This past Saturday was the last day of orientation and, in my mind, the first day of the semester.  Of course we have been busy learning and doing for the past two weeks; but the final day of orientation is carefully planned to delineate critical phases of the semester journey.  For this reason, I’d like to share some thoughts that I wrote up last semester about the intentionality that goes into orientation and the semester as a whole here.  I also included a picture of the final signing of the IS Mutton Snapper, a symbolic act that represents every individual’s commitment to the semester community.

Some of you may hear about the timed run-swim we did yesterday and Monday when your son or daughter next phones home.  Given the limited amount of time you have for the phone call, you may be left wondering what the heck a run-swim is.  A run-swim is the quintessential IS exercise because it combines the two primary activities of our morning exercise training–running and swimming– and because it is a challenging workout fraught with obstacles.  Effectively, we just start going as fast as we can in one direction, doing anything it takes to keep moving.  So if there is land, we duck and weave around trees, branches, and rocks; if we hit the sea, we swim; if we come upon a wall, we clamber over it; and if there is a Continue reading →

“Proposing Not Imposing”

by Caciques Rachael Pridmore and Chris Lorient

What does it mean to be immersed in another culture? Today, at Island School, the students caught a glimpse of what it truly means, while spending a sun soaked day with the Deep Creek Middle School students. But first, to understand what this truly means, we must go back to the meaning of the word community. A community shares a sense of togetherness, while supporting each other through both encouraging words and actions. As a community, members give each other the ability to pursue their individual dreams while pushing them to greatness. This afternoon, Island School students went into Deep Creek for community outreach, a weekly activity at The Island School, just expecting to meet a buddy. Instead, we found a humbling and enriching new family among the students. The mentor-mentee role that was to be established, turned out to not be that one specific way. They had just as much Continue reading →

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Caciques: Hammy and Lea

Following Island School tradition, we started the last morning of orientation with a two-mile run to High Rock with a surprise at the end.  While all of us were exhausted from the run and baking from the sun, we were allowed to make the fifteen-foot jump off of High Rock.  Although some students were nervous and others were comfortable with the jump, we all jumped together signifying the unity within our community.  Feeling refreshed, Continue reading →

By Aly Boyce and Nate Smith

You can’t get much better than a nice morning bike ride. Winding through trees and bouncing over pot holes, the abbreviated student body, led by the trail blazer Matt Dawson, used this bike ride as a learning experience. Surrounding the school is an old resort that is now inhabited by a multitude of trees and exotic plants. With this bike ride under our belts, we are even closer in establishing our knowledge concerning the area which encompasses The Island School campus.  Yet amongst all the smiling faces, something was missing: the second half of our Island School family. Arising from the thunder clouds was none other than our comrades, the kayakers. Continue reading →

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“Tunnel Rock”  September 9, 2010

by Caciques Jackson Rafter and Sasha Whittle

For our second day of scuba, the campus was up early setting up their scuba gear, despite the sleep-in. After breakfast, each scuba group loaded the boats and took off quickly to finish the final required skills. The morning of skills felt long as we all anticipated the deeper and more adventurous dive. Each group raced back to the boathouse to switch out to their second tanks. Some of us struggled to complete 10 pushups with our tanks and gear on, punishment for leaving our tanks unsupervised. We cruised on our boats farther from the shore than usual, not being able to see the creatures that awaited us at the bottom. We grabbed the boats anchor line, many of us clenching with white knuckles nervous for our first Continue reading →

“Breaking Boundaries and Blowing Bubbles”

by Caciques George Giannos and Hunter Foote

Today was a melancholy day at The Island School. After breakfast over a picturesque ocean view on the roof of the dining hall, the second troop of kayakers departed, leaving the campus like a ghost town. After already being separated for three days, seeing our Island School family disperse again was heartrending. However, those of us on campus were filled with anticipation to start SCUBA. We began our SCUBA Continue reading →