Monthly Archives: August 2013
South Eleuthera Kids Camp
Cape Eleuthera Institute and The Island School welcomed 18 South Eleutheran kids to campus this summer. Students participated in and were exposed to some of Cape Eleuthera Institute’s various research projects. Students took on the role of citizen scientists doing a conch survey at Wemyss Bight beach for CEI’s conch research program. They also contributed to research on bonefish and the flats ecosystem by seining at Broad Creek. Students learned about the invasive lionfish and its effects on Caribbean reefs by partaking in a class discussion, as well as a lionfish dissection. A Bahamian geology lesson on the sandbar was a great way to kick off the 40th anniversary of The Bahamas’ independence! Students snorkeled the sand areas around the sandbar where they discovered lots of critters—sea stars, sea cucumbers, sand dollars, heart urchins, milk conch, juvenile queen conch, sea biscuits, and lots more! For their last day, they headed to Rock Sound to explore the caves and the ocean hole.
The whole week was filled with many educational opportunities about the natural resources that the campers encounter in their daily lives living on the island. We hope that the kids will take these life-long lessons in water conservation and sustainability back home and incorporate them into their lifestyles.
Early Learning Center
We are excited to announce the opening of our newest educational program, The Island School Early Learning Center. This program serves children ages 2-6 from the greater Island School community and provides them with a safe, nurturing, and stimulating early learning environment. The children began exploring their new home last week during a “summer camp” that will last two weeks before beginning the academic year in September.
Founding Director, Cassie Kruthoff says “The ELC fits in seamlessly because it holds the same fundamental beliefs about education as The Island School and DCMS. The children are able to learn and grow in a wonderful environment that values learning through experience and cherishes creativity and exploration.”
We all look forward to having the little, smiling faces and extra energy at the Island School and welcome our youngest students.
Teacher Conference 2013
Earlier this month The Island School was proud to host our 15th annual Teacher’s Conference! Each year, this conference attracts teachers who are interested in collaboratively exploring best practices in place-based experiential learning. This year, we welcomed 17 passionate teachers from the USA, Bahamas and Canada. Together, we pushed ourselves to feel like students again–often letting go of old fears as we dove, snorkeled, researched sharks & conchs, ran, jumped and committed to navy showers and other challenges of sustainable dorm living! By the end of the week, everyone felt like they had stretched as educators, expanded their network of peer professionals, and grown as individuals.
As CJ Bell shared, “This conference was one of the most meaningful professional development opportunities that I have experienced. Living in and learning about place based educational experiences and discussing different components of experiential education was enlightening and I cannot wait to take new ideas back to the classroom!”
Teacher Conference 2013 Alumni: CJ Bell & Annie Johnson of The Brookwood School (MA), Katisha Forbes of The Deep Creek School (Andros), Scott Moorehead of the Goodwillie Environmental School (MI), Maggie Karlin of Columbia Grammar & Prep School (NYC), Susan Morris of Berwick Academy (ME), Cheryl Ingram of Preston Albury High School (Eleuthera), Erin Mellow & Eric Russman of Kimble Union Academy (NH), Jaclyn Jones of Deep Creek Middle School (Eleuthera), Michele Werlin of the Farmland School (MD), David Ardley of Southern Illinois University (IL) and John Paul Brennan of Kipp Houston HS (TX), David Koning of Grand Rapids Christian (MI), Todd Loffredo of The Hun School (NJ), Desi Pena of the Spence School (NYC) and Megan McNutt of Trinity College School (Ontario).
The Island School is especially grateful to the schools who invested in professional development with us as well as to our supporters who so generously sponsored about 25% of the teachers in attendance!
Abaco Flat Program – Friends of the Environment
Last week Justin Lewis, from Grand Bahama, Zack Jud, from Florida International University and Tiffany Gray, from Cape Eleuthera Institute, worked with Cassandra Abraham at Friends of the Environment in Marsh Harbour, Abaco on a flats program with local students from Abaco. This flats program was like a shorter version, just 3 days, of our 7 day sleep over Flats Week summer program at Cape Eleuthera Institute. It gives students a chance to not only learn the basics of flyfishing, but also immerse themselves into the ecology and conservation of the flats ecosystem. We had 5 students, all Bahamians, participating in the course.
The program started out on Tuesday, August 13th, with an informational presentation on bonefish and flats ecology. Zach and Justin also spent a bit of time that first day teaching students the basics on flyfishing where they had the chance to practice casting, some of them for the first time! That afternoon we headed over to Great Cistern to do an introduction on methodology and how to use the seine net. We saw lots of turtles, a shark and caught some shad (mojarra), crabs, shrimp, and other fun stuff in the seine net.
The second day we tagged 20 bonefish around Crossing Rocks, about 12 miles south of the Marls. Clint Kemp from Black Fly Lodge in Schooner Bay took us out with two of their flats boats for a Continue reading
Lanti Von Der Schulenberg (F’12) Masters the Conch Horn!
Chris and Pam are back on their sailboat, Kokomo! This time they stayed a little closer to home and sailed to Bell Island in the Exumas. There, they met up with Fall 2012 alumna Lanti Von Der Schulenberg and her family. They greeted the Maxeys with the sound of their very own conch horn. Lanti has mastered the difficult art of blowing the conch horn and has even provided Video evidence for anyone who doubts her abilities…
Rumber Materials
The Island School and Cape Eleuthera Institute serve as a hub for education, research and community outreach with a focus on conservation, sustainability and the marine environment. Our mission is to incorporate these ideals into every facet of our life from the way we work and live to our interaction with the natural and built environment. We are an active and innovative campus and we strive to utilize sustainable building materials, which fit this vision as we expand. Rumber is a prime example of one of those building materials.
Rumber Materials “manufactures a wide variety of strong and highly durable products from 100% recycled tire rubber and plastics. The majority of the company’s products consist of boards which are produced in varying lengths and widths that are used as substitutes for wood or plastic. Rumber composite material can also be used at full strength to create new products through injection or compression molding, extrusion or pressing into sheets. Rumber products are environmentally friendly, are stronger than other composites and are impervious to fluids, mud, oil and UV rays. Rumber boards will not crack, rot or split and they have a traction surface that increases safety. They can be cut with a saw, are easily installed and are easy to clean.”
We have incorporated Rumber into two major projects to date. The first is the Wierda Bridge, a prominent centerpiece of our campus, connecting The Island School and Cape Eleuthera Institute (CEI) campuses by providing a footbridge that traverses over a mangrove ecosystem. Rumber can also be found on the exterior decks, stairs and walkways of the Hallig House, the campuses’ most modern and innovative structure. This building was conceived by a team of environmental designers specializing in minimal impact and sustainable buildings. Their structures model the best building practices with special attention to materials which are best suited to our local environment while meeting our criteria of a major percentage of recycled and or reclaimed materials. The ultimate goal isto get Hallig House certified under the “Living Building Certification” program. Rumber was an obvious choice for inclusion as it contains 100% post consumer waste. Continue reading
Space to Create and Space 2 Explore
Starting in 2007, DCMS teacher Will Simmons has held a summer camp for kids from North Eleuthera in his native Harbour Island. The camp, called Space to Create, is a non profit summer day camp for the youth of Harbour Island, Eleuthera. It joined forces with The Cape Eleuthera Institute to initiate Space 2 Explore, a program based around marine ecology and conservation. This comprehensive youth development program aims to enhance the academic, artistic and character development of young people on Harbour Island.
Students this summer explored diverse marine habitats under the guidance of Cape Eleuthera Institute researcher Kristal Ambrose and DCMS teacher Carola Walker in partnership with divemaster Shawn Springer. Students’ eyes were opened as they learned to identify countless organisms in the habitats they explored and also grasped the importance of these threatened ecosystems. These activities were not only academically enriching but helped students to build character as they faced their fears and accomplished things they never thought possible. This learning experience is highly relevant as Harbour Island is experiencing the pressures of rapid development. It is important that the next generation understands the role of conservation in sustainable development.
Check out some photos from a snorkeling trip here. On Saturday there was a final presentation where the campers had the opportunity to share with the community everything they had learned during their time at camp.
Congratulations to Will and the rest of his staff on another successful summer! To learn more about Space to Create, visit the camp’s Facebook page.
IS at the Bridge of Flowers Race
This past weekend, Island School was well represented at the Bridge of Flowers Race in Shelburne, MA. IS alumna Hannah Lessels (F’13) reconnected with IS faculty member Rachel Shapiro and DCMS teacher Angela Slowinski. Way to go!
Save the Date to Celebrate 15 Years of The Island School!
