Good evening Island School blog readers,

Tradition. All of us got to experience how we welcome new members to our community, High Rock. High Rock is a 15 foot cliff made of death coral that is very special to all of us. This morning, like usual, we all were out at the flag pole at 6:30am to run/bike to High Rock. It is a total of four miles to the cliff and back, and each of our pairs took a bike, splitting the distance between the two forms of travel. All the new students were put through a challenge, which takes place at High Rock. Everyone jumps off the cliff, one at a time, into the ocean. For some of us, this was a piece of cake. For others, it was a colossal step towards getting rid of the fears that they associated with being away from home: not having air conditioning, not knowing anyone, or not having wifi. The Island School. Throughout this day we all began to realize that many of these fears are trivial. In the past week we have all made friends, our new brothers and sisters. We have embraced our hot smelly clothes (though we did get a laundry day today) and every day without wifi we learn to appreciate nature and those around us more and more. We yelled our hearts out as we jumped off of the cliff into the South Eleuthera community, our new friends cheering us on as we plunged into the refreshing ocean water. It really means a lot to all of us that we were welcomed with open arms and warm hearts. As we miss our normal homes more and more, it is very comforting to know that we can call this beautiful school our home. Along with all of that, the half of the students that had not already been SCUBA certified received their certifications today! We will end our day with a bonfire on the beach to celebrate the end of SCUBA week, our first full week here in the Bahamas, and, more importantly, our home. While we enjoy the warm Bahamian wind, the soft sand, the beautiful sky, and some s’mores tonight, we will all relax, looking forward to our free day tomorrow (which includes a much needed sleep in). To all Island School students, congratulations on this amazing, monumental day, a sneak peak into the awesome three weeks that lie ahead.

Love,

Your Casiques

Supreme Chancellors Jaccodine and Fiori

(Pablo Fiori and Luca Jaccodine)