Friday at 10:00 AM was a long-awaited moment for those of us in Proctor communications, as our much-celebrated website was upgraded to
Whipplehill's advanced software system, Podium. The entire site now features a consistent "look," and we have much greater control and flexibility in the placement and updating of images and text throughout the site. While much of the change is aesthetic, the campus map link has been moved to the Admission site, replaced on the frontpage by The Tao of Proctor. The Tao is a comprehensive tour of the school's programs through 31 topics, grouped in four categories. So, for example, the section on Environmental Responsibility leads you to everything from our commitment to carbon neutrality to Polar Swim, the organic garden, Earth Day, Proctor Mountaineering and Proctor Environmental Action.
The reasons the name "Tao of Proctor" is appropriate are many. Instead of simply providing information on what different programs do, the text couches each subject in the philosophy that prompted its evolution. Each is a window into the organic nature of Proctor, a nature that is truly unique. Below, students and teachers pitch in on the construction of the new sauna at Elbow Pond, a sauna that enables the Polar Swim activity to operate every Friday morning.
Thus, each of the 31 sub-topics in The Tao reflects the values that justify the program. This is a special opportunity, because our programs and services are not new ideas that some administrator conceived; they evolved--through discussion, debate and democratic processes--over decades. More sauna construction:
In a way, the site is a metaphor for the community's three dimensionality--its depth. Links in the text cross-reference to related subjects, and utilize the drier, encyclopedic "A To Z" site as a foundation of nitty-gritty information. Proctor Mountaineering:
The original Tao Te-Ching, of course, was an ancient Chinese philosophy advocating simplicity and balance. Balance has long been an unspoken principle here. For example, the more support provided, the greater the challenge that can be mastered. Thus, the Tao of Proctor introduces academic rigor balanced by extra help, tutorials, and peer support:
Another philosophic point--key to understanding Proctor--is the balance (some say "healthy tension") between all of our community emphasis with the encouragement for students to individualize.
Beyond formal leadership programs, the school provides dozens of opportunities for students to exercise leadership.
Sometimes, leadership is service, such as this moment when students loaded firewood for an elderly neighbor.
In The Tao, community service falls under Experiential Education, a category in which we obviously excel. The off-campus programs--just one facet of experiential education--have long used web communications for colorful updates, imagery, student entries and blogs. Now, those sites have a consistent look and feel.
Indeed, the balance between college preparatory coursework and hands-on learning is a key distinguishing quality!
Perhaps the hardest duality to convey on a website is the balance between common sense rules and regulations (fences) and freedom. The clearer the former, the more we risk the latter. Yet the non-adversarial ethos at Proctor can not be truly known through a website....
Even one named "The Tao"!
