by Morgen Montgomery

Hello everyone! This is Morgen again. As another week passes by, we realize the routine we have gotten used to is about to change. We have a lot to look forward to next weekend, as our first 8-day kayak group will depart, but first we must endure in midterm week. Students are scrambling to finish our last papers due Monday and Tuesday, knowing that after that we have a well-deserved break.

Yesterday the Caciques led a successful run to High Rock, similar to what we did in the beginning of the semester. Last time, we symbolically “jumped” into the semester, but this time, each student made a personal goal for the rest of the semester. This was a really nice morning because we haven’t all been together for a morning exercise in a while. Later yesterday morning, we had our community meeting. These always prove to be a highlight of each student’s week. We aim to learn more about each other, and this week we sought to learn more about how others see us. Through a process called a Johari Window, we were able to write about how we see ourselves from the outside, then what people may not visibly see, and then what others see in us. This was a powerful exercise, led by Ashley, and students were really able to bond with each other, along with faculty. During exploration time yesterday, girls were able to enjoy a deep clean of the dorms (again!!), while boys threw Jon Shatz a surprise Bachelor party. It’s safe to say he was very, very surprised. They enjoyed a nice afternoon of throwing rocks and conch shells.

Today, run- swim tracks split up once again for Saturday sprint morning. Today, we have a three-hour querencia period to look forward to, followed by history and literature classes. After a nice day of classes to end the week, we have a bonfire and night snorkel at Sunrise Beach, planned by last week’s Caciques to look forward too. Though we have a lot of work to complete for next week, everyone is looking forward to a peaceful night with the community after a tough week.

We have so much to look forward too, as the main events we have heard about constantly throughout the semester are quickly approaching us. I ensure you your children are having a great time and are working very hard to finish up strong!

Hi my name is Carly Shea and I’m a sophomore at the Governors Academy. I’ll be writing about what is going on here for the next couple days. The past few days here have been super busy. We are in the middle of midterms so we have lots of big assignments. For history we had to do an ethnography project of which we could choose any topic. My group chose religion and we interviewed locals in the settlements of Wemyss Bight and Rock Sound. For that project after attending 3 settlement days and doing lots of readings about interviews and ethnography, each group had to create a short 15 minute video about what they learned and include interviews with the locals. Each person then had to write a 3-4 page paper. Another project we have this week is the beach plastics art project. We have been learning all about plastic and plastics in the oceans and have to create a sculpture made solely of beach plastics. For my project I created a fish net and made small plastic bottle shaped cut outs of some beach plastic and put those inside the fish net. It looks like a school of fish inside a fish net but when you get closer you realize they are plastic bottles. I thought it was a cool way to represent how much plastic there is in the oceans. We also have started the Human Ecology projects this week. The project is called “change bombs” and we have to find a way to improve the community. Some groups we have are planting grasses to prevent shoreline erosion, creating a medicinal herb garden, and creating an artificial reef.

This morning we had an option to run 5 miles or 3 and my running partner and I chose to run five. Today we also have Community Outreach and my group is working on a community garden with the seventh graders at Deep Creek middle school. There is so much to do here and never a dull moment!

by Chris Teufel

This past weekend consisted of a number of firsts and lasts. The first coffeehouse, but our last settlement day, the first Island School basketball game, the first, and hopefully the last, stitches and my first free dive. On Saturday morning we started off the day with run/swim track, and while the swimmer’s did their one mile trek to the pole off of the marina, the runner’s worked on sprints. We transitioned from sprinting up the hill leading into the inner loop, to sprinting to and from a telephone pole down the road. Both exercises provided a good wake up call and start to another beautiful day here. After breakfast, “Green Turtle” and “Hawksbill” classes went to settlement day in Rock Sound while “Loggerhead” and “Leatherback” stayed behind for History and Literature classes. In the afternoon we switched, and instead of Rock Sound the other classes headed to Tarpem Bay settlement while we discussed Omeros and got an introduction to historiography. That afternoon concluded classes for the weekend and officially started our Saturday night off. At 8:00 we kicked off the first coffeehouse with a performance from the sustainable fisheries and conservation research group performing an original poem by our very own Kate Barley and her research group. This act was followed by several a-cappella and guitar accompanied performances which blew the crowd away. After the coffeehouse, a movie was played in the Presentation Room while kids either went to bed early or stayed out to chat amongst ourselves.

Sunday morning brought an optional free dive after a late, 8:00 breakfast. With our group of about 15 students and faculty we boarded “Simon Says” and “Kenny” before making our way out on some of the clearest waters we’ve had here yet. We debriefed about the site, Cathedral, and its spiritual significance, which was why we always dive this site on Sunday’s, before dropping off the boats and into the clear, calm waters. Looking down at the site from above can take your breath away, but it’s not until your down there peering into the caves, tunnels, and ridges offered by this magnificent structure that you truly understand the awe-inspiring power of it. Maxey describes this site as something no man-made structure could compete with, which is another reason why it resonates so deeply with your spiritual side. We made roughly seven or eight dives, observing everything from small, two-three centimeter Christmas Tree Worms, to the occasional four foot remora and even a large Tiger Grouper. Two brave students, Harrison and Cutter, had the courage and lung capacity to dive down and travel through the tunnel of the structure and the way they spoke about the experience made me eager to try it next time. Later on, after lunch, a basketball game was held at Deep Creek Middle School where nearly every boy and a few courageous girls competed in our first game. Sunday night’s study hours consisted mainly of groups meeting in preparation for their Project Introductions on Monday morning. After meeting with my group for over an hour, practicing slides, adding final touches, and spell checking everything, we decided we were ready to present. That’s all for now but stay tuned for the next post on how these Project Intro’s went.