All posts by islandschoolblog

Alumni, Events

Island School Alumni & Admissions Teams Hit the Road!

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The leaves are changing, fall is in the air, and The Island School is on the road! The admissions and alumni relations teams, made up of Sharon Jarboe, Hannah Mauck, and Cam Powel, are road tripping through New England this week visiting some of our students’ sending schools, as well as our Island School alumni enrolled in universities along the East Coast. We will be writing blogs at the end of each day, complete with pictures, videos, and tweets of our travels!

When we visit the secondary schools, we will make a presentation to the student body and meet with some staff members so they get a better idea of The Island School program. This week, we will be visiting the following schools: Rocky Hill School (East Greenwich, RI), the Wheeler School (Providence, RI), Middlebury Union High School (Middlebury, VT), Hanover High School (Hanover, NH), Yarmouth High School (Yarmouth, ME), Freeport High School (Freeport, ME) and North Yarmouth Academy (Yarmouth, ME).

At the various universities we visit along the way, we are getting together with our Island School alumni Continue reading →

News

Pam & Chris Meet Ross Perot

During their Island School Admissions Receptions tour across the state of Texas, Island School founders Pam and Chris Maxey had the opportunity to meet with Ross Perot in Dallas and thank him for his early support. Back in 1990, Perot personally hired Chris Maxey to work at Perot Systems when he was returning from working for the military in Panama. Chris eventually left that position to pursue a career in education which led him and Pam to founding The Island School and its sister organizations, Deep Creek Middle School and Cape Eleuthera Institute. Pam and Chris also were introduced to the Perot Museum of Nature and Science in Dallas,  Continue reading →

Cape Eleuthera Institute, research

Game, Set, Patch!

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By: Korinna Garfield, Sam Hastings, Atalanta von der Schulenburg, Maggie Bland, & Nathaniel Millard

[slideshow]

Hello! We are team Patch! On this research project we are looking at the spatial and temporal abundance of fish species in Eleuthera, here in the Bahamas. Patch reefs are transitional juvenile habitats for fish after their early life in mangroves. One of the main reasons we are conducting this research, is to see if it is necessary that an MPA be established near Cape Eleuthera, based upon the fish population and habitat trends in the area. We hypothesize that patch reefs will have a higher fish biomass the closer they are to mangroves, there will be an increase in lionfish (an invasive species), and  Continue reading →

Cape Eleuthera Institute, research

Sea Turtle Team

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[slideshow]

Sea turtles are on the endangered species Red List. The most common species of turtle found in the Bahamas is the green turtle, which we are studying. Previous studies in the Bahamas have included nutrition, grazing, growth rates, and abundance, but none have been conducted on Eleuthera. Our study is currently being conducted just north of Rock Sound in Half Sound, on the Atlantic side of the island. The purpose of our study is to investigate the abundance, size, and distribution of green sea turtles in Half Sound and our hypothesis is that areas with an abundance of sea grass will have dense turtle populations. We have two main methods that we’ve used so far in order to catch these turtles. The first is by boat, in which we take a small skiff to Half Sound. We ride Continue reading →

Uncategorized

Learning About The Island School Cisterns in Math Class

By Cate Ellison

In our math classes this past week, we have been learning about the cisterns around campus that store our water. We learned about the five cisterns underneath buildings that we are currently using as well as a cistern underneath a building under construction on campus that will shortly be put into use. Water is a resource that we use everyday at The Island School, and it is really interesting to learn how the cisterns work, and how our individual water use affects the entire water supply.

[slideshow]

At first, the idea of measuring our useable water based on the amount of rain, capacity of cisterns, and surface areas of roofs was a whole new concept to me, something that I had never thought of before. In our math classes, we talked about how daily rainfall multiplied by the surface area of the roofs that drain into the cisterns is the total volume of the cistern, but not the total useable water in the cisterns because we aren’t actually able to use all of the water in a cistern. Continue reading →

Educational Programs

GAP Program Update #4

By Philip Beardsley

After a week of exploring, camping, and simply being at one with nature, we are finally back to civilization – or so it seems. Kayak trip…what an experience.

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On Monday of last week, 5 members of the Island School community embarked on a journey that will never be forgotten. After much anticipation, preparation, and thought, it was finally time to leave. Not a single ripple on the water or cloud in the sky – what better conditions could we have asked for? After a long day of kayaking, sunshine, and positive vibes, we finally reached our first camping spot for the trip, Plum Creek. It was Continue reading →

Alumni, Alumni Spotlight

Alumni Spotlight: Liza Morse (F’09)

Fall 2009 alumna and Grinnell College sophomore, Liza Morse, has been a leader affecting change both in classes as a biology and Spanish major, and in her extra-curricular activities. As a first year at Grinnell last year year she received a stipend for being the on-campus advocate for the organization Food & Water Watch. She also was elected Chairperson of the Student Environmental Committee for this year. In addition, this past summer she worked for the American Bird Conservancy in Washington, DC.

As part of Food and Water Watch, Liza acted as the Campus Coordinator for their Take Back the Tap Campaign, which aims to eliminate bottled water from campuses and encourage reusable water bottles, as well as to educate the student body regarding water issues (water privatization, fracking, etc.). You can read more about the campaign here!

As the Chair of the Student Environmental Committee this year, Liza has been running weekly meetings where the committee plans on-campus events for students and Continue reading →