We held our third annual Have One One Us Night for alumni last night in three cities across the U.S.: Boston, Denver, and New York City. It was a great opportunity for our alumni to reconnect with friends and also meet other Island School alumni from different semesters. Thank you to all who came out, especially our hosts, Kate Gibson Carey (F’04) in NYC and Drew Fink (F’05) and Nick Del Vecchio (F’02) in Denver!
Krissy Taft, a Spring 2009 Island School alumna, is in her final semester at Middlebury College and has been very focused on senior thesis, which concerns the efficient use of the solar panels located in Middlebury’s own solar panel field. We got in touch with Krissy to hear more about her impressive project and how she is truly being a leader effecting change.
“I am a physics major, and I’ve added my own focus in environmental studies. One of my favorite physics professors has been in charge of getting our field of solar panels working. I’m really interested in renewable energy, so I asked him if I could work with him this fall. One of the biggest issues with solar panels, second to their high cost, is that they are not very efficient at converting solar energy into electricity, so my professor and past students have been working to make our panels as efficient as possible.
Our system has a capacity of 140kW and consists of 34 solar trackers located in a field right behind our science center. Solar trackers can pivot around their posts, as well as adjust the angle of the solar panel. This allows us to point the panels exactly where we want to. On really sunny days, our computer system tells the panels to point directly where the sun is because that alignment allows them convert solar radiation into electricity most efficiently. Past physics theses have focused on this task of alignment on really sunny days. My project is actually looking at how our solar panels perform on cloudy days. When it is cloudy, light from the sun is scattered everywhere instead of coming down in direct rays. Our panels still point to where the sun is on cloudy days, but this might not be the most efficient alignment due to the fact that almost all the light coming from the sun is scattered at different angles.
My goal is to use data we’ve been collecting over the past two years to figure out how we should align our panels on cloudy days so that they operate with the highest efficiency. Hopefully whatever I find can be incorporated into the algorithms that tell our panels what to do every day!”
Congratulations to Krissy on her final semester at Middlebury and best of luck completing your senior thesis!
If you have an alumni spotlight story to share with The Island School, email alumni@islandschool.org.
For the past five years, the National Council of Teachers of English has declared October 20th the National Day on Writing. This holiday celebrates the importance of writing in our daily lives. Deep Creek Middle School decided to make the day international and devoted the afternoon to fun writing activities that fit with the theme, “Write My Community.”
The students rotated through three stations that focused on different writing styles. In one station, students wrote poems based on George Ella Lyon’s poem, “Where I’m From.” The students changed the words to describe life in The Bahamas, which Jade Knowles of Tarpum Bay enjoyed. “I like the ‘Where I’m From’ poems because you can describe yourself in a different and unusual way,” says Knowles.
Other activities included travel writing about Eleuthera or places they have visited, as well as writing book reviews. The emphasis was on writing for fun, without worrying about grades. Rock Sound’s Rekenley Preneus appreciated that aspect, saying, “There’s no right or wrong answer, so it feels comfortable.”
Deep Creek Middle School plans to continue celebrating the National Day on Writing in the future. Principal Odette Pretty says, “It’s nice to be international about creating a space for students to express themselves creatively and celebrate their inner writers.”
On Sunday night, nearly 50 interested students and families gathered at the home of Pat Wynne and Lou Valente (Jake S’10 and Cole S’14) in Princeton, New Jersey. Although our conversations were around warm and sunny Eleuthera, we took advantage of a beautiful, brisk, fall night and gathered outside to hear from Chris Maxey and Peter Zdrojewski. Cole Valente and Mackenzie Howe (both from Spring 2014) also shared their own experiences about The Island School.
We would like to extend a huge thank you to the Valente family who opened their home to The Island School and all our alumni who were able to answer questions for interested families.
Our next reception will be in Hanover, NH on Monday, October 27th. Please email Taylor Hoffman,taylorhoffman@islandschool.org, if you will be able to make it!
Tuesday, October 14, marked Day #50 of our semester, as well as the second day of 8-day Kayak trip rotations. On Monday, one quarter of the students left for their 8-day long kayak trip, and another quarter went on their down-island trip. The remainder of the students stayed on campus and had regular classes. During our study hours one of these nights, we were given the opportunity to go on a night dive. During the night, many creatures of the ocean that normally don’t show themselves during the day are out. The group that I was in saw two spotted moray eels, a massive spiny lobster, and several lionfish while the other group saw an octopus. Although these larger animals were interesting, the best part was when our instructor told us to turn off our lights and wave our hands around. When we did, many bioluminescents appeared, and their small yellow glows filled the space around me.
Jamie Frost
Coming into this semester, I knew it was going to be hard to leave. Because so many people from my school go to The Island School, I have seen dozens of kids come home and be absolutely depressed for weeks on end. Before coming, my mom told me several times that I shouldn’t be sad when I get home, just be happy that I got to come here and have the best experience of my life. I took that to heart and genuinely tried to convince myself that leaving wouldn’t be as hard as I thought it would be and that coming home would be exciting and long awaited. However, that attitude quickly changed upon arriving on campus and meeting all the inspiring people here. Just a few days ago, half of the students left on 3-day down island trips and 8-day kayak and solos. Even though we only had to say goodbye to each other for 11 days at most, it was hard to watch everyone embark on their journeys. Being on campus with only 26 of the 52 of us is weird. It is quieter, calmer and not having everyone here makes it feel empty because of how close everyone has become. However, it also presents a good opportunity to get to know a smaller group of people. Everyone here is so excited for the rest of our friends to return to campus so that we can make the rest of this semester as incredible as the beginning. It is going to be hard to leave this place, but we still have 48 days to make the best of our experience here.
Melinda Edie
Last Saturday night was our last weekend together before kayak rotations. It also happened to be the Wemyss Bight Homecoming, so we all piled into the bus and made our way 30 minutes down the island to the settlement of Weymss Bight. Once we arrived we made our presence known as we moved directly for the food stands and then to the dance floor. Wemyss Bight was where I spent my settlement days earlier in the semester so it was fun to wave hello to the people whom I had spent the last few Saturdays getting to know. Some of the Deep Creek Middle School students attended the homecoming and throughout the night we were giving high fives to our buddies and dancing with them. After the homecoming we came back to campus and everyone hung out in the boathouse. Sunday marked our last day together as a whole group. Everyone rushed to finish homework and jam in exploration time while packing for down island and kayak trips. Some people went to the beach, others explored the inner loop, and perhaps the most popular was going down current cut for the last time before it closed for the season due to sharks. Sunday night at dinner everyone had a letter waiting for them to be opened during their 48 hour solo. Earlier in the week we had all drawn a name, and we were given the task of writing a letter to the person whose name we drew. Everyone got really excited about the letter and many people not only wrote the person they had been assigned but also other friends. Monday morning was full of hugs and goodbyes, and gave us a taste for how it may feel to leave everyone at the end of the semester. As those of us with academics first waved goodbye to the kayakers as they left boathouse cut, it finally began to sink in that wouldn’t all be together for the next three weeks. Despite the fact that we will all miss being together, everyone is super excited for the upcoming trips and confident that when we do come back together, the community will be closer than ever.
Sierra Welly
The Island School has been so great, but the term is already halfway over. It feels like yesterday I was prepping to set out on my 3-day kayak expedition with K2, and I’m now about to start getting ready for 8-day with K4. It’s crazy to think that I’m not going to see some people for 3 weeks, and by then we’ll only have another month left. I still have to look at this optimistically. Even though it feels like the term is almost over because of kayak, Parents’ Weekend and final academic weeks, I still have half the term and it’s going to be great. Up to this point, I’ve learned and grown so much, and I still have the best parts to look forward to. I’m really looking forward to 8-day kayak and the solo, the Down Island Trip, Parents’ Weekend and the Research Symposium. After a stressful 5 weeks of academics including an insanely stressful midterm week, I’m ready to lose those stresses. Kayak and Down Island will be great. I’ll be spending a lot of time with a small group of people and I’m really looking forward to getting to know all of them so well. At the beginning of the term I dreaded solo, but my peers have gotten me really excited for that. Academics afterwards will be great, as I will be carrying out my Human Eco project and learning about environmental issues in the ocean in Marine Eco, which I really care about. In research I’ll be finishing my presentation and practicing it, as well as having fun field days to catch yellow rays at patch reefs. And as far as Parents’ Weekend goes, I’m super excited for it and just can’t wait to spend time with my family here. I know they’ll love it. Even though I’m sad that I’ll be leaving everyone I’ve made friendships with here in about 50 days, I’m really looking forward to those 50 days and making the most out of them.
Peter Aronson
The past few weeks here have been challenging, confusing and exciting. It has been a big adjustment to go from seeing my family and friends every day to being almost completely cut off from the rest of the world. So far, I am enjoying this experience and becoming better acquainted with the place in which I live. Speaking of that, dorm life has been a big adjustment. Boys dorm is divided into two sides, North and South, with a common room in between. Our beds are all in the same room and spaced about two feet apart from each other in rows. Living all together in a confined space gives us the need to share responsibilities for keeping the dorm clean and free of pests. Recently one of my dorm mates “disposed” of a rat, named Despereux, that had been terrorizing our dorm for a while. It was a day of joy for the dorm but one of sadness for the loss of his young life. In his honor we hung the dustpan he was killed with in the common room as a memorial. Yesterday, we had a deep clean due to someone having the need to eat muffins in bed. We were very productive and finished with enough time to go on exploration. Throughout these last weeks our dorm has bonded and learned to live with each other. This will change as we leave for kayak and break off into separate groups. This will be a great change to our normal routine and we will get to know some people better than we do now. I am very excited for the second half of my Island School experience and I am prepared for the hardships and joys ahead of us.
Bridger Royce
The place seems to glow. This is one of the most beautiful buildings I have seen so far on my trip here. The church has a stained wood ceiling with golden fans. A stage with beautiful pink and blue ribbons wrapped around the banisters. The chairs are wide, soft and cream colored; their appearance plays off the beautiful designs on the carpeted floor. The music is even more beautiful than the colors of the building. It speaks to the soul, that music, flowing in and out of harmony with the surrounding earth. Making my connection with God more and more physical. I go to church all the time at home. Coming here without my church family was a big step for me. I know I need a connection with God while I am away and I found it here. The service starts as we all come together in prayer, bowing our heads I realize that there is only one God and that He connects us all. We start to sing. The songs are out of a hymn book written in the 1920’s so it took me a while to get used to all the songs. We sing and we recognize how God has moved in our lives this week. Then the pastor speaks a message that is always exactly what I need to hear. God is good and He has shown me a new way to be closer to Him even though I’m not with my friends at home.
Lizzie Diehl
Last night, despite the rain, prospective students and their families made their way to the amazing home of Bentley Meeker (parent, Jensen Meeker Su’14) in New York City to learn more about The Island School.
Our all-star alumni, Jensen Meeker (Su’14), Kaven Marte (Su’14), and Evan Wood (S’11) answered questions and shared memories from their individual experiences at The Island School. There was lots of excitement among the interested students, especially the ones who are the first students to apply to IS from their high school.
We want to extend a huge thank you to Bentley and Jensen for hosting us last night! On Sunday, October 19 we will be in Princeton, NJ for another admissions reception. For information on that reception or to RSVP, email taylorhoffman@islandschool.org.
Since 2001, Deep Creek Middle School has supported its students in applying for scholarships to U.S. boarding schools as an alternative option to continuing with their high school education on Eleuthera. To date, 33 students have received over $4 million in awards at prep schools from Virginia to Maine.
This year, the five candidates were split into two groups visiting northern and southern schools. The northern group visited Lawrenceville, The Hill School, Tabor Academy, Brewster Academy, Lawrence Academy, Kimball Union Academy, and Northfield Mt. Hermon. The southern group visited The Pennington School, Perkiomen, Oldfields, Foxcroft, West Nottingham Academy, and Episcopal High School. The students had the opportunity to tour the schools and interview to begin the ninth grade in Fall 2015.
As the week progressed, the DCMS students became more confident in their interview skills and enlightened in what they are looking for in a boarding school. Trevonya Pinder of Waterford says, “After seeing the schools and what they offer, I am inspired and motivated. I am looking for a school that has small classes and a good music program.”
This trip was nine months in the making; students begin the boarding school process the January before the trip and adhere to rigorous standards to remain in the process. This includes an intensive boot camp to study for the SSAT exam and leadership positions in extracurricular activities. For the candidates, their hard work is beginning to pay off. Deep Creek’s Dashae Clarke says, “My favorite part of the trip was meeting the students and interviewers from the different schools. I could picture myself doing the activities that I saw the other kids doing. It made me feel like part of the boarding school family.”
Student Advancement Coordinator Megan Kelly chaperoned the southern group and had the opportunity to visit with DCMS alumni who are already enrolled in the schools. She says, “It is a gratifying experience to see our alumni excelling at their boarding schools. Every former DCMS student we met held multiple leadership roles at their schools: everything from being tour guides to team captains to class presidents.” This success proves that DCMS is preparing students for the rigors of the top schools in the United States.
The trip was enhanced by the hospitality of many Island School alumni families who hosted the students in home stays. Welcoming the DCMS students with Bahamian flags, photos from the Island School, and regional dining specialties, the students quickly felt at home. DCMS is grateful for the generosity of the Paget-Brown family (Heather F’14), the Gould family (Lauren F’12), the Keefe family (Hilary S’04, Andrew S’05, Brittany S’06, and Peter F’13), the McDonough family (current IS Fellow Tom S’08), the Howard-Gould family (Marcus S’13), the Sands-Bliss family (Maya F’13), and the Maxeys. The trip was made even better by the bonds formed with the host families!
We hope all our 21+ alumni in NYC, Denver and Boston can join us for the 3rd annual Have One On Us Night on Thursday, October 23. RSVP to alumni@islandschool.org.
The Island School would like to extend a huge thank you to the Davis family in New Canaan, CT for hosting nearly 40 people in their home on Tuesday night for an admissions reception. Sarabeth Davis (S’14) and Colin Hughes (F’13) answered numerous questions from perspective students and parents. Stories of solo experiences and making jewelry from lionfish spines carried us through the night and we are excited to see the interest coming from Connecticut. Our next reception will be in New York on Wednesday, October 15th. Email taylorhoffman@islandschool.org to RSVP.