Monthly Archives: June 2012

Alumni

Tegan Maxey Aboard Ocean Classroom’s Harvey Gamage Stops at Island School This Spring

by Tegan Maxey

I spent the past four months sailing the schooner Harvey Gamage through the Caribbean and up the east coast of the US, and I finally understood how lucky I am to have a home like Eleuthera. I started to get an understanding of how lucky I am when the trip was just starting, talking my shipmates, Brendan, who is a Island School alum of the Fall 2011 semester, and my bunk mate Patricia, who applied to Island School and attends the New York Harbor School, one of The Island School’s partner schools. It wasn’t until we were leaving the Caribbean, very slowly because there was no wind, that I really got an understanding of how awesome my home really is. We were at the southern end of Cat Island with absolutely no wind, when Brendan and I decided that we were going to convince the captain to take us to Eleuthera. I wasn’t very hopeful, but the next day at lunch, I found myself aloft, looking out at Lighthouse beach as we approached Eleuthera. By 4 pm I was giving my dad a hug, introducing him to my ship mates, and making a plan to go to The Island School for dinner. Showing all of my friends from the boat around Island School was amazing, very strange, but still amazing. It really sunk in that my home was really cool when every single person on board made a point to come and tell me how amazing they thought The Island School was. Of all the things we did on the trip, Carnival in Dominica, sailing sloops in Carriacou, hiking to the boiling lake, for me the most amazing part was sharing my home with my shipmates.

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Alumni

Update from Bradley Watson and Garneisha Pinder in China: Genetic Engineering

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Many of us “Greenies” have heard of Monsanto and their Genetically Modified crops that can withstand their herbicides and John Deer’s seed dispersal machinery and some of us cringe at the thought of Genetic Modification or Engineering. I did too until I spoke with a gentleman from Tanzania who shared some of the ways he would use Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs). He began by talking about soy bean plants which happen to be a popular crop in Africa as well as elsewhere. The soy bean belongs to the legume family, a group of plants that are capable of taking nitrogen from the atmosphere and “fixing” it in the soil with the help of fungi that lives in their roots while most other plants rely on fertilizers and other nitrogen sources to keep them green and healthy. So a soy bean field is very fertile. This fertility encourages weed growth and many soy bean varieties are engineered to withstand high doses of pesticides to combat these weeds that compete with them for light, nutrients and water in agricultural systems. Now I don’t like the idea of using any more pesticides than are absolutely necessary because I don’t want to eat them nor do I want them on the water table etc.

Dr. Ma Sichun and I observing anerobic methanogenic bacteria under a microscope

Well my friend from Tanzania’s proposition is that we engineer soy bean plants to grow under lower light conditions or alter them in some other way Continue reading →

Cape Eleuthera Institute, CEI

High School Senior Projects at CEI

This spring, two high school seniors, Louise Shiverick (F’10) and Sam Falkson, came down to Eleuthera to work at the Cape Eleuthera Institute for their senior project. Read about their time at CEI working with the lemon shark program.

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Louise

My name is Louise Shiverick and I am lucky enough to be working at the Cape Eleuthera Institute with the Shark Research and Conservation Program for my Senior Project. At my school, Hathaway Brown (in Shaker Heights, Ohio), the last thing that the seniors do before graduating is a two week senior project. The point is to give us one last opportunity in high school to get involved with something that we find really interesting. People do a variety of things, from community service at soup kitchens to shadowing a doctor at one of the nearby hospitals. While most people stay at home, I decided to do something different and come to CEI.

I was an Island School student in Fall 2010 and was on the Lemon Shark research group Continue reading →

Daily Update, Uncategorized

Daily Update June 6, 2012

Yesterday morning nearly all of girls dorm woke up at the crack of dawn to watch the sunrise from sunrise beach. We had moments of chatter and silence as gleaming colorful sun rays peered through the clouds. We are going to more forward together even as we part. Each and every member of this community in close to my heart. Transitioning home will most likely be even more difficult than transitioning here but I am confident that with the continued support from each other and consistent Island School reunions we will continue this bond for many years to come. These students will do wonderful things, I am proud of each and every one of them. The Island School may in fact be the most wonderful place in my world, I will continue hold this place dear to my heart. March on Bahamaland. [slideshow]

 

Cape Eleuthera Institute, CEI

CEI’s Booth at Conch Fest

Last week, the nearby settlement of Deep Creek had their annual homecoming called Conch Fest. The Cape Eleuthera Institute (CEI) set up a booth amongst all of the conch fritter and local craft stalls at Conch Fest to give information and answer questions about CEI and Island School, as well as play a few games with the children who stopped by the booth. Here are a few pictures of the booth at Conch Fest.

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Uncategorized

Kalin Griffin Attends Rotaract District 7020 Conference

The Island School and Cape Eleuthera Institute’s Chief of Staff, Kalin Griffin, attended Rotaract District 7020 Conference in Montego Bay, Jamaica last week from May 31-June 4. She represented the Rotaract Club of Eleuthera, Rotary Club of Eleuthera. Chartered on September, 11, 2011 and sponsored by the Rotary Club of Eleuthera, the Rotaract Club of Eleuthera is a non-profit service organization affiliated with Rotary International. Kalin Griffin is secretary of the Rotaract Club of Eleuthera and Tyson Morley is the incoming president. CEI’s Josh Shultz is also a member.

The Rotaract District 7020 conference features seminars on leadership, community service, and career development. The 47 clubs that make up District 7020 represent over 10 countries in the Caribbean region and three different languages. The Rotary Club of Eleuthera and Rotary Club of Rancho Cotati Foundation sponsored the Rotaract’s trip.

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Daily Update

Daily Update June 4, 2012

Monday was a day full of Demonstrations of Learning (DOLs), a chance for all 49 of us to reflect and demonstrate what we have learned and taken from this semester. We speak in front of invited guests around campus and then answer any following questions. A chance for us to be honest with ourselves, the last 100 days, and the people that transformed it. It is filmed by our advisory and will be sent off to our sending schools. Mine was scheduled at 9:40 in the floating gazebo. I was anxious and shaky. Unsure of how my words will translate to others, I prepared a speech and simply recited it to the group. I used a slideshow of my photography from the semester to display my artistic vision and quite honestly distract the audience from my words. My observations, statements, and emotions began to pool as I became more and more in touch with the words I was reciting. Continue reading →

Daily Update

Daily Update June 1, 2012

Like many things at Island School, advisory time is coming to an end. Thursday evening my advisory including some of our extended advisory went out for a final meal. On the car ride back to campus one of my peers turned to the van and said, “ It started with conch and ended with conch.” The whole van bursted into a eruption of laughter, as I sat there puzzled questioning why my meal of choice was so humorous. They reminded me of our first advisory time when we biked to a beach near campus and moments into the afternoon my foot was punctured by a conch and painting the beach brick red. These new faces came to my rescue without hesitation. I am honestly unsure I knew each of their names at the time but there is no doubt they would be my crutch to the finish line. Beth my advisor has been more than supportive during my variable emotional experience here at The Island School. Continue reading →

Cape Eleuthera Institute, CEI, Educational Programs

Pacific Ridge School’s First Few Days at The Island School

The past two days have been primarily taken up with learning about and surveying green sea turtles in the local sounds and creeks. We began yesterday with a mini-class taught by Lucie, a researcher at CEI completing a baseline survey on turtle populations in South Eleuthera.  We learned that there are 5 different species in the area–Green, Olive Ridley, Loggerhead, Leatherback and Hawksbill–though some are more abundant than others.  All of the species are protected under international treaties, though very little is known about their populations, migratory habits, etc.

After learning about the turtles and how Lucie conducts her studies, we headed out to Jack’s Bay to do our first survey.  We hiked in to the beach and got picked up to go out to the seagrass beds where the turtles usually hang out.  Spotting turtles requires two people to stand on the bow deck of the boat and look in the seagrass for turtles.  It is not an easy job, but once we all saw one turtle, it was much easier to spot them.  We saw a few from the boat (and we were all really excited!), but when we got in to snorkel with them, they had all disappeared!  We were a little bummed to miss swimming with the turtles, but Lucie assured us that the next day would be even better at Half Sound.

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Today (Tuesday), we woke up and completed a run-swim for our morning exercise.   Continue reading →