The 2006 Commencement exercises were held in Farrell Fieldhouse Saturday. The program began with superior student speeches. Below, seniors lead the applause for Brit King's personal reflections on the balances of joys and sorrows in life.

In a page I wrote two years ago today, the topic of humor at Proctor graduations received thorough treatment.

In 1997, when John Pendleton suggested that he might be interested in teaching English at Proctor, he received mixed signals from surprised teachers and trustees. An attorney in his thirty-fifth year of practice, John was a past-parent of two Proctor graduates, and had served as both a trustee and as Chair of the Board of Trustees. Nine highly successful years later, he delivered "some remarks" (not The Commencement Address--he doesn't like them!) at his final graduation.

In his talk, entitlled "I Touch the Future; I Teach," John shared personal reflections from the classroom, coaching on soccer fields and tennis courts and dorm parenting forteen girls in Ives House. During the (alphabetical) presentation of diplomas, John's name was called, and he stepped forward one more time, for the ultimate prize.

The John O'Connor '79 Award for Excellence in Teaching went to David Pilla, whose roles include Land Use Manager, forestry instructor, Ocean Classroom Director and singer in the faculty rock 'n roll band.

Speaking of music, Forrest Schwab and Luke Hogan, who have been entertaining us with their stubtly inspired compositions for three years, performed one last time.

In response to a comment (below), here is an image of Ali Radloff, who sang beautifully at both the Senior Dinner (pictured here) and Commencement.

_______________________________________