Half Way There by Lizzy Feldmann-DeMello

Lizzy and Meg before departing on their 8-day sailing trip on Thursday
Lizzy and Meg before departing on their 8-day sailing trip on Thursday

Hey guys! We’re almost half way there. So many things are happening this week and in the weeks to come. Thursday of this week we had our midterm demonstration of learning (DOL) presentations. DOL’s are basically when students talk about a specific event at The Island School and talk about how that has changed or accentuated his or her perspective. The next day we had kayak relays for morning exercise. This is where four teams – the four 3-day kayak groups – compete against each other by doing a run swim with added exercises and kayaking. Spirits were high and the sense of competition and teamwork scented the air. Although there was a set order to who finished first, there were other opportunities to gain points; it could not be determined who won from who finished first so the points were tallied and the winning team was announced at dinner that night. On top of that, Monday, we began our three-week rotations. For approximately 8 days a group of students will be kayaking or sailing, another will be on campus attending classes and the last group will be on the down island for a Histories tourism unit. After the 8 days are over, the groups will all rotate. During the kayak or sail trips students will have the famous 48-hour solos. During this time the students will only have a tarp, gorp, water, and certain necessities (excluding a watch, flashlight, books, etc.). It will be interesting to see how this 8-day tip will differ from the 3-day at the beginning of the trimester.