It is yet another day on Eleuthera and the wind continues to blow with the promise of a storm, and hopefully more much-needed rain to fill the cisterns. Just the other day, as I walked onto sunset beach with a group of my classmates, we were joking about tourists and how we are now past the point of being considered one by ourselves and hopefully those around us. After this brief conversation none of us really gave another thought as to our role here on Eleuthera and the role of a tourist; that is, until Literature class. With all the craziness that kayak rotation brings, it also includes the switching around of classes, schedules and even curriculum  In Literature class, we have temporarily put our reading of Omeros on hold and embarked on a new task (reading Omeros is quite a challenging task), the reading of A Small Place by Jamaica Kincaid. I certainly was not expecting to be significantly impacted by this short, 80 page book; however, to my surprise the words within the two covers of A Small Place had far more meaning than most likely any other book I have ever read. Continue reading →

by new blog contributor Phoebe Shaw:

Last night forty-six of us sat quietly in the library, hurriedly trying to finish our mountains of work. Though this past week has been one of the most difficult yet in terms of academic stress, with our oral histories project due as well as another complex marine ecology essay, none could focus solely on homework. There was a sadness lurking in everyone’s mind that after breakfast today, only 24 of us will remain in our small community here on campus. Given the intimacy of this environment, in just over one month we, the students and faculty, have grown closer than I could have ever imagined. With that said, the departure of kayak and down island groups this morning with undoubtedly leave a conspicuous gap in this place that I think we all can now call home.

As I sat on my bunk last night thinking and reflecting on all of the goodbye hugs we had given each other in the girls dorm just in case we didn’t get the chance today, a terrifying thought struck me. This coming Friday marks the end of our seventh week here at The Island School; the halfway point. Continue reading →

Yesterday was not a typical Monday. After a morning of Literature and Histories class we headed to Deep Creek Middle School for our community outreach. Like always, it was great to work with our DCMS buddies on achieving something that will actually make a difference in South Eleuthera. Unfortunately, it was the last time we would see them for three whole weeks due to kayak and down island trips. Because we’ve only had community outreach four or five times one might think that saying goodbye to each other for three weeks wouldn’t be hard; it was. Another memory I have from yesterday that really showed me how much of a bond we have built with our buddies is when Emily and I gave our buddy Demetria cake and cards for her birthday. Her face lit up and I’ve never seen a smile that wide and bright in my life. She threw her arms around us and thanked us, we hugged her back and thanked her for being such a great and positive buddy. Continue reading →

After yet another exciting weekend I find myself writing to you all on the dining hall deck. This weekend was exciting for a variety of reasons. On Saturday, we had morning classes and then midterm meeting after lunch. For a period of 5 hours students were streaming in and out of the dining hall area checking in with each teacher for 15 minutes each. The meetings were a great chance to individually talk to your teachers about not only how you’re doing in terms of grades in their class, but what they feel are your strengths, as well as what they think you need to work on. Students also used the feedback they received from their teachers to write a reflective midterm report letters to their parents; one I’m sure most of you will be receiving soon. After the very last letter was “Drop-boxed” onto the server, we could begin our Saturday night festivities! Our weekly Cacique (Harrison, Connor, Chris, Remington, and Cate) planned an optional night snorkel off of boy’s dorm beach with a bonfire too. Continue reading →

It’s looking like another breezy and beautiful day here in Eleuthera. The vibe on campus is refreshing and energetic after a morning run-swim. There’s something inspiring about exercising as the sun rises. Every time I took a breath while swimming this morning, my head was greeted by a gradual glowing sun. We started the run-swim in the gray-blue dark sky, and by time we got out of our final cut, the sun was at a pleasant height, casting it’s bright glow across the ocean.

As you all have probably learned, research takes up the entire afternoon on Thursdays. Because we have so much time with our research groups, Thursdays are almost always field days. However instead of entirely field work, some of yesterday’s class was spent preparing for our Project Introduction Presentations. Today, every research group is presenting their projects to their fellow students, faculty, and some scientists at CEI. It’s a chance to inform everyone of what we have been spending so much time and effort on. After much preparation today is this big day, and I cannot wait to learn about every ones projects. Continue reading →

I’m a big fan of Mondays. From sunrise to sunset they’re full of productive, exciting, adventurous, inspiring memories. At my sending school, Mondays would be full of groans and complaints because it was no longer the weekend; not here. Yesterday we started out with a choice between yoga and soccer for morning exercise. Feeling very tight and slightly stressed because I had zero clue what was going on in Omeros, I chose yoga. It was so refreshing and I felt 100% better afterwards. I remember looking around the room yesterday while we were all trying our hardest to a seemingly impossible position called “crow,” laughing with each other, encouraging each other, and realizing how close we have got over the past month. Continue reading →

This past Saturday was one of my favorite memories since I’ve been here. After a pretty strenuous hour and a half long run for me, our first long morning exercise with our tracks, we had our final Settlement Day. Usually we head to our assigned houses/areas in the afternoon, but because this was our last one, we got to leave at 9:15 and stay the whole day! While some students grew weary of  7 hours exploring settlements, Lexi, Cate, Brian, Tom and I spent the day a woman named Toya Carey, one of the most, if not the most hospitable, kind, and generous person I have ever met. Our day included meaningful conversations about her family and her community, baking lemon pound cake and strawberry cheesecake from her mother’s top secret recipe, and ordering grouper fingers and fried conch from her favorite local restaurant. Despite the difference of age and background, we all got along so well and had such a wonderful time. When John came to pick us up at 4 for the cook out, there was an unspoken but obvious sadness about saying goodbye – so we didn’t. We decided that there was no way we could take the pound cake to the cook out, and the cheesecake wasn’t completely ready, so we planned to swing by to say bye and pick up the cakes afterwards.

[slideshow] Continue reading →

Good morning family and friends of the Island School! Due to a special and unique experience that occurred Wednesday morning, chores haven’t been done since Tuesday. Thus, no blog. I left off Tuesday, a day full of classes, meals, and the first research day of the week. Although Tuesdays may be one of the most “average” days of the week here at The Island School, they always seem to be full of excitement because that’s when we’re introduced to the exciting things that we’ll be doing in the latter part of the week. For example, in Human Ecology, we got an introduction to Thursday’s class; cooking a meal made from local foods from a local farmer, that we would prepare and serve for the whole island school community. Tuesdays are also Community Meeting days, where we talk about subject regarding the community. This week we explored and discussed our different leadership styles.

On Wednesday morning, the students and staff got an opportunity that few, especially for most of us, will ever get to experience. Continue reading →