Hello everyone, this is Liz and I’ll be on blog duties for the next week or so. Yesterday was a day of transition for the students here at Island School. Our academic classes are finally starting today, so the faculty decided it would be a good idea for us to be introduced to this unique activity called Querencia time. With Querencia time we are able to go off on our own anywhere on the cape around the school as long as we stay within our set boundaries. I was really excited for this time because it is a time of reflection on one’s self and honestly is the only time where I was finally and utterly, just by myself. I wanted to make this time really special so I searched for about an hour on my bike trying to find and discover just the right spot. I found some really neat places, but none of them really spoke to me or felt all that special. I discovered this really beautiful spot near sunset beach, a couple in the inner loop, but finally after an hour of biking I realized I was just happy to be on a small section of the beach on Fourth Hole. Continue reading
Monthly Archives: March 2013
DCMS Nature Trail Tour
In partnership with the Bahamas Reef Environmental Education Foundation (BREEF), the students of Deep Creek Middle School (DCMS) has installed the firsts student created native plants nature trail. Watch as our local DCMS kids give a history of the project and a tour of the trail. They will soon have a laminated field guide for the trail, so feel free to drop by for a self-guided tour or spend time learning from one of our student experts.
Student Leadership Update – First Cacique Council of Spring 2013
Each week, a group of students is selected for their unique potential as leaders to come together as the 5 student Cacique Council, “Cacique” meaning leader in ancient Lucayan. During that week, the group will plan special activities for their peers, run morning and evening circles, facilitate communication between students and faculty, and fulfill other important roles as needed. Members of the council are welcomed into the new role during Community Meeting, in which a public acknowledgement of each individual’s leadership qualities is read aloud. Enjoy these “Cacique Pass-Offs” written below. Join us in welcoming the first Cacique Council of the semester: James Boelkins, Isabel Jamerson, Brayden Beardsley, Ivy Fasolo, and Shanika Foster, and look forward to more student leadership updates in the coming weeks:
This student emerged as a leader and great team member during 3-day kayak; his trip leaders were surprised and impressed when he jumped out of his boat for lunch on the first day and immediately had the tarp out, asking what needed to be done to set up lunch. Whether it was offering encouraging words out on the water or asking how he could help around camp, this student Continue reading
Student Update March 11, 2013
Throughout the semester, we will be featuring regular updates about the student experience here at Island School, through the voices of our own students. These “Student Update” reflections will blend stories and experiences from all areas of student life, from academics to adventures, keeping you all posted on meaningful moments that happen here each day. Enjoy our first Student Update of S.13:
Hi, this is Liz Whitson and I want to let you know what has been happening in this hectic first week for the students at Island School. Ashley just told me that our first week here on Eleuthera will be complete tomorrow (Monday) and I cannot believe it; it feels like I have been here so much longer. From adjusting to the new dorm settings and the rigorous schedule already, it is weird that I have only been here for six days. We have had our introductory night classes to the classes we will be taking at Island School and have jumped right into kayak and SCUBA week! K1 and K2 departed Eleuthera on Friday and are expected to come back today! It will be great to see everyone again since we have had so little time to get to know all the students we will be spending all the rest of our time here. K3 and K4 depart tomorrow and the first SCUBA group will all be certified after 3 days of hard work.
I know for me that SCUBA was a completely new experience. But, I absolutely loved it. Continue reading
Island School at Wellesley High School’s Seminar Day
Fall 2012 alumna, Korinna Garfield, invited The Island School to come speak at a session during Wellesley High School’s Student Congress Seminar Day. Korinna is a member of the high school’s Student Congress that chooses speakers and organizes the entire day of seminars. We were flattered to be included in such a cool event! We were also grateful for the contributions made during the presentation by our Island School alumni at Wellesley High School, Korinna and Christie Ledingham (S’11). Thank you for having us, Wellesley High School!
Teaching Job Openings
There are a number of open teaching positions at the Deep Creek Middle School, as well as a bran new position of Pre-School Teacher at the Cape Eleuthera Island School. Please click on the PDFs below for more information on the positions and how to apply!
Gap Program Update #6
What a busy week! This final week of February brought the midpoint of our intensives (see the previous post for background info), the much-anticipated Monster Run-Swim, and various other excitements!
Intensives continued for the gappers – for me that meant continuing on with the shark team, the highlight of which was discovering we sharking gappers are not bad luck (aka we finally got to help with a shark!!!). After a long morning setting up and then watching our line in the marina, tempting a number of sharks with fresh bait from fishermen down the dock, we finally had one large nurse shark bite! Jack, Shaper and I got to help Brendan and Ian take the necessary samples and measurements, plus tag the shark before releasing it again. This was the second-to-last nurse shark needed for the longline physiology study – wahoo!
On Tuesday night, various members of the CEI/IS community gathered for a Coffeehouse. Among a cluster of various talents from baking to putting chickens into tonic immobility (more commonly used – at least here – with sharks), Shaper performed an excerpt from the Vagina Monologues written by her friend, Sasek a poem by the spoken-word poet Andrea Gibson, and Jack sang Neil Young’s Heart of Gold with two of the interns. All around a fun, talent-filled evening!
Wednesday was Foundation Day, celebrated with participation in various activities (I went lobstering, which turned into Shaper and I practicing hauling ourselves into the boat – just getting buff), meetings with our “extended advisories” that we will be a part of (briefly) while the IS students are here, and a barbeque and bonfire on Sunset Beach! Continue reading
Maxeys Visit African Leadership Academy
The Island School is building a bridge to Africa through a partnership with African Leadership Academy (ALA). The Academy, located outside of Johannesburg South Africa, is a world-class, pan-African secondary institution that aims to educate and develop outstanding students into principled, ethical leaders for Africa.
Chris and Pam and daughters, Tyler and Tegan, visited ALA on Saturday, toured the campus and gave a presentation for students and faculty. ALA students played a major role in our Leadership in Education conference back in Spring 2011 and our first ALA student joined us this past summer from Ethiopia. There is a shared Island School-ALA mission that focuses on giving students space to solve real-world problems and learn how to be successful agents for positive change in the world.
We have to thank our friends at Noble and Greenough, Ben and Sarah Snyder, Ernie and Kim Parizeau and Michael Denning for making this introduction.
Spring 2013 Arrives Safe and Sound!
We are excited to welcome the Spring 2013 semester to The Island School! All 48 students arrived on campus this evening safe and sound. Here they are at their very first dinner circle earlier tonight. We are looking forward to a great semester!
Island School Parent Reception
On Friday, March 1, Ernie and Kim Parizeau (parents of F’03, S’06, and S’10) opened up their home in Wellesley, MA to host an Island School Parent Reception. The reception featured Middlebury College professor, and alumni parent, Jessica Holmes (parent of F’12) speaking about a summer entrepreneurship course Middlebury College is offering in Lake Tahoe called MiddCORE. MiddCORE is for highly motivated college students (or recent graduates) who have a desire to build leadership and communication skills, and develop an entrepreneurial mindset. Students should be comfortable in collaborative settings and be prepared for forty hours a week of impact-focused, project-based learning.
It was an incredibly successful event with over 60 alumni parents and friends of The Island School or Middlebury College in attendance. We would like to extend a huge thank you to the Parizeaus for hosting everyone in their beautiful home! Visit MiddCORE’s website for more information.