HORNET’S NEST Proctor Academy | April 8, 2022 | Vol. 7 | Issue 7 IN THIS ISSUE: Lily P. | Has the Pandemic Changed Us? Reilly D. | Why Project Period? Camila M. | Advice From Upperclassmen
Ingrid P. | Happiness Jackson D. | Maple Sugaring Mark R. | Eye of the Hurricane
Ada G. | Dynamiting the Ski Area
Remembering Dave Pilla: The Woodlands Building By Carrie Babson
It has been 43 years since Dave Pilla arrived and began contributing to the Proctor Community. After talking to faculty, I’ve learned about Dave’s remarkable kindness, passion and joy. Dave Pilla was a role model of these traits to his co-workers and students. As part of our daily check-in for Sally B study hall, Annie Mackenzie and I began talking about the construction of the new Woodlands building right outside our windows. Little did I know that the meaning of the building lay much deeper than new labs and classrooms, but the building is a tribute to Dave for his dedication and love of the woodlands that he shared with all that knew him. Dave was a hardworking and charismatic man. He worked in the science department, managed the woodlands, taught forestry and wildlife science classes, and also directed the woods team in the afternoons. He worked for 39 years at Proctor and the lessons he taught in and out of the classroom sound unforgettable. Now that the students he taught have all graduated, I wanted to inform current Proctor students and new faculty of Dave’s gifts to keep his legacy alive. Although I never knew Pilla (as many called him), I was moved by the conversations and responses I got from Annie Mackenzie, Alan McIntyre, and Karl Methven about Dave. Annie’s visible emotions when she mentioned his name made me interested in the story. Karl Methven, Dave Pilla’s best friend and former colleague shared some background on the Proctor Woodlands building. “I was part of the process to bring attention to this building project and raise money for it and I was at the ceremonial ‘groundbreaking’… In some ways the building is a way for people
to continue to process their sense of loss or to have a reminder of him. People may want to memorialize Pilla with the building as some type of monument.” Alan McIntyre, a science teacher who worked closely with Dave recalled, “Dave was warm, inviting and encouraging. Dave made you feel connected. What I remember most about him is that he really cared about developing true and honest connections or relationships. So walking and exploring woods and rivers, throwing a baseball or stacking wood with friends was much more valuable than exploring TikTok or any other digital artifice.” After Dave’s passing in 2018, people touched by him raised the funds for a building to keep his passion for science, outdoors and Proctor alive. Karl continued, “People feel his impact on them personally and on the community was substantial, and the building is a statement about that. People gave money to help do something to create an enduring memory of Dave.”