We had yet another successful admissions reception last night, this time in New York City at the home of Tommy Robertshaw (Su’12) and his family. It was an incredibly impressive turn out with over 60 prospective students, families, and alumni in attendance! Thank you to everyone who came to the reception! An even bigger thank you to the Robertshaw family for hosting such a wonderful event–and for finding the space in their home for all the guests!
Monthly Archives: November 2012
New York Harbor School in the News
At the Island School we are always excited to see students working to solve real world problems. We are especially proud of our friends at the New York Harbor School who were recently featured in the New York Times’ Dot Earth blog. Check out their innovative insights into how they are working to protect their region against future threats of storms like Sandy: Students Press the Case for Oysters as New York’s Surge Protector
Student Update November 28, 2012
Yesterday was the last full day of classes. Although some of us were sore after the big events over the weekend, we pulled through and were able to wrap up each class very well. Our classes were math, histories, literature, and art. I really enjoyed histories yesterday where we talked about an article from The New Yorker called The Headstrong Historian. It told a story about the colonial past of Nigeria, the impact of the Christian missionaries on the people, and how a family changed because of it. I especially liked this reading because it had a lot to do with the concepts we’ve learned in the Humanities curriculum here. I thought it was interesting to see parallels between the Nigerian family who had sent their children to a Catholic school to learn the ways of the white man in order to regain the land they had lost, and our book from literature, Omeros. A lot of change happens in Omeros with the personal journeys of Achille, one of the main characters, and the author himself. But in the end, amid all the tourism coming into their island of St. Lucia, Achille does not give into tourism and retains his connection to the sea. I appreciate how the concepts from a single class here can inform and enrich our learning in other classes.
Last night during study hours, we also wrote letters to our sending schools to tell them about the experiences we’ve had here. It’s been amazing here, and I can’t believe we only have 9 days left in the semester.
Admissions Reception at Cohen Home in Westport, CT!
Last night, a number of prospective students, as well as Island School alumni and alumni parents gathered at the home of Carolyn, Gary, and Rachel Cohen (S’12) in Westport, Connecticut. A huge thank you to the Cohens for opening their home and hosting such a successful admissions event! We appreciate everyone who came out for the event–it was great to see you!
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We are nearing the end of our tour of fall admissions receptions! Our next reception is tonight in San Francisco at the Hunt household (Griffin Hunt, F’11). On Wednesday evening, the Robertshaws (Tommy Robertshaw, SU’12) in New York City will be hosting a reception, and finally on December 5th, we are hosting a reception in the Baltimore, Maryland area at the Obrecht Home (Annie Obrect, S’12). For more information on these receptions, visit our website!
Student Update November 20, 2012
We did it! The Half-Marathon and the Super Swim were great successes. The first event was the Half-Marathon which took place on Saturday. After getting up at 5:00 in the morning, the supporters, consisting of the swimmers and faculty, each went to their 
respective spots along the 13.1 mile run. I was cheering the runners on at the 1.5 mile mark, and because the run was an out and back, I was able to see everybody at the very beginning and then as they were finishing. We gave each runner water, grapefruit, and plenty of screaming and shouting to keep them going. Maybe I went a bit overboard with my cheering. I did feel a bit sorry when I was screaming in their faces and jumping up and down as the exhausted runners began their final stretch. But all in all it was amazing to see the runners accomplish their big event after training so hard for it. Congratulations to all runners! “You is my hero” (words on the support sign I held up as they passed).
The next day, Sunday, was the Super Swim. Continue reading
Student Update November 23, 2012
It’s the day after Thanksgiving (Happy Black Friday)! Yesterday at the Island School was a great day. It was full of laughs, giving thanks, as well as classes. In Human Ecology, we continued to work on our final projects. It was great to see each project coming 
together as the Human Ecology Extravaganza in the upcoming week approaches, where we’ll all be presenting what we’ve accomplished with our group. After classes, the whole community came together dressed up at dinner circle. Each one of us at circle went around saying what we were thankful for. I’m thankful for the opportunity to be here at the Island School and to be part of such a wonderful community.
After giving thanks, we all sat down in the dining hall. The walls of the dining hall were decorated with the hand turkey drawings we made, as well as the final touches of the Caciques and faculty. Continue reading
Student Update November 22, 2012
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My name is Brian and I’m excited to be writing the student blog for the rest of the semester. Some random facts about me are that I like to run and I like eating grits with lots of peanut butter and jelly.
The past couple days have been a whirlwind of classes and schoolwork. On Tuesday in Histories class we all participated in a mock stakeholder meeting wherein we discussed the upcoming mega-resort Baha Mar which is being built in Nassau. Each student had different roles in the meeting ranging from the Bahamian government, local Bahamians, environmentalists, and the Chinese government. I was the role of a US businessman representing the hotels and the airlines involved in the development in Baha Mar. Everybody got really into these roles and many dressed up or even put goofy mustaches on to really fit into their roles. There was a lot of heated, but friendly discussion. We learned a lot about the different perspectives that go into making big decisions about local development. And, it was really interesting and fun to be someone other than Island School student.
On Wednesday, we continued to work on our final Human Ecology projects. Continue reading
Grateful Gobbles
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lJNZSo7c1s&feature=youtu.be
Student Update November 20, 2012
Yesterday we had our final CO class with our DCMS buddies. In Grade 9, we have been talking a lot about food on Eleuthera, and food in general, so our buddies came to Island School so we could watch a movie called King Corn. The movie was about how a main ingredient of our diet is corn, and how corn has been genetically modified so it can be processed. One thing from the movie that resonated with me was a scene where they took a piece of a man’s hair, and showed him that even his hair contained corn in it. From soda to hamburgers to chips, most things that we are eating contain corn, and this is shown in our bodies. We were not able to finish the movie and watch the section that talks about solutions to this problem, but I really enjoyed watching the movie because I didn’t even know how big of a problem this was.
After watching the movie, we went over to DCMS for the Basketball Jamboree. [slideshow]We got out of the van, and the smell of conch fritters and fried chicken was in the air, music was playing, and kids were shooting around on the basketball court. Continue reading
DCMS Grade 9 Visit US Boarding Schools
The Deep Creek Middle School supports some of our students as they apply for enrollment and scholarships at U.S boarding schools. Bronthaye Rolle (grade 9) writes about their recent trip:
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We had awesome tours at all of the schools we visited. We had a great time during our trip. We visited Wilbraham and Monson Academy (MA), Lawrence Academy (MA), The Putney School (VT), Hebron Academy (ME), Berkshire School (MA), Vermont Academy (VT), The Darrow School (NY), Kents Hill (ME), and New Yarmouth Academy (ME). All of these schools were beautiful and filled with talented students. We came to love them and hope to be enrolled in one of them next year. Personally, I had a really fantastic trip. I know that by working harder, achieving Continue reading