Seniors’ Reflect: The Perfect Ending
also giving them the opportunity to prepare for the freedoms they will soon have as college students. This program gets high grades.
By Dennis J. McCarthy
Senior project is a highly anticipated time for many seniors to pursue an area of passion. These projects allow seniors to be independent, to learn time management, project planning, and self-advocacy skills as they plan and execute their final experience. However, is senior project truly beneficial? Here’s my report on three projects. Raizel Rosenberg is doing an art based project in her final weeks at Proctor. When I asked Raizel if she was enjoying senior project she replied, “Yes, definitely. Senior project allows me to explore subjects that I am passionate about without the worry of prepping for standardized tests, or stressing about other classes. It really lets you focus in on something. Also, my project is almost like a prep class for college. It’s combining the two subjects that I will be majoring in so it’s perfect. A little beginning of my own.”
The first senior I spoke with was Tyler Gamble. Tyler has always loved woodworking, and is making bean bag game sets for family, friends, and the Proctor community during his project. Tyler is a fan of Proctor’s senior schedule. “Senior project allows students to custom tailor a curriculum that they want to learn about. This makes them more inclined to be dedicated and productive during a time of the year where motivation is already low.” Bryce Swan is teaching physical education across the street at Andover Elementary School. Bryce believes that his project will give him more “real world” experience. Bryce couldn’t be happier with his gig at Andover Elementary as it has allowed him to combine two career interests, sports and education. Bryce and his partner Griffin Del Prete are avid athletes and gym rats. It is obvious both are stoked to be able to stay in a gym environment while also learning under a veteran teacher.
Raizel also had some advice for underclassmen who will participate in future senior projects. “Don’t slack. This is a great opportunity where you can dive into any subject or field or task that you want to without stressing about a grade. You get to try and apply yourself while being compared to no one but yourself which somehow eases the stress and increases it. Have fun, work hard and don’t slack off - you’ve got time to do that in the summer.” Proctor wisely allows seniors to make the most of their last days in high school, while
always loved the ocean. Not only did he go on ocean classroom this past fall, his job in the summer is on a fishing boat. For his senior project he has been on the New Hampshire coast surfing as well as cleaning up beaches. Alex is doing his senior project with Crowley Gentile and Gray MacDonald. They are also making a video documenting all aspects of their project. “The goal is to learn more about how we can keep our oceans clean and to make a difference and educate other people as well.”
Eliza Orne is a four year senior who has always had a passion for the outdoors. She has been an avid participant in Dave Pilla’s classes as well as woods team, and her senior project is a continuation of her passion, “For senior project I am planting an American Chestnut plantation. The idea arose from a forestry convention I went to with Dave last spring. We began to discuss hypothetically about Proctor having chestnuts and eventually it grew into a reality. The overall goal of my senior project, and the work of the American Chestnut Foundation, is to reestablish the American Chestnut in it’s native lands, because it was
Senior Project Spotlight By Drew MacInnis
At Proctor, most seniors design their own final experience. Drew Childs is converting his experiences on three off-campus programs onto canvas. Alex Wyckoff, Crowley Gentile, and Gray MacDonald are cleaning up beaches, surfing, and making a video documenting their project. Eliza Orne is trying to re-introduce the American Chestnut tree in the Proctor woodlands. These projects are drastically different, yet each ending is the perfect way for these students to finish their time at Proctor. During his time at Proctor, Drew went on Spain, Costa Rica, and Mountain Classroom, and his senior project has everything to do with the experiences around the world. “My goal is to illustrate my experience through art, and the media, and having people relate to my experience by looking at the colors and what kind of artistic elements I use.” Drew used abstract techniques bursting with color. Drew couldn’t be happier about the way he is finishing his time at Proctor, “I do think it’s a good way to end it [my time at Proctor] because I’m in a place where it’s a high traffic [Slocumb Hall] area, so there’s a lot of people walking in that I like to talk to, and it’s also hard work.” Alex Wyckoff is a two year senior who has
Alex and Crowley have each been surfing for most of their lives and Alex is happy, “This is a great way to end my two years at Proctor, because I get to learn about something I really care about in my own style.” It was clear to me they are having a great time doing something they all love. Alex only had one issue. “My one regret is having a hole in my left bootie because when we are surfing my left foot gets really cold.” This group confirmed that senior project is the right way to leave this community. Hopefully Alex can stay warm.
The Summer Life of Teachers By Hayden Manning
Ever wonder what faculty do in the summer? Due to a newly revised sabbatical program, six faculty are recharging all over the globe. At Proctor, a small group of teachers are creating unique summer experiences while you might be swimming, lounging, or working a job while at home on vacation. The idea of Proctor’s summer enrichment program is to help faculty avoid burnout by giving them $10,000 dollars along with their freedom during the summer. This program has taken the place of the old sabbatical program. The sabbatical program used to provide a full year off with a full salary for faculty, but now six faculty a year can create their personalized summer adventure. When Megan Hardie was asked about how she felt with this new change she stated, “... [the new program] gives more faculty members an opportunity more quickly and it is probably more sustainable than the old sabbatical model.” This lets us keep all the faculty we love in place during the school year while still giving them this time to reboot. The idea of this new program is to give teachers a chance to recharge and go on some new experiences to make them better teachers, advisors, and coaches. For example, Megan Hardie “[Will] go to France. And I am so excited. It has been a bucket list thing for me and now I finally get to do it. My family will come along, which makes it even better.” Other teachers are going in many directions. Greg Allen will spend 4-6 weeks traveling with his wife in Europe starting in Croatia then going into Slovenia, Austria, and Italy. Art teacher and Euro Program Director Jen fleming plans to
a significant source of food for wildlife and a high quality lumber.” Eliza has has worked alongside Dave Pilla during this project, someone she has grown very close to over the course of her time at Proctor. “I love being outside and forestry, so being able to end my Proctor career and begin the next stage of my life with this project is amazing.” Painting, surfing, planting: the Proctor path.