by Caciques Annie B and Helen

Wednesday mornings: sacred sleep in days… except for those brave enough to venture out to Tunnel Rock for an early morning free dive! Those of us who took Maxey’s advice “You can take a dirt nap at the end of your life”, woke up bright and early and headed out to the boats, “Mac Daddy” and “Kenny T”. Once we arrived at Tunnel Rock and anchored our boats, we all jumped into the wavy waters and began our dives. In pairs of two, we took turns diving down toward the vibrant reefs, taking in as much of the beautiful scenery as we could in one breath. Practice truly must make perfect, because the more we tried, the better we got, and soon enough we were all making impressively deep dives. After the sun had risen well above the waters, we made our way back to the boats, and back to campus… just in time for breakfast. Waking up early that morning and jumping in the salty ocean, rather than sleeping in my warm bunk was one of the best choices I’ve made so far at The Island School. Though it was simply a fun morning activity, it was a phenomenal way for me to “seize the day”, and made me appreciate the true meaning of living life in the moment. -Annie

Today, in the tradition of true Bahamian culture, we were introduced to conch fishing by a local fisherman, Nehemiah. After studying sustainable fishing practices in Human Ecology, we decided to go out and do some fishing of our own.

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by Caciques Benji Beardsley and Anabelle Florio

Sunday is the only day of the week that we get to sleep in, relax and have exploration time for the whole day. One thing I immediately noticed was the fact that I wasn’t able to sleep in. I woke up at 8 and tried to sleep more but it was impossible.  Yesterday, however, most of the students did homework. Normally, all of us would have loved to go out and explore, but we were all swamped. There was the occasional study break at the marina store for an energizing snack, but for the most part, we all spent our time glued to our computers either writing our Eleutheros paper or finishing up our math assignment.  Since I wanted to be outside on the only free day I had, I wrote my Eleutheros paper under the gazebo in the poo-poo garden.  Continue reading →

By Cacique Alex Spring

Today, September 17, 2011 was our first settlement day! It was an awesome experience, in which we got to only explore more of Eleuthra, but to also get to know the people who live here a little better. Our student body was split into 4 groups, each going to a different settlement. When we arrived at our designated settlements (Rock Sound, Deep Creek, Tarpin Bay, or Wemyssbight) we set off in pairs to explore the settlement and conduct our first interviews. My buddy and I had a wonderful time interviewing four really interesting people. It was a life altering experience for me to be able to simply sit and talk with people who I had never met before and learn their life story. I can’t wait to learn more about Eleuthra, Bahamian culture, and the people who inhabit this fascinating place. The rest of the day inculded querencia (solitary reflective time), a dance party and a movie! Altogether it was an amazing day, jam-packed with what makes the Island School what it is- enriching, non-traditional education and fun.

by Cacique Jack Foote

Tonight was the first Saturday Night, which meant that we were able to decide on an evening activity and have some fun.  After some deliberation we were able to come up with great idea, we would hold a “school dance” themed sustainability/neon rave, hosted by Griffin and Carter, followed by popcorn and a movie of our choice, coordinated by yours truly.  After dinner everyone went to their perspective dorms to put together some costumes.  After the costumes were constructed we met in the Prez. Room go over rules for the dance and then vote on a movie.  It came down to three choices Mean Girls, The Incredibles, or Ratatouille, The Incredibles won in a landslide.  After the voting was all said and done we filled out and into the Dinning Hall.  Inside had almost the exact atmosphere of an actual nightclub, it was dark, the music was loud, and headlamps were set up around the room on the strobe function.  With Griffin as the DJ the dance was on its way.  After an hour and a half of fist-pumping music and energetic dancing, the dance was done so we all got ready for the movie.  I had pinned up a sheet in the Boathouse to act as our movie screen.  Once the projector was up and running and everyone was all nestled in we started the movie… but for some reason The Incredibles wouldn’t play so we settled in for Ratatouille.  Through all the chaos and scrambling to set everything up today was a good day.

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By Caciques Brendan and Marius

Today was a particularly important day at The Island School. It was the first time showers were turned off and strong restrictions were placed on water. We were starting to run out of it! In an effort to be more sustainable, the school collects rainwater run-off from the roofs and stores it in large underground cisterns for future use. Since our semester takes place during the rainy season, we usually don’t have to strongly conserve water. But something happened a few days ago. There was a leak. Over the weekend, toilets in the library ran; the school lost 15% of the water supply. Sea showers are now enforced; we have to bring biodegradable soap and shampoo into the ocean with us and bath there instead of our indoor or outdoor showers. As lovely as it is to wake up in the morning and then go bathing in the sea, my peers and I quickly realized that the salt stays on. All day. I learned a lesson today; every resource here is valued.

by Caciques Tori and Eliott

Today we woke up early for our 6:30circle and second round of run swims.  By 8:00 am the final half of students and faculty had successfully completed their run swims and headed off to chores and then breakfast. For the second day of official classes we split into our groups and rotated through Literature, Math, and Histories of the Bahamas.  For Literature we broke into our sections and started harkness discussions surrounding the difficult plot of the epic poem Omeros.  Similarly, in History we discussed a background reading on the History of Eleuthera as well as talked about how important it is to reflect on perspective and various points of views while writing history papers.  Continue reading →