Is Proctor Handicap Accessible?

By Mattie Dickinson

Have you ever seen someone in a wheelchair on Proctor’s campus? Curious about this issue, I spoke with Ellie Moore and Chris Bartlett about handicapped life on campus.

Ellie Moore is an English teacher and one of the Culture and Conflict teachers. Intrigued about Proctor’s accessibility, she told me, “ I took a graduate course at Bread Loaf School of English this past summer and it was about disability narrative and documentary…I found it really profound and eye-opening… I thought this isn’t really something that is talked about… I think these voices need to be amplified.’’ will try to offer accommodations (golf cart) if possible or modify the tour to include access to buildings that are accessible. For example, touring dorms that are ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) compliant and easily accessible (Fowler, Carriage, etc). Occasionally, a member of a party who is handicapped will excuse themselves from the tour for the sake of time and effort.’’

Most of the Proctor community knows that some of the buildings on campus are not easily accessible. I asked Chris if Admissions has turned a family away because of accessibility. He responded, “We have never turned a student away because of a physical or mental handicap. We are legally bound by the ADA and have the following policy below. At the same time, a family might choose not to pursue admission to Proctor because the location and program might not align with the needs of their student.”

Proctor is committed to a diverse community, which includes qualified students with documented disabilities and other health issues that may require reasonable accommodations to ensure access to education, housing, and recreation. … the school is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to qualified students so that such students can participate in the school’s programs. (pg.7)

Senior Lauren Anzalone explained to me her experience in Culture in Conflict, “In this class, we dove into disability awareness and worked to understand the disabled community. We read Disability Visibility was incredibly eye-opening and many new perspectives. Additionally, we spent time discussing Proctor’s accessibility to those with physical and cognitive disabilities which led to a lot of conversations about building accessibility as well as the Learning Skills department. To me, the most important thing I learned was radical empathy, the idea that people should actively consider another person’s point of view in order to connect more deeply with them.”

In Culture in Conflict, students learn about a specific group of people or a culture that has faced challenges throughout life. Ellie explained, “I thought this was something that should be talked about and these voices should be heard.” Sometimes, learning new information about a certain group of people can help you empathize more, understand more, and appreciate what you have in life. Ellie suggested she would like to “Start a revolution” and that she “hopes it changes the way...students think about things and see the world.”

Admissions is another area of the Proctor community that is considering improving its accommodations for the physically disabled. Chris Bartlett, the Director of Enrollment, told me about the support offered when a visitor is handicapped. Chris explained, “When a family calls to schedule a visit, they usually let us know that there may be someone in their party who needs accommodations. We have a portable ramp that allows access to our office if there is a physical disability. We

The school wants to be ADA-compliant for future Proctor community members. Hopefully, students in Culture and Conflict class and others can help make their voices about accessibility a future priority on campus.

PASSed its Prime?

By Wyatt Corrigan

the past had been hosted every weekend, was often canceled or postponed, leading to smaller turnouts when the screening did go on. Senior Dylan Stern, an organizer, remarked, “PASS seemed to be more a part of the culture [last year] under Johnny M. He got a larger turnout, and we are trying to decipher why.” one student commented, “The people that ran PASS in the past just made it a lot more enthusiastic than the people that do it now.”

A projector bulb of hope is shining for PASS with new member Knox Thompson ‘26, who is breathing life into the club. Knox has famously said, “I don’t care if someone dies. We are not canceling PASS!” Knox seems to have what it takes to bring PASS back from the brink, and since he joined the team, there have been larger turnouts to each movie showing.

The current head of PASS, Andrew Milnes ‘23, had this to say about Knox’s future, “Assuming he moves into a higher leadership position, I’d say his greatest advantage is that he’s still a freshman.” Knox has the potential to run PASS for four years learning all the ins and outs of running a club and improving classic movie’s appeal to garner a larger and larger audience.

Life Lessons From The Ice

By: Finn Connor

From winning that championship when you were 12, to losing that big game in high school, moments in a person’s athletic career shape them as a person. I can attest because I have learned many life lessons that helped me outside of hockey.

“Never give up,” said junior Brennan Lopes, “I haven’t always been the best player on my team. Never giving up and working the hardest I can has made me the best hockey player I can possibly be. When I’m tired at the end of a game or a workout I always find that second gear of strength to get the job done.” From ups and downs, Brennan has succeeded in hockey from the encouragement of never giving up.

“From hockey I’ve learned how to cope in a sense.” Reported Jon Groth, “When I was a sophomore we had an outstanding team, but we ended up getting upset and losing in the first round of playoffs, and this was very upsetting and was a shock to us all. This one loss taught me the lesson of coping with loss... The thing that I do to cope is to continue to work even harder than before the loss and shoot a lot of pucks.”

Wayne Gretzky is one of, if not the best hockey players to ever play and he shared a great life lesson from hockey. In 1983 during an interview with Bob Mckenzie a TSN reporter, Gretzky said, “you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take”. The best part about this quote is that it involves hockey and it involves real life, you can’t score if you don’t shoot, and if you do not try you can’t succeed.

Connor McDavid, arguably one of the best active hockey players in the world, also found a life lesson in hockey. “It is not how good you are. It is how good you want to be.” The quote shows his attitude when working toward his goals.

Cam Gwatkin, a senior on the boy’s varsity hockey team here at Proctor shared some life lessons he’s learned from hockey. “On and off the ice, I always make sure to make the most of each opportunity. From having the chance to play golf in the spring at a nice course to even going on a school field trip, I try to make the most out of every hockey game I get the chance to play in.”

Even if hockey isn’t your sport or you don’t play a sport, there are always lessons in what you do, from making a sandwich to taking out the trash. Sports and activities can help you learn something about how to be better.

How Ski Patrol Saved my Life

By Griffin Stewart

Did you know that Proctor, a school in the middle of nowhere, has its own ski hill? It’s hard to miss, especially in the winter, with its peak towering over campus just across the river. However, many people don’t know that Proctor’s gargantuan hill has a fully staffed student ski patrol.

After reading that last line, many people may be concerned, but I can reassure you that the students know what they’re doing. The ski patrol is spearheaded by a living legend, Larry B. Ballin, former head of numerous mountain ski patrols. I’m grateful to Larry for an interview in his busy schedule. “The ski patrol program gives students at Proctor an opportunity to spend time at the ski area helping the adult staff in the day-to-day operations. We operate one of the lifts, help in the snack bar and assist skiers when problems such as an injury happen. Students learn basic first aid skills, learn to ski with a rescue toboggan, and have their own space at the area.”

However, ski patrol is functional because of students, so why just listen to what Larry says? So I asked junior Will Lunder, a 3-year ski patrol veteran and team captain. There is no one better to ask about the strenuous work of ski patrol, “Ski Patrol at Proctor is an activity where people go to ‘ski,’ but in reality, skiing is just sitting in office chairs and sometimes stopping the lift when someone falls. We also help fallen skiers unable to do the one thing they came to the ski mountain for.”

Yes, we have responsibilities like shoveling snow, taking stock of the lost and found, riding snowmobiles, and, most importantly, getting free hot chocolate. Yes, you have read that correctly.

I’m not twisting your arm with this. Ski patrol gets, as William describes, “‘Bonuses’ - we get hot chocolate.” This hot chocolate promise motivates the ski patrol, half of them at least, to work every day.

Further investigation and digging showed me that the two ski patrol groups are essential for safety on the mountain. One group cannot function without the other, like a gear in a well-oiled machine. Those two groups are group A and group Z. Group A, as the mountain staff calls them, is easily spottable. You can see them all over the hill, helping shovel, putting up the red safety netting along the trails, riding skimobiles, shredding the gnar, and running around trying to find something to pass the time. Group Z is quite the opposite: they usually sit and stare at their phones in the timing hut or the patrol room.

If you’re seriously considering ski patrol, Larry has words of advice: “Try ski jumping….” Will added, “I would say that if you wanted to, you perhaps maybe could do it if you really wanted to, but it’s really up to you if you decide that you want to endure the pain that Larry Ballin forces on us…be my guest.”

On a serious note, this program teaches you many valuable skills. You learn to move forward in an emergency and train in Stop-TheBleed and CPR programs. You have real responsibilities at the mountain as well. When things go wrong, you must be the first person at the scene, be ready to ski a person down in the toboggan, glove up and bandage an incision or even a broken leg, and you learn mountain operations. Ski patrol is worth checking out.