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Cacique Update

Cacique Update November 3, 2011

by Caciques Ian and Ellen

Thursday was an expectedly busy and productive day here. We started the day with a long morning exercise, and the two of us on swim-track swam over to the current cut and swam tread-mill style against the current. Tough, but with the super swim coming up we have to keep getting in shape. So, after chores and breakfast, we had morning classes until lunch. After lunch, we all worked on our beach-sweep art project, which is based on finding plastic on the beach and reusing it to make art. After that class, we worked on our Human Ecology projects. A couple of these projects were making a raised-bed herb garden and an osprey nesting project. Lastly, we had the usual exploration time, dinner, and study hours. It was a good day.

Deep Creek Middle School

DCMS Student’s Book Buzz

“I just finished reading the most awesome book: Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli. It’s about this boy who runs from place to place trying to find a home after his parents die. He has all sorts of adventures, like hitting the first frog home run, intercepting a quarterback whose never been intercepted before, and racing Mars Bars, the fastest and meanest boy in the East End (who ends up being his friend).

Maniac is the kind of character who sees the good in everyone and brings people together. No matter your race, everybody has feelings. Sometimes people think that Black people and White people can’t get along, but I learned from Maniac Magee that everyone can work together and be family.”

by Zachary Carey, grade 7

To support these students’ voracious appetites for books, please visit the DCMS Amazon Wish List. Books can be mailed or brought down live on The Island School Parents Weekend.

Cacique Update

Cacique Update November 1, 2011

by Caciques Jack and Kate

We started the day with a long morning exercise (all the guys were late because no one set an alarm in boys dorm). After morning circle we separated into our tracks. I (Jack) did swim track and we swam from the boathouse, up to the current cut, through the current cut to the second bridge and back about a total of two miles, during the swim. I (Kate) did run track and we did an out and back to Deep Creek. We ran as far as we could for 36 minutes and then turned around. I ran with Jane, and we ran as fast as we could on the way there and then planned to slow down on the way back. Within the last minute, we came around the corner and saw the old Deep Creek airport, which is the 4 mile mark. We were both so excited to reach the old airport because neither of us had made it that far yet. We were also able to reach the flagpole (where we end each run) at around 1 hour and 12 minutes, which meant that we basically kept the same pace on the way back. Although we both felt good about that run, the upcoming half marathon still seems very ambitious. After long morning exercise, we had Literature, Math and Marine Ecology class. Continue reading →

Cacique Update

Cacique Update November 2, 2011

Jane and Katie  11.2.11

A legacy is something you leave for the future. 

A big-cheeked smile, dripping with mango juice, came to mind while working on creating the grow-beds. My little sister cherishes a good piece of fruit more than anyone I know. “One of the goals here at The Island School is to have all our food grown right here on campus,” Cam shared with us in between shovels full of dirt.  I imagined my sister, a potential Island School student, passing by lavish grow beds that we had been working all day to install and grabbing a piece of fruit before class. I pictured the fruit in her palm being a reminder to be thankful for the opportunity she was given to come to school here. Although I wanted that for myself, thinking about it being available to my sister made me happy about the work I had done. We worked hard all day in the rain, filling and emptying wheelbarrows full of sand to lay out so plants could grow. It was a strenuous day but well worth the while, so that students just like us will one day have The Island School experience we had, with a little fruit to top it off.

Exploration time was quiet today. The rain and freezing temperatures, (freezing, considering we’ve been in The Bahamas for 2 months) made for a perfect indoor cozy-up day. After getting soda for our Legacy Day accomplishments, I ventured to the dining hall for a snack. I found Sam and Henry helping Mooch make our dinner’s bread, and asked if I could help. We kneaded the dough, rolled it out, had a miniature flour fight, but got the job done. Afterwards, Mooch let us make brownies for the community. Once the batter was in the tray, I sheepishly suggested, “I could go get some spoons…” Alluding to finishing off the batter. Mooch caught my drift. “No, no, no, baby girl. You’re gonna get me in trouble!” My heart sank a little, but then she added, “That’s a finger-licking job!” We all laughed as we took swipes of batter from the bowl that held enough batter to make 80 brownies. The brownies were put in the oven and served after dinner. As much as I enjoyed dishing out the brownies and devouring them, myself, the most memorable part of my day was licking that bowl clean with Mooch in the kitchen.

Cacique Update

Cacique Update October 31, 2011

by Cacique Carter

Community meetings are my favorite part of the week. On Monday, the groups ofIslandSchoolstudents (K1 andK2) and faculty on campus gathered together to discuss, reflect, and acknowledge recent events, feelings, and actions. Having just been reunited together after our separate kayak trips, we all had so much to catch up on. For me, the best and most memorable part of this meeting was when we shared with the rest of the community our favorite part of our kayak trip. It was incredible how, when one person shared their own story, the eleven other people in their group were equally as entertained and inspired. Anika recalled a moment when K1 was dragging their kayaks through a mangrove swamp, and when all hopes were down, Zeeke brought out candy and cookies, which he shared with the rest of the group! As Anika shared her story, the rest of K1 laughed, moaned, and cheered for Zeeke in unison. Continue reading →

Cape Eleuthera Institute, CEI

CEI Enters Grant Proposal to Solution Search

Over the past few weeks, Dave Philipp, Julie Claussen, Peter Zdrojewski, Skylar Miller, and Liane Nowell, scientists and faculty members from CEI and Island School have been working on a grant proposal to enter in RarePlanet’s Solution Search, which rewards innovative conservation successes in communities where the need is greatest. This specific Solution Search is focused projects that address the issue of the depletion of global fish stocks. With all the great work CEI is doing with dwindling fish stocks, we believe we have a good chance of winning the first place project grant of $20,000, or one of the other great honors up for grabs. You can read more about Solution Search here, and the grant our team put together here. Wish us luck!

Cacique Update

Cacique Update October 30, 2011

by Cacique Zeke

Today, the Island School students remaining on campus, those done braving Eleuthera’s treacherous waters with kayaks made a trip to Princess Cays, a popular resort destination for passengers traveling on the Princess cruise ships. The resort was jam-packed full of swimsuit-wearing tourists, enjoying its beaches, waters, and refreshments under the warm Bahamian sun. First, we received a tour of the resort, which ended at the buffet. Everyone’s eyes widened when we gazed upon all that good-looking food: as much as we wanted provided graciously by Princess Cruise lines! We then proceeded to pile our plates with hamburgers, hotdogs, fruits, and desserts, and then ate ourselves into oblivion! The rest of the afternoon was spent wandering around Princess Cays, collecting interviews for our history projects where we asked about different perspectives on tourism.  We also checked out the specialties of local vendors stationed in the resort. We all had fun a fun and interesting time at Princess Cays. We left the resort at 2:15 and got back to The Island School in time for exploration time.

Uncategorized

A Scary Idea

Zooming out over the open ocean on the Bay Scout this morning with Chris Maxey, in the still brightening darkness just before sun up, haunted by hints of the Halloween festivities on campus from the night before, we both agreed: it was scary.

When young people are given the creative space to work towards a common goal that excites and motivates them, what they can do is scary, startling, if not downright astonishing. Yesterday,Island School students were charged with the opportunity to plan and perform the annual Haunted Campus for Deep Creek Middle School students. Each fall semester The Island School designs and opens up a terrifying, bio-diesel curdling Halloween celebration that will make the hair on your mosquito bites stand up.

DCMS students arrived in full costume and began the evening with fun and games, bobbing for apples and pinning the broom on the witch. Then, led by teenage guardians of the underworld, they were ushered around campus to visit the half-dead orchard, an insane asylum, a boat house scuba massacre, and the med-room gone maniac. As the night progressed and as sonic screams echoed off of solar panels, I found myself started by the most unexpected thing. It was not Geoff, the head of facilities, running around with a chainsaw that caught my eye—he does this every year—nor was it the ketchup dripping mouths on faces pale with baby powder that stopped me in my tracks, what I was most surprised by was the sheer intensity of energy and creativity our students demonstrated.

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Students had all of an hour and a half at the most to plan for the event. Continue reading →

Cacique Update, Uncategorized

Cacique Update October 29, 2011

by Spooky Caciques Tyler and Forrest

Slivers of light beamed through the trees, pillars in the dark night. Feet shuffled and nervous giggles escaped passed the lips of the DCMS students as they filed in and out of multiple haunted areas around campus. The night fell silent, eyes darted around the trees attempting to distinguish some of the monsters that surrounded them. Suddenly a dark figure rose out of a hole in the ground, “EEEEEEEEEE!!!! HEEEEEEHEEEEEEHEEEEE!!!!” It was echoed by the terrified screams of students and pound of running feet. The group scattered in all directions, and was met by the roar of a chainsaw, the whisper of a “motherless” Teschna, the melancholy songs of Anika and above all more terrified screams. The DCMS students, in their bright costumes, arrived with high expectations for the haunted campus and they left with pounding hearts and wide smiles.

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Cacique Update

Cacique Update October 28, 2011

by Cacique Jane Drinkard

Seeing the blue roofs ahead of us while driving in the van after 8 long days of kayak was both exciting and sad. It marked the end of our kayak journey and the beginning of the rest of our semester here at The Island School. I thought back to the feeling I had the first time I saw the campus and I recognized that same sense of freshness. It was almost unfamiliar now that we had been through kayak. It was almost as if entirely new students had arrived to take on bigger and better roles at The Island School. If there’s one thing I learned on kayak its appreciation. Appreciation for the food I shovel into my mouth without tasting, the warmth of a hug, and for the things we are able to accomplish when everyone works together. On the fourth day of kayaking, during the crunch of the midday heat, we decided to turn our kayaks into a sailboat. Honestly the first thought that came into my mind was no way this is going to work. Continue reading →