Day in the Life

Mornings at the Island School begin at 6:15 with a beeping watch and a flick of the light switch. It is never easy dragging myself out of bed but the thought of doing push-ups at circle always gets me going. Once up, I quickly throw on some athletic clothes and grab my sneakers before rushing out of the door. At circle we do a quick count off, go through announcements for the day and then sing the Bahamian National Anthem with pride. After the National Anthem we split into either run or swim track and begin our morning exercise.

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Morning circle

Before beginning our daily run, Sophia (an Island School Student) led us through some stretches. These stretches took us all over campus but ended near the dinning hall so we could all see and appreciate the beautiful red sunrise. Although waking up at 6:15 is definitely not my favorite thing, I look forward to seeing the spectacular sunrises every morning.

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Sunrise off of dining hall deck

Once we had warmed up and stretched, we headed out to the Marina to do some sprints. The thought of sprints always makes me cringe but luckily today we did them in partner pairs so that one person would be sprinting and the other would be waiting on the bridge, recovering. When it was my turn to run the loop I started with a full-fledged sprint. However, by the time I was halfway through, my lungs felt like they were going to explode and my legs felt like jelly. As I neared the final stretch I was about ready to quit but the sound of everyone cheering kept me going. Once I made it to the top of the bridge I high-fived Will, my partner, and watched him sprint off. It was reassuring to know that I would have at least a few minutes to regain my breath.
After morning exercises we all split up into different chore groups. In past chores I’ve had Girls Dorm (which usually means you’re stuck cleaning toilets) and Farm Chores (meaning you get to pick lettuce and other yummy foods). By the end of chores music is always blasting from girls dorm as all the girls begin cleaning their personal space. By 8:15 (maybe 8:30 depending on how messy your personal space is) people are packing into the dinning hall for breakfast.
When everyone is done eating Dish Crew stays behind to clean while everyone else prepares for the morning classes.

Will and Don on dish crew
Will and Don on dish crew

This morning we had a 3-hour Human Ecology block, where we split into our separate groups to work on our projects.

Leigh preps us for our Human Eco block
Leigh preps us for our Human Eco block

My group is building a garden for the ELC (Early Learning Center). We spent today talking to Oscar (the head facilities manager) and collecting materials to start building our trellis. When we got back the presentation room we saw Anya, Bailey, Tess and Abbe cutting up coconuts for their new soap product. We all crowded around trying to get a small chunk of coconut to eat before class ended.

Abbe and Anya crackin' coconuts
Abbe and Anya crackin’ coconuts

Once class was over I headed to the dinning hall to grab a quick lunch before research. For Sustainable Fisheries we headed out to Rock Sound, a settlement 30 minutes away, to interview some local fishermen on their perspective of the surrounding marine environment. Ted, a local from Rock Sound who works at The Island School, came with us and introduced us to some fishermen he knows. Both of the interviews we conducted were very successful and we heard some interesting stories about sharks. After a long (and very hot) day, full of interviewing, we headed back to The Island School just in time for dinner circle.

Dinner Circle
Dinner Circle

At dinner circle we went through all the announcements and then one of the caciques, told the quote of the day; “Speak if only what you have to say is more beautiful than silence”. The quote was followed by a moment of silence. Once dinner circle was finished we all headed to the dinning hall to eat.

FOOD
FOOD

After dinner my hectic day finally winded down. Since it was a nice night I spent my study hours on the dining hall porch with some other Island School students. We played some music and chatted as we worked on our Art projects. At 10:30 we headed back to the dorm for the night. As soon as I got back to the dorm I collapsed into bed, exhausted after such a busy day.

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by Fiona Ross

Advisory Time!

It’s been about 6 weeks since all 48 of us arrived here at The Island School and we’re already completely immersed into the academic structure. One thing that I look forward to every week is advisory time. On thursday afternoons, advisories get to go off campus and have fun doing activities of their choosing. I’m in Margaret’s advisory with Avery Vanacore, Krista Church, Scott Voigt, and Zach McCloskey.

Our advisory after the beach clean up at Red Bay Beach
Our advisory after the beach clean up at Red Bay Beach

Two weeks ago, we got the chance to go to Red Bay beach and help Liz, a member of our extended advisory create a video for a competition she’s entering. On the beach we blasted music and had a contest of who could pick up the most trash. In the end, Zach had an overflowing garbage bag and was the winner of our contest. Avery and I had loads of fun when we found buoy a with a rope attached to it and immediately decided that it would be our bunk pet back in Girls North. We dragged it around on the beach and enjoyed including it in our advisory pictures! Afterwards we all hopped in the van and headed over to dispose of the trash and went to get cups at Mr. Henry’s, a small local store run by Mr. Henry himself in Deep Creek. Cups are plastic cups filled with frozen passion juice, and are a favorite among Island Schoolers. 

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At 4th hold during our first Thursday advisory afternoon (as you can see, we stopped at the Marina beforehand)

I remember the first day that I met my advisory group. It was right after we had somewhat finished unpacking our luggage and, settling into the dorms and getting ready for dinner. No one really knew what the procedure was so we were all staring around the tables until instructions of sitting with your advisory groups were given. I immediately panicked as I looked around, unable to find Margaret’s table. After what seemed like an embarrassingly long time to be looking for something so obvious, I spotted Margaret with a group of strange faces. After sitting down and introducing myself I looked back at the other members of the group. I recognized the girl who introduced herself as my bunkmate but the other faces were completely new. After an awkward yet enjoyable dinner we all left to go to or dorms. I didn’t really know what to expect for future advisory meetings, we all seemed like such different people and it was hard enough to learn their names. Looking back at it now, I had no idea what would happen.

Advisory time at Liz's apartment
Advisory time at Liz’s apartment

Last week was a pretty fun advisory meeting, we went to Liz’s house and played fun games while we made two batches of chocolate chip cookies, because one just wasn’t enough. Krista played the Ukelele while Avery and Zach focused on the cookies. Scott led some games while I wandered around trying to do everything at once. The time seemed to go by so fast and when it was time to leave to get back to school on time for dinner circle I watched everyone get back into the van and leave while I waited to get picked up by my Histories teacher, Emma in order to go to a festival for my project.

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We were team USA in the Advisory World Cup

More than a month through this incredible experience, I can confidently say that although our advisory is filled with attitude, craziness and just plain weirdness, we’re all good friends and only getting closer by the day. Kayak rotations begin next week and we’re all so excited to see more of the island with a  new group of people. Unfortunately we will be scattered around for almost a month; but I can’t wait for our first advisory meeting after rotations where we can share our amazing experiences.

by Sophia Strautmanis

Alumni Spotlight: Jenny Sherman (F’08)

sherman_jennifer580Fall 2008 alumna, Jenny Sherman, has been selected to deliver the student speech at Duke University’s commencement ceremony next month. She was chosen from 30 graduate and undergraduate students who also submitted speeches for the commencement committee’s consideration. “Our greatest gifts are not the things that make us extraordinary,” said Sherman, who plans to share some of the moments that shaped her own college experience. “Our greatest gifts are the things that make us human.” You can read more about how Jenny’s speech came to be selected and more about Jenny’s past 4 years at Duke here.

All are invited to hear Jenny speak at Duke’s commencement ceremony on Sunday May 11 at 10:00am. Congratulations and good luck, Jenny!

No Phone, No Problem

Before I came to The Island School, I didn’t know what it would be like to live without a phone or Internet; none of us did. Our generation has grown up with access to both. The Internet was always a part of our lives before coming to IS, never further than the smartphones in our hands. It was bittersweet to surrender our devices immediately after landing in Eleuthera to start our semester.

The first week was surely a change for us all. I constantly felt like I was missing a piece of me. I was always so accustomed to feeling the subtle weight and bulkiness of my phone in my pocket; it felt unorthodox to lose the sensation. As time progressed, we all became more and more acclimated to the lack of Internet. After being here for over a month, the loss of the web and my phone is the last thing on my mind. Instead, it has been refreshing to disconnect from those distractions and live our daily lives like all of our parents did when they grew up. Communicating with friends now means actually finding them and talking to them.

Doing papers means taking notes in class and talking to teachers; Wikipedia is no longer a last second option after a week of procrastination. Checking the weather app is no longer necessary, as our eyes are more accurate in sighting rain clouds off in the distance than any weather radar around. Life went on before the Internet existed, and it will certainly do the same for us here. It may be unrealistic to think we will all avoid the Internet and give up our phones when we return to our lives back home, but at the same time I hope this experience gives us all a new outlook on what really matters in our lives.

by Zach McCloskey

Getting Comfortable Doing the Wobble

Each Island School student has a Deep Creek Middle School buddy during community outreach where we help them achieve a goal to better their society. Last week Island School students had the unique opportunity to socialize with their buddy outside of the classroom environment during the DCMS dance. The dance was held at the Marina Pavilion where we all rode our bikes or took vans while the DCMS students took bus to the Marina. When I got to the Marina I was cheerfully greeted by my buddy and his friends who were all excited to dance to the music and eat good food.

It was an incredibly fun experience when the DCMS students made a large circle for a dance off while dancing to “Wobble.” At first, I was a bit shy to join this dance off circle but my excited buddy quickly pulled me in the middle and forced me to dance. I am grateful for my buddy doing this because after that moment I felt so accepted within the DCMS community that I kept on dancing until I got tired. After this, some students went to Sunset Beach to witness one nature’s most beautiful spectacles: the sunset. After seeing the sunset, the party continued into the night where all the students kept dancing and building friendships. Events like this, I have realized, allow people to break their comfort zones and build friendships with people they would have otherwise ignored. This event proved incredibly important for me and my buddy because we have learned more about each other and will help us reach our goal that we have set off to accomplish.

 

Dr. Joanna Paul’s Trip to South Africa with EdVillage

Joanna working with Vuleka staffThis past March, Dr. Joanna Paul (Director of Education) travelled to South Africa with EdVillage and a team of international educators to conduct some teacher training workshops and school reviews. “This has been a wonderful professional development opportunity for me,” said Dr. Paul. “Our focus on conducting school reviews, training teachers and principals and delivering school improvement workshops provided me with the opportunity to learn new skills and hone familiar skills in a new context with a new team. My learning was supplemented with school visits and stimulated by working side by side with a team of international educators who each brought different perspectives to our school improvement work. It has  been interesting to compare the work that Deep Creek Middle School is doing in The Bahamas with that of low-fee schools developing in South Africa and share different ways that the two models could inform each other.“

Joanna and FernandoDr. Paul worked in and visited several schools in the Johannesburg and Cape Town areas, including African Leadership Academy (ALA). “ALA is a sending school for The Island School and it was wonderful to see the students in class and in the field in Johannesburg.” During the visit, Jean Fernando Randriamiajason (Summer ’13) showed off the new permaculture farm that he has designed on campus. While he is busy making a profit on the organically grown vegetables for his entrepreneurship project, he is also finding time to lobby the school to install a rainwater catchment system on campus.

Ferris Bueller Said It Best…

…When he said…

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That’s pretty much how we feel right about now.

How do you start a blog post about where we are in the semester? Days can be tallied, sure. It’s been 37 if anyone’s been counting. Those days have been filled with 6:15am wakeups, morning workouts, 3-day kayak trips, scuba diving, and so many other activities that make each one of these days so jam packed and busy.

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It’s often said that the days feel like weeks and weeks feel like days. I would be baffled to find a single student or faculty member that didn’t agree. Each week seems to come and go faster than the bacon does at Sunday brunch, which is astounding in itself. We have less than 2 academic weeks left until the heavily anticipated 8-day kayak and down island trips. Rumors surrounding the 48-hour solo on the kayak trip have been floating around since Day 1, and the buzz has only increased as we get closer and closer.

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Lighthouse Beach

As we move forward through the term, we have all noticed each day getting hotter and the ocean water getting warmer. The Bahamian winter–which is surely nothing to complain about–is behind us and spring weather is emerged. Looking at the bigger picture, the 3-week kayak and trip rotation will take us to the middle of May. That will soon be followed by parents weekend, which we’ve all looked forward to since the moment our planes left the runway. After research symposiums are presented, the semester starts tapering off and June 12th marks the day of return to our families and friends.

Although dismal to think about leaving this special place we now call home, it makes us cherish each and every second we have left. We all eagerly look forward to what the next 63 days will hold.

by Zach McCloskey

Nigel Barker Tours The Island School Campus

TV personality Nigel Barker photographing the IS campus

Professional fashion and beauty photographer, host of TV’s The Face, and judge on America’s Next Top Model recently toured the campus’ of The Island School and The Cape Eleuthera Institute while vacationing with his family.  Mr. Barker was impressed with our commitment to sustainability and variety of programs offered by the organization.

Founder Chris Maxey welcomes Mr. Barker and his family to The Island School
Joseph Elideau and Johnny Alexis pick fresh tamarinds from the orchard
George Giannos (F ’10) demonstrates how the aquaponic garden works

 

 

 

Somewhere, Something Incredible is Waiting to be Known

During our first querencia, we were exposed to the three important styles of writing that we will be using throughout the semester, which includes Personal Narrative, Descriptive, and Natural History writing. Through our three prompts to reflect upon during our querencia time, we learned how to work with each style of writing.

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Later that week, students expanded their skills of specializing these three styles by writing an anonymous excerpt from each piece they wrote during querencia time as examples of what each style looks like. We then put all of our examples into one pile for the whole class to pick out of and practice identifying each style.

After organizing the excerpts into the categories of Personal Narrative, Descriptive and Natural History and discussing the reasoning behind our choice of which category to place it in, Olivia designed double sided posters to hang up in the dining hall as a way to share our voices in the contexts of our first impressions of querencia.

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“Have you ever noticed that trees never sway the same way twice? The color of the lights refraction on its boughs gives it away” and “the waves encompass all around them in great storms, then recede like long hands, dragging back all they can carry” were some profound examples of our descriptions of querencia. This assignment allowed us to let our mind run freely and document our surroundings while still teaching us how to write in very different styles.

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Have you ever noticed that trees never sway the same way twice? The color of the light’s refraction on its boughs gives it away.
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I lay back staring at the clouds wondering what it would be like to be able to drift as freely as they could.
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In this place I feel very happy