Let us begin this review of Spring Family Weekend by backing up to Thursday morning, when the school was crawling with educational consultants. These folks--some of the them coming from as far as China; others from Concord--help families find the right school for a child. In a three-hour visit, they attempt to identify the essential qualities that distinguish each of fourteen New Hampshire boarding schools. They ask students about homework loads, and take pictures of everything (including the exterior of unidentified buildings!) For our purposes, their immersion in the communal bath we call "assembly" is critical! Here (at left) a small group of consultants is guided up to the Meeting House.

 

Twenty-four hours later, our assembly is packed with parents and siblings, as Spring Family Weekend commences. Parents attend a couple of morning classes. At assembly, guest artist Limmie Pulliam entertained us with his extraordinarily powerful tenor voice, and led the chorus in a rousing spiritual.

 

Following assembly, parents linger (while students have activities) and Mike delivers a State of the School address, introducing the exciting objectives of an emerging capital campaign, as well as a set of personal observations from the school year's peak moments.

 

We can not express enough gratitude to PAPA, our service-oriented parent association. These volunteers orchestrate dorm parties and team cookouts; they welcome new parents to the community; they set up and clean up assorted events and gatherings. Friday at noon, they delivered dozens of pizzas, salads and desserts to the Faculty Room. The pizza party accomplishes several things by relieving pressure on a crowded dining room and hard-working kitchen crew, and by providing teachers an emotional break before long hours of parent-teacher conferences which extend through the afternoon.

 

While most parents are in conferences, a few hearty souls join students for the annual "Spring Fling" tennis tournament. Friday afternoon's cold, gusty winds seemed to attract student hockey players of questionable tennis backgrounds to the courts. But, no matter; this round robin is all fun....even if a few tennis balls end up in the woods....

 

Team Timberland shows its form....

 

I mentioned the capital campaign above. The initiative that is currently surging is the installation of two artificial turf fields on Farrell Field. The immediate potential benefits of this facility were demonstrated at the now-famous  Friday Night Lights soccer game on September 30, and the rental lights were back Friday for varsity boys' lacrosse's 9-5 win over a fine New Hampton team.

 

Temperatures plummeted into the 30s during the game, and northwesterly gusts persisted, but so did Proctor school spirit!

 

Momentum for the installation of the turf fields this summer is strong, with $1.25 million pledged or donated, yet we're approximately $700,000 from full funding of the project. Consider a gift today! (You knew I work in the Development Office, right?)

Together, we can make goals!