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Kalin Griffin Attends Rotaract District 7020 Conference

The Island School and Cape Eleuthera Institute’s Chief of Staff, Kalin Griffin, attended Rotaract District 7020 Conference in Montego Bay, Jamaica last week from May 31-June 4. She represented the Rotaract Club of Eleuthera, Rotary Club of Eleuthera. Chartered on September, 11, 2011 and sponsored by the Rotary Club of Eleuthera, the Rotaract Club of Eleuthera is a non-profit service organization affiliated with Rotary International. Kalin Griffin is secretary of the Rotaract Club of Eleuthera and Tyson Morley is the incoming president. CEI’s Josh Shultz is also a member.

The Rotaract District 7020 conference features seminars on leadership, community service, and career development. The 47 clubs that make up District 7020 represent over 10 countries in the Caribbean region and three different languages. The Rotary Club of Eleuthera and Rotary Club of Rancho Cotati Foundation sponsored the Rotaract’s trip.

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Cape Eleuthera Institute, CEI, Educational Programs

Pacific Ridge School’s First Few Days at The Island School

The past two days have been primarily taken up with learning about and surveying green sea turtles in the local sounds and creeks. We began yesterday with a mini-class taught by Lucie, a researcher at CEI completing a baseline survey on turtle populations in South Eleuthera.  We learned that there are 5 different species in the area–Green, Olive Ridley, Loggerhead, Leatherback and Hawksbill–though some are more abundant than others.  All of the species are protected under international treaties, though very little is known about their populations, migratory habits, etc.

After learning about the turtles and how Lucie conducts her studies, we headed out to Jack’s Bay to do our first survey.  We hiked in to the beach and got picked up to go out to the seagrass beds where the turtles usually hang out.  Spotting turtles requires two people to stand on the bow deck of the boat and look in the seagrass for turtles.  It is not an easy job, but once we all saw one turtle, it was much easier to spot them.  We saw a few from the boat (and we were all really excited!), but when we got in to snorkel with them, they had all disappeared!  We were a little bummed to miss swimming with the turtles, but Lucie assured us that the next day would be even better at Half Sound.

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Today (Tuesday), we woke up and completed a run-swim for our morning exercise.   Continue reading →

Deep Creek Middle School

Community Outreach Event on Haitian Bahamian Relations A Great Success!

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Over the course of the semester we have worked closely with Deep Creek Middle School to help improve problems facing the community here on Eleuthera. Our group assisted Moesha Leary’s project on Haitian Bahamian relations in attempts to combat the discrimination of Haitians in The Bahamas. Moesha, her DCMS peers, and their Island School Community Outreach buddies planned an event to educate the community about Haitians’ culture and to celebrate the similarities and differences between Haiti and The Bahamas. The event was a success and had a great turn out. Many people were inspired by what they saw and heard there. They left with a new perspective of the Haitian community in The Bahamas. The documentary “Can You See Us?”  which chronicles the struggles of young Haitian Bahamians and the discussion that followed the film were among the highlights of the night. The evening had a fiery ending as both the Bahamian and the Haitians gave performances specific to their cultures including a fire show. It united the beauty of the two cultures and brought people together. You can read more about the event in an article in The Eleutheran newspaper here.

- Kira, Kyle, Will, Moesha, & Dana

Alumni, Alumni Spotlight

Jack Burnham (F08) Receives Grant to Write About Asteroid Mining

IS alumnus, Jack Burnham (F08) was recently featured on 60 Minutes for the interesting work he has been doing throughout this past year. Right after completing his senior year at Northfield Mount Hermon, Jack received a Peter Thiel Fellowship, which is a grant that has allowed him to write about mining asteroids, in place of pursuing the traditional college route. You can watch the entire clip on Jack, and other Peter Thiel fellows, here! Congratulations, Jack!

Alumni, Alumni Spotlight

Alumni in Action: Horatio Smith (F02) Gives Back–to the IS Kitchen!

Island School alumnus and Alumni Advisory Board member, Horatio Smith (F02) has returned to The Island School on a number of occasions. Currently, Horatio is providing professional development to the kitchen team to celebrate it as a classroom where students can become more involved with healthy menu choices. Horatio owns Nelly’s Deli, a restaurant and catering business in Nassau and has been helping the kitchen become a place of learning for Island School students and visiting Educational Programs by stressing the importance of using local foods in The Bahamas. In addition, the kitchen has recently begun to cater more and more special events and Horatio is coaching the kitchen team to take these events to the next level by inventing new and creative dishes and menus. Horatio says “The school has done so much for me. And that fact that I even have an opportunity to share my passion speaks volumes to the commitment the school has to its alumni. The passion that I have for life and Culinary Arts is largely part to the experiences of cooking in the kitchen with Mooch and Becca and caramelizing nuts over a camp fire on my 8 day kayak trip. Being able to give back in this way ensures that the veal lives on.”

Thank you, Horatio, for your hard work and dedication to The Island School and especially to the kitchen and its staff!

Alumni, Cape Eleuthera Institute

BESS Alumni Bradley Watson (F08) and Garneisha Pinder (F10) Studying Biodigestion in China

Two Island School and BESS alumni, Bradley Watson (F08) and Garneisha Pinder (F10) have been given the opportunity of a lifetime to travel to China for 6-weeks to study biogas production at the BIOMA Institute. After the Chinese Ambassador to The Bahamas, Hu Shan, visited The Island School for the opening of Cape Eleuthera Institute’s Hallig House, he offered for two Bahamian students to travel to China to study biodigestion with all expenses paid by the Chinese Embassy. Below are some of Bradley’s initial thoughts. Check back in a few weeks for another update from China!

On my return from a semester of studying Buddhism and Plant Taxonomy at the College of Charleston I received an email offering me an opportunity to go to China and study Biogas production at the BIOMA institute. At first I was filled with disbelief and then excitement took its place. This course that the Chinese Government offered for two Bahamian students would include people from other developing countries like Dominica, Columbia, Ghana, Niger, Venezuela, Nepal, Tanzania, and others. The last time I heard about biogas production was at the Island School while I was mentoring students during its first summer semester as the first stages of their bio digestion project began. The first time I was exposed to the concept of producing methane gas from organic wastes like sewage and agricultural by-products must have been in some documentary or reading that is now only a foggy memory. I had no idea that I would get a chance to gain a technical understanding of how these systems work from such seasoned practitioners as the professors of the BIOMA Institute who had taught 47 of these courses previously. With my goal of improving the sustainability of the Bahamian lifestyle in mind I could hardly imagine all the benefits of two young scientists being exposed to such a program, and for 56 days!

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One of the benefits I could imagine was an improved waste treatment system to reduce Continue reading →

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Congratulations Ben and Laura Dougherty!

We are happy to announce the arrival of Mia Grace Dougherty last night at 10:42pm. Her parents, Ben and Laura Dougherty, taught at IS from F’06-S’09 and this is their first baby. They welcome her to the family along with their dog, Siena. Laura and Ben currently live in Leadville, CO and work at the High Mountain Institute. We welcome Mia as the newest member of The Island School family!  Congrats to Laura and Ben!!!

Cape Eleuthera Institute, CEI

Carleton University Students Studying Thermal Tolerances in the Checkered Puffer Fish and Bonefish at CEI

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Two students from Carleton University in Ottawa, Felicia St-Louis and Petra Szekeres, will be on The Island School campus until June 19th collecting data for their research on the thermal biology of the checkered puffer fish (Sphoeroides estudineus) and bonefish (Albula vulpes). Over her short visit this past February, Felicia was able to validate intra-muscular cortisol injections as a method of increasing blood cortisol (i.e. a stress hormone) to ecologically relevant levels in the checkered puffer for her MSc project. She is examining the effects of short-term cortisol elevation on the thermal biology of the puffers in the lab as well as in the field. By building a thermal profile of Page creek and releasing puffers tagged with thermal logging iButtons within the creek for a one month period, she will be able to compare habitat preferences between control and cortisol-dosed puffers. Continue reading →

Alumni

IS Alumna in Ohio Headed to College

Hathaway Brown School seniors and Island School alumna, Louise Shiverick (F’10), Gaby Glicksman-Graham (S’10), and Sarah Young (F’09) took this photo on college t-shirt day where seniors wear an article of clothing from the school they plan to attend next year. Louise is going to Trinity, Gaby to Colorado College, and Sarah to Dartmouth. Congratulations, girls!

If you are a high school senior and have not told us your plans for next year, please let us know by emailing alumni@islandschool.org!