This was the year that our walkways were torn up for the installation of steam lines. Like a long winter, we dealt with the inconvenience. Suddenly, however, the job is done, and the finest, smoothest asphalt anyone has ever seen links the eastern parts of campus with the dining room and field house.
Proctor is a school networked by pathways, and the disruption of the main east-west corridor was tough for the small-wheeled transportation on which so many depend.
The layout of Proctor's campus makes this a community on the move.
The new walkway has reconnected an extensive set of paved loops that make cycling--and skateboarding in particular--a prime recreation.
Do skateboarders choose to attend Proctor because it's a virtual skateboard park?!
These musings on pathways makes me consider the personal pathways followed by individual students over time. I substituted for Karin Clough earlier this week, teaching her Introduction to Literature class as they contrasted the world views expressed in two poems: Sarah Teasdale's The Barter, and Robert Frost's Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening. These are ninth graders.
It would be wrong to generalize about a population (such as ninth graders, or seniors,) but 14-year-olds tend to be impish, impulsive and hilarious. Below, a couple test the acidity of pond water while Ben delivers an unexpected shove.
One reward of a career in high school education is witnessing the transformation of teenagers between the ninth grade and graduation. Each has chosen a pathway with its own concentrations and passions. These juniors are in the same boat.
Andrew, a four-year senior, has spent a term on Euro-Classroom and another on Ocean Classroom.
Walker's career has included Ocean Classroom, lots of music and a bunch of Advanced Placement courses. Today, he's building the guitar of his dreams.
And so it goes. Kids following distinct pathways and maturing along the way....
