Several realities might challenge the typical teenager considering Proctor. The thought of camping out for four nights on Wilderness Orientation can freak some people out. Then there's the fact that you have to do homework....lots of it. You commit to a busy activity for six afternoons per week. Then, there's the matter of Saturday classes. With few exceptions, you have to get out of bed on Saturday mornings and put in a full day.

 

So I interviewed students today about Saturdays, and what we expect of teenagers at a time when most of their peers are sleeping late.

 



In fact, their perspectives tend to be moderate. Some kids find Saturday mornings to be tough, but most admit that it becomes routine. 



Several students noted that the trade-off with longer vacations is worth while.



Denning and Zolie work on his guitar in woodshop Saturday morning.

 

Day students, comprising 20% of the population, tend to recall shock at first, followed by increasing ease. Most day students I interviewed insist that they would be on campus even if classes were not held, because--after time passed--their social and academic lives became entwined here.

 




Saturdays command each student's afternoon, too. Here, Woods Team loads scrap wood onto the truck for delivery at the sauna at Elbow Pond.

 

No one says, "Gee, I'm glad we have classes on Saturday," but the fact that those classes are part of an entire day apparently establishes a rhythm that we come to know and accept. For a school to be truly "residential," it must provide programs and activities seven days a week.

Woods Team thins competing growth from a future sugar maple stand at Proctor Ski Area.



Girls' junior varsity lacrosse works on defense.

 

Mack (who is careening from left to right in this image) does a helicopter spin while David photographs. This did not end well.