At this cruel meteorolgic moment, when deep, fresh snow and cold wind greet the first day of Spring, we convene for a brilliant alternative to traditional college preparatory academics.



Project Period has evolved greatly over the years, and it seems we've got it right.

Maple sugaring is the longest-enduring project...harkening back to the program's first incarnation forty years ago.







The factors that make Project Period successful are many, but I can name three immediately. It brings together students who might otherwise never know one another....freshmen and seniors, for example. For a few days, they share one focussed pursuit.





Another factor is that the program is short. Projects run from Wednesday morning to Saturday noon. One way of looking at this is that it creates pressure to accomplish goals. It is also true that the finality of the project encourages the energy to complete it; the light is at the end of the tunnel from the start.

Carla and Sarah are teaching interns at Andover Elementary and Middle School.



Finally, the program is all about passion, some of which might otherwise be unknown. Faculty who teach math are revealed to be skilled engineers, now teaching how to build a bridge over Mitchell Brook, linking campus trails to Hopkins Pond, Elbow Pond and the entire eastern property. This is how Proctor survived the 1930s and '40s!



An English teacher teaches piano. Two math teachers sponsor a long-running, popular quilting project.



Self defense includes old-fashioned wrestling.



Another perennial is steel drums. Steel drums go back 35 years, to the time when a member of the Esso Steel Drum Band came to Proctor for a Project Period to build (!) drums out of oil canisters.





With only hours to prep, students pitch business plans to an alumus in a "shark tank" in Boston. Benny remembers Project Period!