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Cacique Update, Uncategorized

Cacique Update September 2, 2011

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“Facing Fears” – An honest reflection by Caciques William Sturrup and Claire Russell

At first when I walked into The Island School, I felt fear.  The fear of being in a new places with new people whose personalities were unknown. At first, I felt out of place and wanted to feel like I belonged, and when I finally felt this, I felt like I had successfully joined The Island School community.  In this community there are many different faces, heritages and morals but somehow we are all able to mingle, interact and relate to one another. This is what I believe gives the school the opportunity to grow and the students the opportunity to mature. – William

A few years ago I was a student, watching myself be transformed by a system of education, into a conformist. Continue reading →

Cacique Update

Cacique Update September 1, 1011

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by Caciques Connor Sullivan and Sam Saccomanno

We untied our shoes from the short jog to the triangle cut. We immersed our bodies into the warm Caribbean water for our first swim assessment. We were surrounded by squirming bodies awaiting the signal to start the assessment. “Three, two, one, start!” called Ashley, and we were immediately engulfed in kicking feet, clouds of bubbles, and salt water up our noses. After a few kicks to the head, the group spaced out and everyone found their respective place (which for Sam and I, was near the back). Throughout the near quarter mile swim, our technique gradually turned from a good quality breast stroke to a struggling doggy paddle. Although it was challenging, us two made it to the finish line.

After touring the campus,CEI, and the cape, we had down time, which was taken up by beach volleyball. Continue reading →

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Orientation Week Reflections

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“Breathtaking Oceans, Cramped Dorms and Incredible Heat”

by Griffin Hunt, Ihna Mangundayao, Jamie Perritt, Benjamin Beardsley, Katie Tapper

Over the past two days, 31 students have arrived from all over the world to meet breathtaking oceans, cramped dorms and incredible heat. Even though we all experienced the same oceans and similar views, no person’s experience of the past few days has been remotely comparable. Even as a small group of five, we were unable to come up with one single experience in which we all shared the same complex emotions– from jumping into the water for the first time and seeing a nurse shark on our casual 7am snorkel to the feeding frenzy in the pig pen to pretending to know the Bahamian national anthem as we joined around the flag pole as the sun rose.  Even though we were partaking in the same activities, each one meant something different to each of us.  Spending our first night in the dorm, shared with 6 or more other people, caused thoughts from home, fears of the weeks that lie ahead, and excitement for the unknown to race through our heads. Each of our fleeting thoughts faded into another, leaving us wide-awake in the middle of a pitch-black dorm room. Continue reading →

Cacique Update

Cacique Update August 31, 2011

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“The very first F.11 Cacique Update! “

by Caciques Madison Philipp and Brian Higgs

Walking along the road looking in the bushes and brush with our flashlights, we hear rustling a ways away. We run and see what we’ve been looking for. Stepping on it’s back and reaching behind its claws to grab it, we have finally caught a crab.

Crabbing was one of the first true Bahamian activities we were able to participate in. We were lead to a remote location by Justin, Joseph and Mooch. We split into groups with our flashlight and headlamps we went off to explore. Following goat trails we made our way through the trees and bushes seeing the environment around us. Walking along we see these massive holes in the ground. They were filled with leaves and water, and went about 10ft. down. Continuing along we duck under Continue reading →

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An Island School Teacher’s First Hurricane – A Reflection

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On the west coast we don’t get hurricanes. I grew up in Oregonwhere the weather is so predictable that it is almost boring. It rains. The rain begins in September and ends in June. It rains slow, drizzly drops that come and come and come, gradually and with persistence.  The weather never bursts or surprises.  It is not intense. The climate moves like a snail, like a banana slug, and I am pretty sure no one has ever been frightened by a banana slug.  So, when I signed my contract to teach at The Island School last summer, it honestly never occurred to me that something like a hurricane could happen here. Though, yes I knew intellectually—factually—that hurricanes hit this part of the world, but I never really connected that fact to my own reality until, well, about a week ago. Continue reading →

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Camden Hills, Day 3

Hello Y’all,
The Island School is an incredible place. We are all enjoying every moment we experience together and we’re really becoming a family.  It was our third full day in the Bahamas and the sunburns are kicking in, as well as the chafing. The bugs have attacked most of us… but that’s the lesson of this whole trip: to face the challenges that are thrown at us and embrace the lessons we learn from them. Continue reading →

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The first Cacique post by Camden Hills, visiting Educational Program

Hello Parents, Teachers, and Friends!

This is our second full day in the Bahamas, and I think I speak for everyone when I say that we are having one of the most incredible experiences of our lives. It is difficult to describe in words the time we are having, but it is unlike anything that we have ever experienced before. It is not what I would describe as a vacation- it is much more like an expedition. Continue reading →

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Island School Teachers Sail to The Exumas

[slideshow]

When you smile with a snorkel mask on your face water trickles in through the wrinkles next to your nose and slowly fills up the mask with water. If you are SCUBA diving this means you have to look up towards the surface and breathe out through your nose to clear the mask of water. The more you smile or laugh the more you clear your mask until, if you are playing underwater backgammon against your friend Benny Urmston, you are stuck in a downwards spiral of dice rolling, hand signals (not always polite), laughing, and mask clearing.

Last week, three Island School teachers and a friend sailed from Eleuthera to the Exumas to explore the Land and Sea Park and enjoy a few days off before semester prep. Continue reading →

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South Eleuthera Kids Camp

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A few weeks ago the Educational Programs team had the pleasure of running our longest standing camp, The South Eleuthera Kids Camp (SEKC) for a five day event filled with wild fun, good times, and most importantly, some powerful learning moments. SEKC is a camp run yearly during the summer for local Eleutharan children to get a first hand experience of all that goes on at the Cape Eleuthera Institute and the Island school. Continue reading →

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Apprentice Profile: Troy Williams

Troy Williams or Rock Sound is part of the Bahamian Apprentice Programme and works with Spencer and Sam. He shares some of his experience below:

My name is Troy Williams and I am an apprentice at the Island School. I work with two bright intelligent fellows: Sam and Spencer. It is my job to make sure that the pressure area stays in top shape. Which means that everything has to be sorted out in its right place but most importantly that it stays clean. From time to time I would work in the wood shop and assist Chris with work that he is doing. I am able to do this because I take a wood shop class in school and I am really good at it.