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by Caciques Tessa and Katie T

Tonight was a particularly special night in the community. The Cape Eleuthera Foundation consists of three organizations, The Island School, Deep Creek Middle School and Cape Eleuthera Institute. Tonight, members of all three associations came together for the foundation dinner; there were almost one hundred attendees. Though we cross paths, it is rare for us students to have a chance to get to know the people involved in CEI and DCMS, tonight was the perfect night for just that. A few girls volunteered to lend a hand in creating centerpieces; they were made up of lanterns, conch shells, and flowers. The meal was delicious; Emery made us barbeque chicken and steak, along with Becca’s amazing baked Mac n’ cheese. Every student has an advisory made up of one Island School faculty member and five or six students, alongside that we have an extended advisory that includes up to eight staff members or interns from the middle school or CEI. I had the chance to sit with my extended advisory. Mooch, was kind enough to bring us some lemonade with ice to cool us off. My advisory and I are already like a crazy family, we have fun calling Peter daddy and on occasion even mom, this dinner gave us the ability to let that family grow and make us all feel a little more comfortable here. -Tessa

Today, we went scuba diving in marine ecology.  Our assignment was to write a story while underwater about a scene we observed.  We buddied up, and passed our tablets back and forth, building on each other’s stories.  My group wrote about the grumpy rock hind, kicking the pesky fairy basslets out of his backyard.  Jane and Charlie wrote about a nightclub that Mr. Cuda (barracuda) checked out, but decided the food wasn’t to his liking.

I for one was left with a sense of fulfillment after finishing my sculpture this afternoon.  These site-specific sculptures are made out of natural materials and meant to break down.  It’s a very humbling process to pour your heart and soul into creating something with the knowledge it won’t last forever.  The whole campus has been transformed into an outdoor art gallery.  On my way up the girls’ dorm stairs, I see Halley’s intricate spiral of sand, stones, and conch shells.  Below the small bridge to boy’s dorm beach, my sculpture rests in the quiet tidal creek.  I spent my afternoon balancing stones to create three small pods, and then emptied the Nalgene of dwarf pinecones I’d collected into them.  Adding my own art to the landscape definitely strengthened my sense of place here at The Island School. – Katie