All posts by islandschoolblog

Introducing New Director of Admissions, Sharon Jarboe!

The Island School is pleased to announce that a new director of admission, Sharon Jarboe, has joined the leadership team. Co-founder and former Director of Admission Pam Maxey is excited to pass the torch on to Sharon, who takes on the new role this fall. While Pam remains in New Jersey working with the admission team this year, Sharon’s hire will enable Pam’s transition into a broader role including more development work and more time on-island in Eleuthera.

Sharon joins The Island School having just received her M.Ed in educational leadership from the University of Pennsylvania. Most recently she served as associate director of admission and financial aid at The Pennington School in New Jersey. At Pennington, Sharon spearheaded initiatives using strategic events, travel, and financial aid in order to increase the diversity of the applicant pool and student body at the school. She also designed, launched, and taught two Mandarin language programs there and brings a history of helping students bridge cultural differences by working creatively within an institution.

Sharon joins our team eager to work collegially and help us take the admissions work to the next level. It was apparent during the interview process and her participation in The Island School’s summer Teacher Conference that Sharon shares The Island School’s forward thinking approach to experiential learning and educational philosophy and practices. Sharon remarked with enthusiasm, “I believe that I found my dream job, as I can not imagine a more rewarding opportunity to support young people as they embark on this transformative journey.”

First Ever Monster Run-Swim!

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This weekend marked the first-ever Monster Run-Swim event at The Island School. The event took place on two courses: the normal Island School run-swim course, a sprint run-swim course with 1.7km of running and 0.5km swimming, and a ‘Monster’ course featuring a 7.4km run and a 1.65km swim. Rooted in a uniquely Island School morning exercise, the run-swim drew alumni and friends of The Island School from the U.S. and Nassau, including Alumni Advisory Board members Meg Bunn (F’01), Nick Del Vecchio (F’02), Kate Parizeau (F’03), and Johann Schdeit (SP’02). Many participants relished opportunity to revisit the course, sometimes for the first time since being a student, while at the same time knowing they were supporting the Deep Creek Middle School.

Despite some difficulty for participants to reach the remote location, the first installment of the Monster Run-Swim was a success. Including some Island School students and staff who participated in the event, 64 individuals tested their ability to truly cross train. Finishing first overall was Scott Aland (SP’05), who completed the long course in just over one hour, and the first woman across the finish line was Island School student Hope Logan (F’12), who finished only a couple minutes behind.

Be sure to join us in the future for the next Monster Run-Swim!

CONCHtribution Has Begun!

CONCHtribution, the annual alumni giving campaign that raises money for the Cape Eleuthera Foundation’s Annual Fund, has officially begun! This year, the theme is Look Back, Give Back. While reflecting upon your experience as an IS student, we encourage you to look through old photos from IS and send a photo of yourself to alumni@islandschool.org, along with a current photo and a short description of where you are and what you’re doing. We will then post them on our new Pinterest page where other alumni can “look back” and be inspired to “give back” to this place that means so much to them. Click here to “Look Back” and here to “Give Back” now! Remember, it’s all about PARTICIPATION!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=kEiG8Zpiiu0

SP’12 Human Ecology Project on CEI’s Aquaculture Program

At the conclusion of every semester, Island School students break into small groups to focus on a single final Human Ecology project based on an particular interested that has developed throughout the semester. Spring 2012 students Brendan James, Liz Ellinger, Paul Henderson, and Kyle Forness studied the Cape Eleuthera Institute’s Aquaculture program and its history and created an informational and professional video for educational purposes. Check it out!

Alumni Spotlight: Eliott Wellenbach (F’11)

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We are always encouraging alumni to give back to The Island School, Cape Eleuthera Institute, and Deep Creek Middle School in any way that they can. Fall 2011 alum and avid lacrosse player, Eliott Wellenbach, found a unique way to give back that combined his love for Eleuthera with his love for the sport of lacrosse.

As soon as he returned from his semester in December 2011, he contacted us about holding a lacrosse camp at Deep Creek Middle School for kids in the nearby Bahamian settlements and immediately started collecting old lacrosse sticks and other lacrosse equipment donated from friends and family. He began creating practice plans and designing drills for these campers–most of whom had never even heard of lacrosse or seen a lacrosse stick.

In August, Eliott, his older sister Lilly, and his mother Pat headed down to Eleuthera Continue reading

Alumni Spotlight: Jan Shi (F’09)

Fall 2009 alum, Jan Shi graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy this past spring and instead of going straight to college this fall like most high school graduates, Jan deferred his acceptance to the University of Virginia and has taken the opportunity to spend the year traveling. As the recipient of the Phillips Exeter Academy Perrin Fellowship, a $10,000 fellowship awarded to an Exeter senior that supports a year of independent travel before college, Jan now finds himself preparing for his journey. On September 12th, he will begin his trip by traveling to Southeast Asia where he will stay for roughly nine months. Jan’s exact itinerary is flexible at this point, but he has plans to visit Thailand, Myanmar, Sumatra & Sulawesi (Indonesia), Borneo, and the Philippines. Jan hopes “to wander around the coastal regions and jungles of Southeast Asia to learn about the sea, environment, and other themes from my time at the Island School” and encourages people to contact him at jan.shi@me.com with suggestions or ideas for his trip! Good luck, Jan, and congratulations on this amazing opportunity!

Fall 2012 Kayak & Scuba Rotations

Orientation for Fall 2012 has ended and now the 47 students are diving right into kayak and scuba rotations. Check out this great panoramic photo taken from the Boathouse that shows it all: K1 and K2 packing their kayaks before heading out on their 3-day trips and K3 and K4 loading up the Cobia with their scuba gear for their first morning of certification dives!