Welcome home baby Slarzben and Hicvan!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtIs-vbl5eA
The Biodigestion Team is thrilled to announce:
Haldrew, Taylor, Dave, Jake and Sam are excited to have two new siblings!
Please welcome the two newest additions to our mesophilic family: Continue reading
by Caciques Jessica and Austin
Today was the first academic day with the entireIslandSchoolstudent body reunited! It was a typical Monday, except for the fact that we kicked off our morning with a 3-hour Human Ecology Class. This was not a normal class. We came up with ideas for our Human Ecology Final Projects. Students thought of problems they saw around campus and also greater issues of Eleuthera and The Bahamas, and created a project to try to solve them. It is cool to have a class where the work you are doing actually makes a change in the world. Continue reading
by Caciques Adam and Caroline S.
On Sunday, May 8, the Island School community was finally back together again; the Bahamian National Anthem was twice as loud, and the count off was twice as long. Having the day off was much needed in order to get back into the swing of Island School life. Despite the exhaustion caused by our action packed adventures and academics, there was an overwhelming aura of excitement on campus. Stories were exchanged, and Island School’s meals were eagerly devoured as we celebrated our eternal friendships. Our Island School family is finally back together, and the 10-day count down until parent’s weekend has begun.
Sometimes, for various technical or motivational reasons, Cacique Updates come late, or (very very occasionally) not at all. I am happy to say that this one did not get away. Due to media-uploading problems, this Update from last week comes to you late. Enjoy this very worth waiting for Cacique Update from last Wednesday…
by Caciques Nick M and Ami
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On May 3, 2011 the inoculation of the manure/glycerine mixture happened for all of our digesters. Our original four digesters, Sam, Jake, Dave and Taylor, have now been replenished three times, and the new addition to biodigester family, Haldrew, has received its second filling. We also spent time constructing our next two digesters, which will contain a mixture of 9% and 11% glycerol, respectively, but we’re saving their inoculation for class on Thursday so that their seals can set properly. Ample drying time is crucial to the sealing process—it maintains the anaerobic environment that we need to make biogas. Continue reading
by Caciques JP and Bronte
Extended morning exercise was this morning and although it was long, we came back to campus with pancakes waiting for us for breakfast! After filling up on our flapjacks, we drove to Princess Cays, a cruise terminal relatively close to The Island School. We received a tour by the director who runs Princess Cays with his wife. We felt overwhelmed by the processed food, the amount of tourists, and how many beach chairs there were. After our trip to Princess Cays, we had a “Slow Meal” for dinner. Continue reading
Jayneka Brown, a ninth grade student at the Deep Creek Middle School has witnessed first hand the effects of teenage pregnancy. She believes that this is a problem, preventable by education. For this reason Jayneka decided to propose a girl’s empowerment project in the middle school as well as the community in which she lives. The 2011 Girl’s Empowerment Project was joined by a small group of Island School students at the start of the semester. All of these individuals have contributed to the planning of an event which will be held on Saturday, May 14th. Teenage girls from Deep Creek Middle School as well as the communities of Southern Eleutheraare invited to attend this event Continue reading
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As we walked past the death rock, Dave Philipp (advisory board member) spotted a school of bonefish. We quickly ran back to the boat with much excitement, our hearts pounding in our ears, and grabbed the seine net to began encircling the oncoming fish slowly and carefully As we enclosed the entire school of over 200 bonefish they erupted in a frenzy of silver flashes and tails splashing. We quickly had to grab each bonefish with either a dip-net or our bare hands and transfer them into a holding net. Continue reading
by Cacique James C.
We get down and dirty in Archaeology, especially since we’ve started the Phase II part of our project. We’ve completed the Phase I portion, which is a surface survey, and now we’ve begun Phase II, which are the more glorified Archaeological practices: digging and sifting. The “A-Squad,” as we’ve come to call ourselves, dug with reckless abandon today. We machetied our way through dense forest, clearing the north and south axis of our site, Continue reading