It is yet another day on Eleuthera and the wind continues to blow with the promise of a storm, and hopefully more much-needed rain to fill the cisterns. Just the other day, as I walked onto sunset beach with a group of my classmates, we were joking about tourists and how we are now past the point of being considered one by ourselves and hopefully those around us. After this brief conversation none of us really gave another thought as to our role here on Eleuthera and the role of a tourist; that is, until Literature class. With all the craziness that kayak rotation brings, it also includes the switching around of classes, schedules and even curriculum In Literature class, we have temporarily put our reading of Omeros on hold and embarked on a new task (reading Omeros is quite a challenging task), the reading of A Small Place by Jamaica Kincaid. I certainly was not expecting to be significantly impacted by this short, 80 page book; however, to my surprise the words within the two covers of A Small Place had far more meaning than most likely any other book I have ever read. Continue reading
Monthly Archives: October 2012
Student Update October 10, 2012
by new blog contributor Phoebe Shaw:
Last night forty-six of us sat quietly in the library, hurriedly trying to finish our mountains of work. Though this past week has been one of the most difficult yet in terms of academic stress, with our oral histories project due as well as another complex marine ecology essay, none could focus solely on homework. There was a sadness lurking in everyone’s mind that after breakfast today, only 24 of us will remain in our small community here on campus. Given the intimacy of this environment, in just over one month we, the students and faculty, have grown closer than I could have ever imagined. With that said, the departure of kayak and down island groups this morning with undoubtedly leave a conspicuous gap in this place that I think we all can now call home.
As I sat on my bunk last night thinking and reflecting on all of the goodbye hugs we had given each other in the girls dorm just in case we didn’t get the chance today, a terrifying thought struck me. This coming Friday marks the end of our seventh week here at The Island School; the halfway point. Continue reading
Pam & Chris Meet Ross Perot
During their Island School Admissions Receptions tour across the state of Texas, Island School founders Pam and Chris Maxey had the opportunity to meet with Ross Perot in Dallas and thank him for his early support. Back in 1990, Perot personally hired Chris Maxey to work at Perot Systems when he was returning from working for the military in Panama. Chris eventually left that position to pursue a career in education which led him and Pam to founding The Island School and its sister organizations, Deep Creek Middle School and Cape Eleuthera Institute. Pam and Chris also were introduced to the Perot Museum of Nature and Science in Dallas, Continue reading
Student Update October 10, 2012
Yesterday was not a typical Monday. After a morning of Literature and Histories class we headed to Deep Creek Middle School for our 
community outreach. Like always, it was great to work with our DCMS buddies on achieving something that will actually make a difference in South Eleuthera. Unfortunately, it was the last time we would see them for three whole weeks due to kayak and down island trips. Because we’ve only had community outreach four or five times one might think that saying goodbye to each other for three weeks wouldn’t be hard; it was. Another memory I have from yesterday that really showed me how much of a bond we have built with our buddies is when Emily and I gave our buddy Demetria cake and cards for her birthday. Her face lit up and I’ve never seen a smile that wide and bright in my life. She threw her arms around us and thanked us, we hugged her back and thanked her for being such a great and positive buddy. Continue reading
Game, Set, Patch!
By: Korinna Garfield, Sam Hastings, Atalanta von der Schulenburg, Maggie Bland, & Nathaniel Millard
[slideshow]
Hello! We are team Patch! On this research project we are looking at the spatial and temporal abundance of fish species in Eleuthera, here in the Bahamas. Patch reefs are transitional juvenile habitats for fish after their early life in mangroves. One of the main reasons we are conducting this research, is to see if it is necessary that an MPA be established near Cape Eleuthera, based upon the fish population and habitat trends in the area. We hypothesize that patch reefs will have a higher fish biomass the closer they are to mangroves, there will be an increase in lionfish (an invasive species), and Continue reading
Admissions Reception in Houston Tonight!
Sea Turtle Team
[slideshow]
Sea turtles are on the endangered species Red List. The most common species of turtle found in the Bahamas is the green turtle, which we are studying. Previous studies in the Bahamas have included nutrition, grazing, growth rates, and abundance, but none have been conducted on Eleuthera. Our study is currently being conducted just north of Rock Sound in Half Sound, on the Atlantic side of the island. The purpose of our study is to investigate the abundance, size, and distribution of green sea turtles in Half Sound and our hypothesis is that areas with an abundance of sea grass will have dense turtle populations. We have two main methods that we’ve used so far in order to catch these turtles. The first is by boat, in which we take a small skiff to Half Sound. We ride Continue reading
Admissions Reception in Austin Tonight!
Student Update October 8, 2012
After yet another exciting weekend I find myself writing to you all on the dining hall deck. This weekend was exciting for a variety of reasons. On Saturday, we had morning classes and then midterm meeting after lunch. For a period of 5 hours students were streaming in and out of the dining hall area checking in with each teacher for 15 minutes each. The meetings were a great chance to individually talk to your teachers about not only how you’re doing in terms of grades in their class, but what they feel are your strengths, as well as what they think you need to work on. Students also used the feedback they received from their teachers to write a reflective midterm report letters to their parents; one I’m sure most of you will be receiving soon. After the very last letter was “Drop-boxed” onto the server, we could begin our Saturday night festivities! Our weekly Cacique (Harrison, Connor, Chris, Remington, and Cate) planned an optional night snorkel off of boy’s dorm beach with a bonfire too. Continue reading
Admissions Reception in Dallas Tonight!
