by Cacique Annie Blanc

Rolling backwards off my SCUBA boat, watching my world turn upside down and fill with bubbles, I thought again about what I would be doing had I been at home right at that moment. Probably sitting in math class, being talked at by a teacher who still doesn’t know my name. I begin my descent into the underwater world, buddy by my side, still finding it difficult to realize that I’m in class right now. My Island School experience has been a series of challenges, like gathering the courage to jump off of High Rock, or go SCUBA diving for the first time. When I think about my two and a half weeks all together, I find it hard to pick out particular moments. There are too many moments to choose from – they all just form together to make a journey that I’ve only just begun, but can already tell will be one of the most important journeys of my life. I haven’t even been here for three weeks, and I already feel as if this community has been eating lunch, doing dishes, and having Harkness discussions together for three years. My Island School experience so far has been one of new beginnings, perfect blue skies, and more laughter than I ever could have imagined. It’s been one of bugs, warm water, sand (EVERYWHERE), and extreme heat…and I wouldn’t change a single second of it.

Hello Hello!

As many of you know, there is an Island School gem located in NJ called The Island School Lawrenceville Office (aka “The Lville Office”).  It’s a small but lively place that has been there since the beginning of the IS journey in 1999.  These days we are growing and there are 4 awesome employees that make the Lville Office tick: Pam Maxey (co-founder), Mary Assini (S00), Hannah Mauck (F04) and Scott Aland (S05).  You may or may not notice that alumni are slowly taking over…

But lets get to the important business of this post–The Lville Office (plus Chris Maxey and Christian Henry) are doing a sprint triathlon for charity on October 2nd and we want you to join us!!!!  You can run, swim, bike, do all three, or just cheer!  Us office mates will be completing the full event but you can find some pals and do it as a relay group.  The event is called the Treasure Island Sprint Triathlon and you can read more about it and register by clicking here.

So dust off those half-marathon shoes, pump up your tires, and find your good ole pair of IS board shorts and meet us on the Jersey Shore on October 2nd!  And don’t worry, this is just the first of a number of Lville Office events so if you can’t make it this time, there will be another.

Hope to see you there and don’t be stranger and drop by the office some time!

–The Island School Lville Office Team

p.s. Also, if anyone is doing the Philadelphia Rock n Roll Half Marathon on Sunday September 18th, let us know!  Both Scott and Mary are summoning their IS experience and training, and giving 13.1 another shot and would love to meet up with you!

Want to make a big difference in small way? It’s easy, especially with GoodSearch.com! Instead of using Google or other search engines, you can use GoodSearch and with each search, a penny is donated to your charity of choice. The Cape Eleuthera Foundation is lucky to be one of those charities, so each time you search you can help us out down on the Cape. It’s amazing how fast the pennies can add up! Have a good weekend and happy searching!

Check out these moments from our very first round of an Island School tradition: the timed run-swim…

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Our Caciques, Zeke and Lincoln gathered the community for a mid- day circle and instead of raising the Bahamian flag as we normally do, they raised the American flag to half mast out of respect for all those who were lost 10 years ago in the tragic attacks at the Wold Trade Center and the Pentagon, as well as the lives lost in Pennsylvania on Flight 93.  After singing the US national anthem, we paused for a moment of silence to remember and appreciate the freedom that we all enjoy.