden floor. Even in its stasis it feels like movement. Or home of a kind. One’s own home designed, measured up, and crafted into that place where we go when we want to tap into what centers us, gives us purpose, and sets the world both into manageable perspective and gives us agency within it. There has long been a sense that the arts matter at Proctor and that they are a part of our gravitational grounding, one of the essential tenets of the school to establish connections, windows into the other and wonders of the world. The Board’s renewed commitment to the arts at Proctor (through the establishment of a committee on the arts led by Matt Nathanson ’91 as part of the formal board structure) will only help further ensure that these soul corners are acknowledged, celebrated, and supported.
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An Original Slam Poem
Screw your courage to the sticking place. Be firm, be strong, be confident, and go on stage. The stage is where you can be anything. It’s where I can do anything. I like this place, and could willingly waste my time in it. I can show passion here. And fear. And love and loss and guilt and venge and hate and anger and be pissed at everyone near! And then I can be sad, and shed a few tears. For when we are born we cry that we have come to this great stage of fools, but to step on to the true stage where those wise, wispy, wonderful words are written is to escape that world of fools and be boundlessly boisterous.
Visiting Alumni Artists on Campus!
Jordan Thompson ’01
Emily White Hat ’94, P’14
1000lbs. Clay Used by Ceramics Students in a Year
Love looks not with the eyes but with the mind. Be not the theater where the mind is most satisfied? With whip by the bucket and a plethora of pains, the steering sound of the slave scorching shackles sail. From stage to ear from ear to head, from head to heart. From heart to mouth, from mouth to action. For theater can inspire and instill desire, and nothing is so common as the desire to be remarkable. Remark the word on the pages of the papers you are given, remark the steps you take and remark the great. Some are born great, some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon them. But with doubt, greatness will never come. For our doubts are traitors, and traitors are lies, but theater is truth. And this above all, to thine own self be true. I do love nothing so well as the world. And all the world’s a stage. And on this, I’ll not budge an inch. -Written and read in Assembly by Sam Wyckoff ’19
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ATHLETICS Update Rekindling an Old Flame
Holderness Day is BACK! The long-dormant end of season rivalry with that school up north was revitalized after a nearly two decade hiatus. Born on the athletic field more than 100 years ago, Holderness Week took on new life in the late 1960s when former Colby College teammates David Fowler and Bill Clough were hired as football coaches at Proctor and Holderness, respectively. The rivalry intensified over the ensuing years as playful pranks between the schools unified generations of Proctor students and faculty in support of one another. Through the efforts of Holderness’ Rick Eccleston (son of long-time Proctor faculty member Tom Eccleston) and Proctor’s Gregor Makechnie ‘90, Holderness Weekend returned last fall as Proctor won the weekend-long competition 6-4 over the Bulls. Throughout much of the 1980s and 1990s, the phrase ‘Together’ was listed as Proctor’s unofficial school motto in the Green Book and on our primitive website. Faculty members Karl Methven, Doug Houston, Patty Pond, and Peter Southworth can still be spotted around campus sporting old athletic gear with the phrase in large block print. The tagline sits front and center on our homepage. It is who we are. We live this life at Proctor together as a community, and Holderness Weekend 2017 reminded us of this as the entire community rallied around our athletic teams, in bitter cold temperatures, all weekend. We pursue our educational mission to unlock learning for our students through the forming of meaningful relationships in the classroom, on the athletic field, in the art studio, in the dormitory, and in advisories. These relationships serve as the foundation for support we all need to thrive. We are heard. We listen. We trust. We risk failure. We take pride in seeing each other succeed. These are feelings we often take for granted at Proctor, but outside of our bubble, they are attributes that are exceedingly rare in today’s society.
Mark Your Calendar! HOLDERNESS WEEKEND November 9-10, 2018
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PROCTOR ATHLETIC HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES 2019
Based on alumni nominations, the following individuals and teams will be inducted into Proctor’s Athletic Hall of Fame. Each has positively shaped Proctor’s rich athletic culture and will be formally inducted into the Hall of Fame at Alumni Reunion 2019. Visit Proctor’s Athletic Hall of Fame website for a list of all members of Proctor’s Athletic Hall of Fame.
Sarah Will P’00,’03 Teacher, Coach, Advisor, Mentor 1979-2014
Jesse Putney ’53 Football | Skiing | Baseball
Dick Bellefeuille Athletic Trainer/Coach 1968-1999
1981 Boys’ Soccer Team 11-1-1 record | Back-to-Back Lakes Region Champs
Steph Clark ’92 Soccer | Hockey | Lacrosse
Visit www.proctoracademy.org/halloffame Nominate your classmates, coaches, or teams for the Proctor Athletic Hall of Fame by completing the online submission form, or mail your nomination to Gregor Makechnie ’90, Proctor Athletics Director, PO Box 500, Andover, NH 03216.
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Th
e Fi
nis h
Li n e i n S it e!
Four years after Proctor’s Board of Trustees announced a $30+ million capital campaign, the finish line is now in site. With over $20,690,051 raised to date in support of The Campaign for Proctor, the renovation of Maxwell Savage Hall stands a tangible finish line toward which fundraising efforts are targeted over the next fifteen months. Daily, Proctor’s students, faculty, and staff enjoy the investment this community has made in its infrastructure over the past decade. Within The Campaign for Proctor specifically, West End Dorm, the Brown Dining Commons, and Phases 1 and 2 of the Farrell Field House have fundamentally transformed the student experience at Proctor. Read more about how the remaining projects in the campaign will impact the school as we seek to successfully complete The Campaign for Proctor by January 1, 2020.
REMAINING INITIATIVES Farrell Field House | Phase 3 | Completion December 2018 This phase of the Farrell Field House renovation project will add new girls’ and women’s locker rooms, athletic offices, seven classrooms, a new wellness classroom, and counseling offices. Proctor’s English and Social Science departments will occupy the new classrooms, building upon their collaborative work over the past two years.
Farrell Field House | Phase 4 | Completion September 2019 The final phase of the largest construction project in Proctor’s history will renovate boys’ and men’s locker room spaces, while updating the west corridor of the field house. New laundry and athletic equipment rooms will round out of the final updates to the building.
Farrell Field House | Phase 1 and 2 Update • Completely Renovated Gymnasium with Multipurpose Turf Strip | Completed December 2017 • New Fitness Center: Cardio and Weight Training Facility | Completed January 2018 (See pg. 44) • New Athletic Training Room | Completed January 2018
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$20.7M RAISED TO DATE! Thank You To The
472 PEOPLE
Who Have Invested!
$30M Campaign Gift Chart Gift Received
Gift Breakdown by Constituency
Gift to be Raised
36%
$2.5M
Parent of Alumni Alumni Current Parent
2%
$1M
16%
$500K $250K
46%
Grandparents, Friends, Faculty & Staff
$100K $50K
Maxwell Savage | Estimated Completion September 2020 The capstone project to The Campaign for Proctor, the long-discussed and much needed renovation of Maxwell Savage Hall will commence in September 2019. Updating mechanical systems, World Language classrooms, and re-thinking Student Life offices, bookstore, and optimizing the intersection of the Administrative team with the daily flow of students through the academic heart of campus are all central to this project.
Endowment | On-Going | $3.5M of $5M Raised The cornerstone to long-term financial sustainability, investment in Proctor’s endowment remains a crucial aspect of The Campaign for Proctor. With over $3,500,000 raised towards endowment over the past four years and clear goals for the final $1,500,000 of endowment within this campaign, Proctor is excited about the increased access to the Proctor experience through financial aid and professional development funds afforded by endowment investments.
LEA R
E! R O NM
To learn more about The Campaign for Proctor, visit proctoracademy.org/campaignforproctor or contact Kate Newick, Campaign and Major Gifts Officer, at newickka@proctoracademy.org or (603)735-6723.
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$1.45M GOAL MET! Solidifying Our Foundation Together Thank You to the Proctor Community
1108
Proctor’s supporter base has grown significantly over the past decade, reaching an all-time high of 1,108 donors in 2017-2018. This foundation of support is critical to Proctor’s long-term financial health and allows our faculty and staff to provide an unparalleled educational experience to each of our 370 students.
771
643
2006
917
611
514 5%
845
6%
6%
2008
2010
Alumni Participation Keeps Growing!
12%
8%
8%
9.6%
2012
2014
2016
2018
| OVERALL SUPPORTER BASE GROWTH |
How Did Your Gift Impact Our Students in 2017-2018? 2006
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2008
2010
2012
2014
2016
2018
A gift for EVERYstudent Proctor’s Development Office joined with the Proctor Alumni Association to host our first major giving challenge during the four days of Project Period in March 2018. With a goal of raising one gift per student (Proctor’s current enrollment is 370 students), Project 370 was a smashing success. In total, 411 donors gave $115,175 in gifts to The Proctor Fund during the challenge.
OJECT R P
Save the Dates: March 19-23, 2019! We have another giving challenge in store for the 2018-2019 fiscal year, so stay tuned and be sure to join us by supporting The Proctor Fund each year as we seek to bridge the gap between Proctor’s operating expenses and our tuition revenues. n
t
A
Gi
ft f
o r E ve r y S t u
de
Thank You! TOTAL DONORS
DONOR BREAKDOWN • 43% • 28% • 3% • 6%
Alumni Parents Students Faculty & Staff
• 1% • 16% • 3%
411
Friends Parent of Alumni Grandparents
CLASS LEADER BOARD BY DONOR NUMBER
NUMBER OF COUNTRIES AND STATES REPRESENTED
175
Class of 1991 (19) Class of 2001 (11) Total Alumni Gifts Class of 2017 (10)
7 Countries | 29 States
AVERAGE GIFT SIZE $280
SOCIAL MEDIA BUZZ 12,000+ Likes and Shares Total Facebook Reach: 5,346 10% Increase in Instagram Followers
TOTAL DOLLARS RAISED
$115,175
#Project370 53
Alumni Giving | The Hornet’s Nest Thank you to the 581 alumni who made 906 gifts totaling $2,636,006 during the 2017-2018 fiscal year. Your support of Proctor’s educational mission is critical to our continued success as a school! 1940 John Merriam 1942 Dave Colt* Dick Day 1944 Stu Brewster* Bruce Nicholas* 1945 John Pearson 1947 Mel Levine# 1949 Jim Dunbar Walt Wright 1950 Mark Claff# Jim Reichert 1951 King Davis Kip Snow* 1953 David Coffin* Peter Elbow# Jesse Putney# John Wright 1954 John German# Bill Humphrey Jerry Lester# Jack Reading# 1955 Ed Darna Jim Graves Quin Munson# Driz Prior 1956 Toby Farrel# Paul Haus* Mike Nash* 1957 Charlie Forsberg Everett Jones# 1958 Mike Boyd# Dick Clemence* Norm Cooper Jim Floyd Robert Kvalnes# Bruce Nourie
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1959 Jim Bevis Dudley Clark# Bill Grant Jim Levy* Paul Rogers* 1960 Laurie Cannon# Art Chesterton Fred King Ken Lindquist George Morosani* 1961 Len Elden* Jay Reilly David Walters# San White Chris Whittaker# 1962 Bucky Buckman Dave Lunger Geoff Morris* Frank Robinson# 1963 Dana Bent# Nat Cheney# Charles Hall* Scott Hughes* Peter Kappel 1964 Bob Becker# Steve Hobson Jim Putnam Mike Rosenthal# Sears Wullschleger 1965 Bill Blair# Art Cox* Tom Geibel* Bill Hood Stu Lipp Bob Martin Steve Stoner Bob Warner 1966 Gerry Coleman George Craft Guy Kelley Niels Olsen Kirby Whyte 1967 Joel Becker# Bob Bristol# Richie Harris Andy Hatt George Henschel
Jim Morris Knox Turner 1968 Bruce Bartlett Crocker Bennett Dave Biddle# Jim Bird George Brengle Mike Choremi Kevin Conway Peter Davis Charlie Flammer George Fuller John Gary# Fletcher Hall Mark Holmes Russ Materne Chris Morris Fritz Porter Jon Randall Park Smith Courtenay Taplin Richard Wallace 1969 Doug Armstrong# Bill Bolton# Tom Canfield Gordie Harper# Jim Hoyt* Ted Levering# Alan McLean Steve Shapiro* Ed Smith* John Van Siclen 1970 Bill Finley Pete Hoagland David Moulton* Tom Rudkin John Welsh# 1971 Tim Brown# Robert Geyer Frank Gibney* Kevin Gillespie# Steve Johnson Rocky Rockwell Pete Rolfe* Greg Samaha# 1972 Jon Bursaw Jay Fisher* Doug Rendall 1973 John Hellman# Bob Johnson# Walter Perry David Walker
1974 John Deas# Russ Mawn Henry Vaughan* David Weeks# Don Woodbury
Andrew Parker Erick Ragni Bredt Stanley Ayres Stockly# Ben Thompson Emily Vaughan*
1975 AJ Johnstone Robert Murchie David Pierce Andrew Sheppe
1983 Rob Baldwin Chris Edwards Alex Estin* Will Hamill Tod Hannaway Edward Johnson# Randy Langer Bob Manning Travis Mathis# Dan Mori Dan Morse Peter Mueller Gina Pettengill# Sam Reeves# Jen Sjostedt Andy Wright Tim Wright Jazz Zeffiro-Nourse
1976 Dan Zussman 1977 Brooks Bicknell Anne Feicht Ned Harvey Carl Jelleme David Powers Charlie Willauer# 1978 Jeff Abramson Ramon Agosto Allan Johnson# Andy Lawrence Chris Mitchell Dan Murphy# Jeff Power Lee Ross 1979 Eric Benoit# Amy Bowen# Reed Dewey Ken Lifton* John O’Connor* Bill Pierce Brynn Schwarz Chris Zanghi 1980 Keith Barrett# Linda Diskin Sherman Foote John Halsted Kevin Hannaway Jamie Hilliard John Reid 1981 Liz Blodgett Smith# Chris Hadley# Carolyn Peach JJ Pirtle Ann Thayer Birdie Walker 1982 Tom Colby# Hilary Gans Jeff Nicholson
1984 Elizabeth Bauman# Sarah Douglas Rob Logan# Amy McKain Bob Sutherland Claudia Williams 1985 Kay Childs# Patrick Keegan Amy Pattison Esteban Quintero 1986 Chris Bartlett# Wendy Brown# Johnny Buck Zander Collins Dana Fletcher Kym O’Brien# Jen Vogt# Andy Wright Tripp Wyckoff 1987 Orianna Brown Beckner Bryan Scott Clay Jed Dickman* Liam Donoghue Seth Downs Steve Fasciana Trevor Foster Chris Mole Sarah Murawski David Page Loren Tripp
Jennifer Wilson# 1988 Nicole Bagley# Beth Bartlett# Rhys Brooks# Natasha Egan# Jason Eslick Chris Manning Will McCurtin# Charlie Mercier Marc Murphy Joe Palmer Joe Pellerin Cate Reavis Alex Ruschell Tariq Sheikh Tim Smith Tom Spang 1989 Chris Durell Bill Graves# Bob Kaynor Karyn Lamb# David Lapham# Trask Pfeifle Adam Rohner Daphne Scalamandre Matlock Schlumberger Chris Shirazi Tricia Smith Lans Taylor# Virginia Townsend Brett Wagenbach Jeff Ziter# 1990 Derek Beard Bill Feinberg# Rob Hutchins# Gregor Makechnie Mark Maloney Dan McCabe Sarah McIntyre Chelsea Taylor# John Turner# 1991 Kate Carter Brad Courts# Josh Dunne Cat Ehlen Julia Elliott Dan Ephraim Liz Green Caroline Heatley Katie Kidder* Brian Levy Roth Martin Curt Millington Meghan Morin Matt Nathanson Kim Nubel Oliver Preuss
Jess Sarkisian Mark Schwartz Kitter Spater Mario Triay Alissa Van Nort Travis Warren#
Rachel Golden Kirscht Kate Hartwell Rod Kidder David Lejuez Kellie Magnifico Katie Murphy 1992 Fred Owsley Steph Clarke Charlotte Poage Drew Donaldson Sara Randazzo Corby Leith Andrew Sandler Brendaen Makechnie Zach Springer Josh Norris Sarah Taylor Whit Sowles Carl Van Loan Jeremy Stowe Leo Waterston Sam Thompson Shauna Young Chris Todd 1999 1993 Chris Baker Ryan Bowse Steve Dilley Tom Dodge# Brooke Donaldson Liv Eck Chris Donaldson Jin Hayashida Christiana Makinde Willow Kreibich Spencer Martin Maxwell Love Seth Patriacca Alex MacInnes Anneke McStowe 2000 Rick Reynoso Laura Anker# Amie Crawford 1994 Tess Cressman Abby Chau Dan Jacobs Bob Culver Hector Mancebo Mike Segerson Garran Peterson Emily White Hat Abbi Stern Mika Toth 1995 Melissa Tuckerman# Cassie Bowse Erica Wheeler Craig Churchill Si Whittington Seth Currier Becca Newhall# 2001 Nate Theroux Andrew Abendshein# Abby Dowd Kate Austin Trish Austin 1996 Lindsay Brown Andy Klein Hunter Churchill Steve Kohn Taylor Cullen Will Loring Malcolm de Sieyes# Mitzi Tolino# Justin Donaldson Abby Usen-Berner Greg Gagne Peter Logan 1997 Doug Park Owen Foster Lori Patriacca# Carla Isaacson Jessie Rives Mark Johnson# Stuart Rudkin John Kiaer# Laura Rutkiewicz Chris Knapp# Courtney Monteiro 2002 Chris Sanborn Liz Brier-Rosenfield Brad Cabot# 1998 Chris Cloutier Rana Abodeely# Bobby Dunbar Amanda Alksnitis Meredith Leoni Liza Appleby Colleen Prossner Allison Atkin-Bagley Oliver Schwab# George Blair Sarena Stern Andrew Clemons Jon Cotton 2003 Jonathan Cross Chris Cave Kat Darling Annie Kaup Mike Dow Sonz Morosani Bob Downey Al Sand Dabney Geary Mike Smith
Jackson Tufts Stephanie Williams Sarah Wood Zach Zimmerman 2004 Joe Lloyd John Pellett Dan Risotti Ethan Vandermark Anna Wood 2005 Kaedi Butterfield Matt Carpenter Joe Chase Owen Coursin Alicia Hager Dave Schleyer# 2006 Nick Brown Erin Davey Abby Isaac Ty Morris# Evan Procknow# Katie Richardson Kate Schmidt# Forrest Schwab# Merry Yasek 2007 Betsy Corbin Sara Froman# John Goheen Nick Green Matt Milley Harrison Smith 2008 Lia Arnzen Patty Dansereau Joanna de Peña Joey Goulart Lizey Loehr Thayer Maclay Alex Milley Becca O’Connor Britt Plante Molly Prudden Marissa Ray Lindsay Webster Brooks Whitehouse 2009 Ebby Gerry Caroline Pond Kristen Turpin 2010 Chris Dale Tuckerman Ferris Jennifer Galligan Thomas Jennings Ilyena Kozain Megan Phippen Maggie Shine Kate St. Clair Peter Wade William Whipple# Emily White
2011 Sam Brown Braiden Daly Jake Hines John Howard# Jamie Jaxtimer Zach Lee Ali Mitchell Brian Perry Haley Peters Stephen Sample Story Southworth 2012 Evan Anthony Courtney Birch Breanna Davis Peter Durkin# Maddie Sullivan 2013 Nicole Adee Eva Berton Carlie Coccia Ben Cox Jake Dombroski# Jamie Gaines Lilli Gensler Ryan Glantz Harry Hause Haley Jordan Moriah Keat Zack Kessler Jack MacClarence# John Martin Anne Neylon Nick Pascucci Ryan Peel Tuck Phippen Madison Powers Colby Rymes Patrick Shine Connor Simon Tori Smith Emmy Snyder Devon Webster Alex Weissman 2014 Michelle Asch Sam Barrett Cortland Begor Greg Breen Speight Drummond Angie Duke Connor Hollenbaugh Sam Jaxtimer Tucker Peters Eli Pier Meg Sheehy Ian Starkey 2015 Catie Craig Josh Gluck Delia Holland Calvin Johnstone Lulu Orne
Will Reynolds 2016 Max Barrett Will Cox Keith Davis Taylor Drewniak Andrew Edwards Paris Healey Burke Hildner Henry Johnstone Haley Schorer Annie Sheehy 2017 Grey Bechok Logan Drewniak Eamonn Healey Lilah Hilliard Gray MacDonald Drew MacInnis Cope Makechnie Harry Makovsky Sydney Minnehan Jacqui Morris Liza Orne Jay Pier Emily Saef Kelly Yu 2018 Toby Bannister-Parker Trixie Barker Connor Berube Lance Crate Sage Fletcher Rose Fore Liv Ginchereau Carmen Gonzalez Aranguren Emilia Helms-Leslie Sophia Matthes-Theriault Jacob Rousseau Sam Royal Connor Timbrell Lindsay Turmelle Siri Warren 2019 Matt Bent Declan Healey Chadwick Hildner Andrew Rusis Ben Warren 2020 Campbell Franz Cole Kellogg 2021 Katie Bent Ashley Fletcher Camden Fletcher Tahg Healey Victoria Morales
# 5 or more consecutive years of giving. * 20 or more consecutive years of giving. Member of The James L. Dunbar ’49 Legacy Society
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ClassNotes
The Alumni Association has been busy this past year! We’ve had events in San Francisco, Boston, Portsmouth, Portland and New York, as well as many on-campus events in Andover, like Reunion 2018 which was a smashing success! Over the next year, we look forward to growing our event attendance and Association participation. Any amount of time donated to supporting the Alumni Association is so greatly appreciated, and we can always use the help! Please raise your hand to get involved, share an idea or just to share your Proctor experience. We hope you enjoy this Class Notes section and reading about the life events and updates from fellow Alums. Also, note some classes have their Class Chair listed. If you would like to hear more about the role of Class Chair, let us know! We hope to see you at an event soon and remember, it’s always a great day to be a Hornet!
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1953
John Merriam Warwick, RI Still kicking at 96.
Peter Elbow Seattle, WA Peter connected with Proctor English teacher Tom Morgan and former librarian, Erikka Adams, this past year around writing initiatives and his lifelong dedication to helping students write more effectively. Peter enjoys living in Seattle where he moved to be “near” grandchildren (in Anchorage!). He remains active with regular exercise classes and plays plenty of chamber music as an amateur violinist.
1951 Charles Snow Eastham, MA Kip Snow ’51 and his wife Jean have been married 60+ years! They recently attended a Proctor event held on Cape Cod and reflected on their long, shared history with Proctor. The pair started dating in the late 1940’s when Kip was attending Proctor. Jean would visit him on the weekends and she would stay with local Andover families. When they were apart, she would send daily letters, which would arrive by train, and when Kip would reply his classmates would say he was giving away all the Proctor secrets! The couple has fond memories of Proctor and the time they spent there in their youth. Post Proctor, Kip graduated from Wesleyan University, lived in Vermont and had a career working for American National. They have now retired to Cape Cod to be closer to their family in New England.
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Proctor Alumni Association Council at Reunion: Walter Perry ’73, PAA President, Marissa Ray ’08, PAA Secretary, Chloe Duchesne, Director of Alumni Relations, Ryan Bowse ’93, PAA Vice President
1956 Paul Haus Teaneck, NJ Paul shares that he and his wife, Colleen, celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on April 20, 2018. 1959 Arthur Crosbie Beverly, MA Butch is enjoying retirement and traveling the US and Canada with his wife in their RV. He is a competitive Pickle Ball player.
Bill Grant Sandy Springs, GA Bill writes that he remains active as a contractor building homes in the greater Atlanta, Georgia area. 1968 Chris Morris Paoli, PA While grandparent responsibilities prohibited Chris from attending his 50th Proctor Reunion in June, he shares, after looking at photos from Reunion, that he believes his class has aged remarkably gracefully. The photo is of their newest grandchild, number 8, of 5 boys and 3 girls. Chris’ son, Mark, wore the same outfit when he was 3. 1969 Doug Armstrong Windham, ME Doug writes that he is enjoying retirement and staying busy with cooking lessons and continuing his work with private clients. In his words, “Life is good!”
1979 Brynn Schwarz Billings, MT Brynn is the General Manager of the Yellowstone Valley Club Lacrosse, high school group in Billings, Montana, and a founding member of three individuals who started the Billings Scorpions Lacrosse Club Youth Program in 2011. He enjoys connecting with fellow PA alums in the area; Tucker A Sargent ‘04 is the Head Men’s Lacrosse Coach for the University of Montana in Missoula and Brooks Emeny ‘84 is the current President of Gallatin Valley Club Lacrosse in Bozeman. Three Proctor Alumni growing the game of lacrosse in the state of Montana! 1980 Anthony Edwards Toronto, ON Anthony continues to serve in the Canadian Army Reserves, surpassing the 20 year mark. He notes he is 56 years young and serves in the training Company. In August of 2017, Anthony was selected for the Canadian Contingent for the 75th Anniversary of the Raid on Dieppe, and was thankful to read The Buzz blog post last November about his Proctor Brothers and Sisters who are serving their country! Jamie Hilliard Pittsburg, PA Jamie ‘80 & Frazer ‘20 Hilliard pose for a pic after a lax victory against White Mountain School this Spring. Another legacy family!
Hope Martin Walker Raleigh, NC Hope writes from Raleigh that she is still kicking and breathing! She has been working for a hotel management company for the past ten years as an Executive Administrative Assistant to one of the owners. She notes they are like her second family and have helped her through a lot in her life over the past decade. She adds she is blessed to still have her mom and dad alive and well, living in Florida along with her brother and his wife and two children. Perhaps the biggest celebration of the past year came with one of her three boys getting married in April. She thinks fondly of her Proctor days and stays in touch with classmates on Instagram. A group of 80s Alums met up in Maine for a day out on the water! Emily Montag Vaughan ’82, Ann Thayer ’81, Peter (Mud) Milholland ’81, Alex Estin ’83, Lucy Polese Rohner ’82, Jane Hoffman ’81 and Ayres Stockly ’82!
1990 Chelsea (Kittell) Taylor Salt Lake City, UT Legacies in action! A shot of Chelsea Kittell Taylor ‘90 and her son Ezra ’21 on campus last Fall. Oh and Dad, Lans Taylor ’89, is an Alum too! 1997 Mia (Camilla) Bertram Boulder, CO Livua Sage and Mia Bertram are doing well in Boulder, CO and are thankful to Proctor’s alumni office for mailing the Proctor bib! A future Hornet? Mia notes she hopes to one day be able to give her daughter the same opportunity she had to attend Proctor. Chris Sanborn Seattle, WA Chris serves as an RN in the ED at Harborview Hospital in Seattle, the level 1 trauma center for Washington, Alaska, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. Needless to say, it is an incredibly busy place. Chris also serves as a flight paramedic, but is not flying currently.
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2000
Sarah (Rome) Douglas Fairbanks, AK Sarah just celebrated her 20th year of loving life in Alaska. She remains active skiing, paddling, biking and managing Trail Breaker Kennel- Sled Dogs where she is able to share the mushing life with guests. She hopes to get back to Proctor for a visit one of these days!
Laura Anker New York, NY Laura and her husband Ben announced the birth of their first child, a son, William Arthur Harris Townson, born on November 21st at 3:45 am, weighing 6lbs 8oz, and 19.88 inches long. Laura is a Vice President at J.P. Morgan in New York, working in the Capital Introduction Group.
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Class Notes 2001 Taylor Cullen Nantucket, MA During a visit to campus last Fall, our Instagram shot of Taylor was photobombed by a passing biker, the one and only Chris Bartlett ’86. Taylor also hosted a Project Period group this Spring, and of course, is always busy with her hand crafted goods company Small Town Girl, based in Nantucket, MA.
2004 Joe Lloyd Nantucket, MA Joe was married a year ago (September 9, 2017) and is living on Nantucket where he has been working for the past four years in real estate and has been coaching the Nantucket High School Sailing Team for the past three years. Anna (Wood) McKeown Salisbury, NH Anna and this rocking group of Proctor Alums got together to celebrate Anna’s wedding in summer of 2017!
2009 Alison Brown Salt Lake City, UT Congratulations to Alison Brown ’09 who was married on June 16! She and her husband “Weston” reside in Salt Lake City, UT.
2002 Brad Cabot & Meredith Leoni Conway, NH Meredith and Brad were married in February at Camp Cody in Freedom, NH and welcomed baby Heidi in May.
Meredith (Donaldson) Amenkhienan Somerville, MA Meredith owns Forty Winks Boutique in Cambridge, MA and had a baby girl in August of 2017. She thanks Proctor’s Alumni office for the bib, she loves it!
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Hannah Goodnow Weymouth, MA Look at this PA family! Hannah ’08 got married last summer and her siblings, Jonathan ’14 and Hilary ’05 were there to celebrate along with, recently retired, Phil, Lawre, and the rest of her family!
2005 Matt Carpenter Johnson City, TN Matt recently graduated from medical school (University of Medicine and Health Sciences, St. Kitts) and recently headed off to start his Internal Medicine Residency position at ETSU in Johnson City, TN in July! He passed along a big hello to everyone up there in Andover! 2008 Alex Duane Burlington, VT The legendary Alex Duane ’08 cycled his way, with ski boot panniers, to Whanganui, New Zealand last fall to meet up with former faculty members Dani & Nelson Lebo!
Danny Loehr Montgomery, AL Danny graduated from NYU Law this spring. He will be working at the Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery, Alabama this Fall. 2011 Truman Fleming Las Vegas, NV Congratulations to Truman Fleming ’11! He and his wife were married in Cancun earlier this year, and fellow 2011 grads Spencer Schwenk and Stephen Sample, along with Elliot Fleming ’12 and of course David & Jen Fleming joined the couple for their wedding celebrations!
Alice (Anastasia) Richichi Boston, MA Another Proctor couple! Alex Richichi ’12 and Alice (Anastasia) got married on March 25, 2017. Maddie (Koenig) Gaskin Portland, ME And yet another Proctor couple! Evan Gaskin ’11 and Maddie Koenig ‘11 were married in New London, NH on August 12, 2017. 2013 Jamie Gaines ’13, Meghan Sheehy ‘14, and Tori Smith ’13 spontaneously ran into Stephen Sample ’11 and Mansfield Middleton ’11 on the dock in Boston, MA earlier this summer!
2016 Jack Hall ’16 & Jack Scannell ’16, met up with Wari Isaac ’16 after his men’s varsity soccer game for Saint Rose.
2017
Ross Kesselman Schenectady, NY Ross ‘17 and his Dad were all smiles last fall after they unpacked Ross at Union College!
Scott Johannen Durango, CO Scott reports loving living in Colorado where he is attending Fort Lewis College and is as dedicated as ever to mountain biking!
In Memoriam While many of the alumni updates we receive are filled with exciting news highlighting the joyful moments in life, we also received news of the passing of the following members of the Proctor family. We recognize this list is likely incomplete, and appreciate your passing along any other deaths of which we should be aware. Robert Bolster ’45 H. Scott Camp ’48 Donald Stockbarger ’49 James Reichert ’50 David Thompson ’51 Bob Beattie ’51 Ken Cozier ’52 Ronald Warden ’58
Dudley Clark ’59 David Walters, Sr. ’61 Ken Savage ’61 Mark Rosen ’62 Peter Whelpton ’63 Bucky Adams ’65 Lloyd Senno ’66 Edward Meredith Jr. ’79
ClassChairs Curt Peterson ’62 Richard Harris ’67 Tomp Litchfield ’67 Knox Turner ’67 Crocker Bennett ‘68 John Gary ’68 Courtenay Taplin ’68 Greg Samaha ’71 Jim David ’72 Sara Martenis Cheeseman ’76 Charlie Willauer ’77 Allan Johnson ’78 Dan Murphy ’78 Lee Ross ’78 Elizabeth Blodgett Smith ’81 Scott Dow ’81 Chris Hadley ’81 Steve Gallagher ’82 Ayres Stockly ’82 Alex Estin ’83 Dan Mori ’83 Tim Wright ’83
Richard Siragusa ’79 Mourad Nouri ’92 Austin Brown ’01 Dana Lucenta ’07 Michael Damien ’14 Kat Ehret ’15 Sarah Cave P ’00,’03, Trustee/PAL
alumni@proctoracademy.org
Chris Bartlett ’86 Kimberly Brown O’Brien ’86 Wendy Chambers Brown ’86 Tripp Wyckoff ’86 Beckner Bryan ’87 John Duke ’87 Heather Moore ’87 Rhys Brooks ’88 Caroline Heatley ’91 Meghan McSheffrey Morin ’91 Kathleen Shaughnessey Smith ’91 Liz Webb Green ’91 Andrew Scott ’92 Whit Sowles ’92 Jeremy Stowe ’92 Sam Thompson ’92 Maxwell (Boehme) Love ’93 Will Loring ’96 Lorna Macdonald Newman ’96 Abby Usen Berner ’96 Biff Baker ’97 Jessica Damroth ’97
Erin Hinkley Shaffer ’97 Sarah Eldred Taylor ’98 Hunter Churchill ’01 Lori Patriacca ’01 Liz Brier-Rosenfield ’02 Megan Manning ’02 Oliver Schwab ’02 Sarena Stern ’02 Evan Cross ’06 Erin Davey ’06 Brittany King ’06 Ali Berman ’07 Chris Landers ’07 Emily Summers ’07 Christian Yemga ’07 Marissa Ray ’08 Bre Davis ’12 Warren Davis ’12 John Martin ’13 Anne Neylon ’13 Tori Smith ’13
Don’t see a Class Chair for your class? Get in touch with the Alumni Office! As we continue to build this program, we’d love your help in finding a Class Chair for every year!
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P.O. Box 500 204 Main Street Andover, NH 03216 Return service requested.
UPCOMING PROCTOR EVENTS Friday | September 21st Ocean Classroom Send-Off Celebration Boston, MA
Saturday | February 9th Annual Proctor Ski Area Event Andover, NH
Questions? Contact Debbie Krebs at (603)735-6721 or events@proctoracademy.org
Thursday | October 11th Annual Invitational Golf Tournament New London, NH
Sunday | May 19th Alumni Games Andover, NH
Stay up to date on the latest event information! facebook.com/proctoracademy facebook.com/proctoracademyalumni
Saturday | November 9 - Sunday | November 10th Proctor vs. Holderness Games & Alumni Gathering Holderness, NH
Saturday | May 25th Commencement Andover, NH
Want to receive our Alumni Updates? Email communications@proctoracademy.org
December 2018 - Date TBA Holiday Gathering at Lake Sunapee Country Club New London, NH
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Friday | May 31st - Sunday | June 2nd Alumni Reunion Weekend Andover, NH
Reunion 2019
Interested in helping organize or spreading the word to your classmates about your next Reunion? Email us today at alumni@proctoracademy.org