Chris Maxey has been teaching grade 9 math at DCMS for the past 6 weeks. He is balancing the needs of preparing for a government exam with the best practices of using math as a language to analyze and communicate about interesting questions in our world. Here he is pictured working through statistics problems about a mango farmer under the mango tree.
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When Island School alum Skylar Miller (S’03) returned to Eleuthera in the summer of 
2010, she was looking for an opportunity that bridged her passion for teaching concepts of marine biology with field-based research. “When I heard the Cape Eleuthera Institute’s mission of ‘Research, Education, and Outreach’ I thought: That’s perfect. That’s exactly what I want to do,” Miller reflected. She has since become a pioneer for that mission. Her collaborative work has resulted in the creation of CEI’s Lionfish Research and Education Program, in partnership with the Reef Environmental Education Foundation (REEF) and Simon Fraser University (SFU).
The scope of her work is expanding into the future, with many exciting opportunities to forge new partnerships and extend lionfish programming throughout the Caribbean. “Lionfish invasion is a regional issue,” she described. “There are lots of countries similar to The Bahamas’ situation, politically, economically, socially. We need to consider how we can learn from one another. Looking at communication and how we can share ideas is going to be important as we move forward, as we figure out a solution to the lionfish problem.”
This fall, Miller will begin graduate work at the University of the West Indies, Barbados. Continue reading
Monday was our final day of a few of our courses for the semester. In literature class we shared our Hero’s Journey Poems, based on an IslandSchoolpersonal journey in the style of the poetic voice of Derek Walcott author of Omeros. Each student seemed hesitant to stand up at the podium, but someone had to go. When it came to my turn my heart started to race and my voice became us easy, but I got up there. I spoke of whole new world filled with guidance, consumed with challenges overwhelmed with goals, and facing the brink of return. It was my Island School, my passion about the transformation and confidence I have gained here guided my poetic voice. It seemed that each student that wearily waddled up to that podium left with passion and closure. Verbally you can share you vision, emotions, and passion truthfully and clearly. This realization will give me the confidence I need to embrace my future with faith that I can succeed come transitioning home.
“Grains” by Mattie McAlpin
It was silent. Nerves were racing in every limb.
No one spoke; perhaps they didn’t know what to say.
We dove in as one and now just a knee high swim. Continue reading
It was an eventful weekend across campus, it was time for our final athletic events! I spent the evening before the half marathon staring up at the girls dorm ceiling and downing as much water as my body could take, questioning if I could make it all the way. We were up and awake, well kind of awake, at5:10Saturday morning it was pitch black except a few van headlights and lights from the classrooms peering out into the darkness. I was feeling awfully nervous, wondering if I could even see the road ahead of me. Before I knew it we were off, there was no going back now I just had to go for it. There was help along the way every few miles I had cheerful, beaming, encouraging friends of mine with kind words and a Gatorade in hand. I felt my confidence rise as I traveled along the winding route. It was their support and my running partner Annie that kept me going. I refused to walk, I refused to stop, I ran and I ran.
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With three miles to go I doubted my abilities, Continue reading
It has been a dreary few days, days that are best for our cisterns. The rain doesn’t stop us from filling the whole day through though. Yesterday morning was an anticipated one. All 49 of us were dressed, somewhat awake, and hopefully ready for what was to come. It was the morning of the pig slaughter an experience that entailed a range of emotions. Some of us had welling tears, some were on deck for support, and for some this wasn’t the first time. The setting met to mood well with a raging fire and an ominous dismal gray morning. Although it was a sensitive morning I am always confident that there is plenty of support within our community to leave any experience knowing there are people around to comfort and encourage me and my peers in a time of need.
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Then yesterday afternoon was my last dive in Marine Ecology class; we dove CEI’s aquaculture cage. Continue reading
Monday afternoon was our final Community outreach with our Deep Creak Middle School buddies. A day filled with both friendly competition among students and staff and a sad departure from a fulfilling and memorable semester with our bright buddies. We started the afternoon with our final CO class, having little on the agenda we were given the block to exchange giggles and I choose to capture as many beaming faces on camera as it would take. After the students finished homeroom it was time for the basketball jamboree! The teams were jumbled with Island School students, DCMS students, and staff, with games lasting only 10 minutes. 
I was put in the first round of fierce competition and quite honestly feeling nervous that I would end up using my feet accidentally. But the moment the whistle blew I was in the zone and having a blast. I forgot how silly I must have looked out on court and just shared smirks and sweaty high fives with my teammates. When my game came to an end I was exhausted and dripping in sweat but still grinning from ear to ear as I watched my faithful teammates shuffle off the court in similar states. There was hot macaroni, conch fritters, bake goods, and frozen drinks welcoming us as we search for our water bottles. In my time at DCMS it has been a pleasure to see such a bright group of determined and thoughtful young students excel and grow before my eyes. I hope to keep in touch with my buddy Zach as I am confident that he will do great things in the years to come.
Hi my name is Matti McAlpin and I am new on blog chores this week. I am excited to be given the chance to share some of our final memorable experiences at The Island School as the Spring semester comes to a close. As parents weekend came to an end we took some time as a community to ease our way back into our hectic final weeks. This past Sunday we started our morning bright and early with an extra extended workout in preparation for our big athletic events in the coming week. I started the workout feeling particularly worn out and honestly quite discouraged. Two hours of running was not motivating this morning but as the run progressed and sweat began to drip down my every limb I became more and more confident in myself. The Half Marathon was just a week away and I’m feeling great! The CEI bridge was in plain sight and I pushed with all my might. I propelled every muscle in my body to the finishing pole and laid on the ground beaming up at the sky ready to take anything that was to come that day. Continue reading
DCMS 8th graders Lance Pelecanos, Breanna Leary, Bronthaye Rolle and Keniesha Pinder recently toured some boarding schools in Georgia, Tennessee and Alabama. On the way home, they got to have a lovely evening socializing with John Head (IS F’99) and Ted Griffith (IS S’02), also members of the Alumni Advisory Board (AAB). The students stayed with the Griffith’s and from these photos, you can see it was a memorable evening. To date, twenty-eight DCMS alumni have earned scholarships to US boarding schools.
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Yesterday ended up being a great day. In the morning Felipe and I, for our Human Ecology project, speared 30 lionfish. To put that in perspective – on Friday we caught 3, and were very excited about that. In the afternoon, students had Community Outreach at DCMS. The group I’m in, Domestic Violence, worked on what they were going to say during their informational meeting that night. It was neat to see all the work we put in over the semester be put into action. Last night, Island School and CEI had two guest speakers give separate presentations. One talked about climate change’s effect on tropical lizards and the other speaker talked about bonefish in the neighboring creeks. Both speakers were Ph.D students and were extremely informative when talking about their individual subjects.
Today we have Art class in the morning and Marine Ecology in the afternoon. In Art, we are continuing to prep for the Art Gallery in the Octagon. All the artwork, as of now, is in the Octagon, but it still needs to be set up. In Marine Ecology, we are discussing MPAs (Marine Protected Areas). We just read an article about an MPA in Madagascar, and now, are relating its similarities to South Eleuthera.
One day till Parents Weekend!
The Island School Semester is filled with journeys. Students embark on their own, made up of the thousands of small individual journeys that happen each day here: the first run-swims, kayak trips, inner-loop explorations, settlement days. This place is blanketed with epic voyages, woven out of small journeys. In their Literature classes, students read Omeros that tells them: “in its travelling all that the sea-swift does it does in a circular pattern,” and learn about the Heroes Journey. Recently, we asked students to use this model to better understand and reflect upon their time at Island School. Today we feature these stories of of separation, initiation and return. Students consider their guides and mentors along the way, challenges, and how they have returned or will return, changed. So, as parents prepare to embark on their own epic voyages to campus for the upcoming Parent’s Weekend, enjoy these powerful stories of our own student heroes… (our apologies that not all student’s work is featured here. Many felt that their experiences were too personal to be shared in such a public venue, others, well… just have not turned them in yet).
Paul: I had been looking forward to this moment for years. It was one of the reasons that I wanted to come to The Island School in the first place. I had heard about solos many times before and it had always seemed so fun. Two days and nights by myself alone in the woods: Man versus nature with only myself to keep me company. I could build a fortress or write a novel. I had expected I would discover the meaning of life or think up the cure for a disease at the very least. The options had seemed limitless not a day before. But as I stood in the sand looking at the trees along Lighthouse Beach that I was to live in for the next two days, the reality of the situation started to sink in. I turned right and saw my companions walking far down the beach, being dropped off one by one. I searched my brain for thoughts to comfort myself, but came up empty. All I could think was that I was alone, and I was already bored of myself. I knew from those very first moments that this would be a very interesting two days. Continue reading