The Island School is proud to announce the launch of the Putting Schools to Work website. This consortium of like-minded institutions that focus on teaching leadership by allowing students to tackle real world problems and issues through research and human ecology projects serves as a model of what education can be, when schools get out of the way. The projects featured on this site were presented at the first Leadership in Education conference held at The Island School in the Spring of 2011. Putting Schools to Work is a component of a new Wilson Family Center for Leadership in Education funded by Floyd and Kim Wilson. We invite you to watch videos, read articles, and learn more about what other schools and programs are doing to empower students, all on this site. Enjoy!
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Make An Island School Presentation at Your School!
We are always encouraging students to make presentations about The Island School when they return to their sending schools after their semester. Not only does it help make their transference back home a bit smoother to have others understand some of their experiences from this semester abroad, but it also gets the word out about The Island School, Cape Eleuthera Institute, Deep Creek Middle School, and all the amazing things we are doing here. We are especially proud of Katie Harpin, a recent Fall 2011 alumna, for sharing her Island School experience with her Taft School peers. Each Tuesday and Thursday during the school year, all Taft students gather for Morning Meeting. In addition to talks by the headmaster, chaplain or other members of the faculty, students themselves often address the school. You can listen to Katie’s speech during a January 26th Morning Meeting here. Great job, Katie!
Gap Program Update #2: Evolution of a CEI Intern
If evolution is a transformative process, then who’s to say we aren’t evolving everyday?
As our third week here at CEI comes to a close, all of the gap year interns are beginning to naturally expand into our own place here. We all have developed and begun to find our place in the community at the Cape Eleuthera Institute; some of these changes we discover together, and some we can only find on our own.
This week we all brainstormed on ideas for our Independent Student Project, or ISP, which is the research or outreach project that we want to dedicate our time here to. Gap interns Sarah and Lulu are joining the Shark Team, I am joining the Lionfish team, Shaquel is focusing on gathering data on local knowledge of CEI projects, and Jon and Cole are developing an independent project studying filter feeders. The unfolding of each of our interests is becoming more apparent!
As we make these decisions, we are having plenty of fun in the meantime. SCUBA! This week we are working on Advanced Open Water Scuba, which involves a boat dive, deep dive, night dive, naturalist dive, and navigation dive. Here’s a drawing I did of the scuba transformation!
Job and Internship Opportunities with the Cape Eleuthera Island School
We are currently accepting applications for a number of positions with The Island School, Cape Eleuthera Institute, and Deep Creek Middle School. Please see below for each position for more information and links to applications.
Island School Teaching Positions
The Island School is currently accepting applications for full-time Literature, Histories, and Mathematics teachers for the 2012-2013 school year. More information about the job and how to apply can be found on our website.
Island School Master Teacher in Residence
The MTiR position is a semester-long position designed for educators with at least 8 years if experience who are craving the opportunity to mentor young teachers and experiment with vanguard ideas in teaching. The Island School is currently accepting applications for master teachers in all disciplines for the 2012-2013 school year. More information about the job and how to apply can be found on our website.
Island School Teaching Fellowships
Year-long teaching fellowships are great entry opportunities for young professionals new to teaching. The Island School is currently accepting applications for fellows in all disciplines for the 2012-2013 school year. More information about the job and how to apply can be found on our website.
Deep Creek Middle School Social Studies Teacher
In this position, you will utilize a variety of instructional strategies consistent with the DCMS mission to teach national curriculum and the core values of the school. Our curriculum and pedagogy allows for a lot of flexibility as teachers focus on the real world concepts, skills and values that the students will need to be successful community members. Place and project-based lessons with experiential components are used to engage students. For more information and how to apply can be found on our website.
Cape Eleuthera Institute Spring, Summer, and Fall 2012 Internships
The Cape Eleuthera Institute offers college students a solid internship program that provides real work experience, professional development, outdoor exploration activities, and access to professional networks while living on a beautiful green campus with diverse people from all over the world. For more details and to apply online visit our website. Limited scholarship opportunities are available.
Personal Statement from a NYHS Student’s Trip to Island School
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The New York Harbor School (NYHS) is a public high school located on Governors Island off the southern tip of Manhattan. Founder, Murray Fisher, connected with The Island School over 8 years ago during NYHS’s inception as a resource on how to develop a non-traditional education organization in a traditional setting. Over the years NYHS has sent numerous faculty members to The Island School’s annual Teacher Conference and has sent even more students to Eleuthera for semester, summer and SCUBA programs. Every winter, NYHS flies south to Eleuthera to complete SCUBA certification for its students. These kids use the skill to help do research back home. One of the major projects is the restoration of oyster beds in the Hudson–read more here! This February we hosted another great group and wanted to share one student’s personal reflection on the trip–it really highlights the value of our partnership and why we continue to find ways to help it grow.
“Here I am at the edge of our dive boat ready to make my first descent into the open water. Secluded on an island in the Bahamas with several other minority students, we are far from the low income urban environment in which we are used to living. I sit on the edge of the boat with my back against the wind while the cool Bahamian breeze sneaks under my ears and over my shoulders. I am so eager to get into the ocean and explore. It looks like a giant, sprawling pool. As the warm bright sun beams on my tight dive suit hugging my skin, a twenty pound air tank on my back, and my hair brushed into a tight ponytail, I think to myself how did I get here? Before this trip I never had the opportunity to venture outside of the U.S. Continue reading
Alumni Spotlight: Katie Romanov F05!
After leading Middlebury’s Solar Decathalon team to an impressive fourth place finish in 2011, Katie Romanov (F05) is now in the running to be America’s Next Eco-Star, a contest sponsored by Smart Power. You can watch Katie’s video here, where she not only talks about the impact her Island School semester had on her passion for the environment, but the many other activities she has been involved in throughout her high school and college careers that would make her the most qualified candidate for this contest. Be sure to vote for Katie so that she can become America’s Next Eco-Star! Good luck Katie!
Alumni Mentor Position for Summer Term 2012
Hey all you alums out there! We are still accepting applications for Summer Term 2012 Alumni Mentors. Island School is looking alumni who want to come back to the Cape, gain teaching experience, and support high school students through this intense summer journey. To read more about the job description, responsibilities, and to apply, click here. The application deadline is February 15. If you have any questions, please contact alumni@islandschool.org.
Gap Year Program Update #1
Hi everyone! My name is Sarah Meyer, and I’m one of six students participating in the Spring 2012 Gap Year Program. We’re nearing the start of our third week here, but it seems like we’ve been here much longer than that because we’ve been so busy!
So far, we’ve been spending a lot of time being exposed to many of the research groups at CEI, such as the aquaponics, aquaculture, patch reef, lionfish, and shark teams. It’s nice to have the ability to “scope out” the different aspects of each group before we decide which one interests us most; after we pick a team, we will choose a mentor who will help us with our Independent Student Project that we’ll complete by the end of our semester. Continue reading
Another Successful IS Admissions Reception–Easton, MD
We had yet another great Winter Reception held in Easton, Maryland at the Koch’s home on January 31. There was a great turn out from many interested families and a few familiar faces: Charlie Fitchner (F’10), Scott Endzel (F’10), Kristen Treat (Su’10) and Skyler Hopkins (F’02). Long-time friends and supporters of The Island School, Tom Stanley and Jennifer Stanley also attended the reception and received Cape Eleuthera Foundation pins. A big thank you to Chris and Sarah Koch for hosting such a fun and successful event!
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More Baby Fish Have Arrived!
On Friday, January 27th half a million eggs arrived from Miami, Florida! They were placed in an incubation tank, where they hatched early Saturday morning. To the naked eye they looked like pieces of rosemary floating in the water. But under the microscope you could see the egg sack that was encased around the head and the tail was sticking out. The bottom of the tank was siphoned in order to get rid of the unhatched eggs and dead larvae. This is very important because if they were left in the tank bacteria can grow, which can kill the larvae. After determining how many larvae were alive, they were then transferred into six larval rearing tanks. They will obtain their food from their egg sack for three days. Cobia develop after they hatch, which means their mouths are very small and in turn can only eat rotifers for the first couple of weeks. They will eat enriched rotifers for about three weeks and then move onto eating artemia for another 45 days. Once they start growing more we will be able to wean them onto dry food and then eventually bring them out to the offshore cage that is fitted with shark resistant netting that was donated by DSM Dyneema!
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