All posts by teamcomm

Deep Creek Middle School

Deep Creek Middle School Summer Programs

Summer may be a time for relaxation, but the Deep Creek Middle School and Resource  Center had one of its busiest summers yet. There was a new camp and opportunity to explore Eleuthera during almost every week of the summer.

The programs kicked off with he Marine Debris & Me Plastic Pollution Camp taught participants about one of the major issues affecting the island. They took part in scientific research and helped create solutions to the problem, one of which was making beautiful art from beach plastic. Along the same idea of how to live sustainably in The Bahamas, the Sustainability Camp taught campers about water conservation, permaculture, aquaponics, biodiesel, renewable energy, and waste management.

This summer’s sleepover option was the South Eleuthera Kids Camp. This popular program offered kids the opportunity to experience outdoor adventure, such as boating, snorkeling, and swimming. They experienced hands-on learning in marine ecology, conservation, sustainability and “green” living. After full days of adventure, campers spent the night at the Island School.

Students in Grades 9 – 12, as well as their parents and teachers, were invited to join College & SAT Boot Camp at the Rock Sound Mission. The aims of this camp were to provide study tips and content knowledge for the SAT. In addition to offering a practice test, participants also received information on college and scholarship planning.

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In its third year, International Sports Education’s Lacrosse Camp was a great success. Of the 24 students, 14 were back for their third summer in a row. Camp Organizer and Island School alumnus Eliott Wellenbach (F’11) said, “Our goal is to promote the game of lacrosse, while fostering character development through leadership, teamwork, and sportsmanship on and off the field. It has been exciting for us to see this unfold over the past three years and we are even more excited about what the upcoming ones will bring.” The skills learned at Lacrosse Camp stay with the athletes. Zachary Carey (DCMS ’14) has enjoyed the camp for all three years and will be attending Perkiomen School in Pennsylvania this year, with the goal of playing on the lacrosse team.

We thank everyone who organized and participated in our summer programs. Big things are already being planned for next year!

Educational Programs, Uncategorized

Teachers Conference Reflection at Morning Circle

14869269137_afc1af8866_kEvery summer, The Island School welcomes a group of talented and motivated educators to their annual Teachers Conference. One of our attendees from this past summer, Mark Dewart, a science teacher at Park Tudor School in Indianapolis, shared some beautiful remarks at morning circle one morning:

“Reading “The Rediscovery of North America.” and being at the Island School leaves me thinking that we not only need to “rediscover” North America but we also need to “reinhabit” the continent. All of the teachers here come from communities that have thousands of inhabitants but how many of these inhabitants are living sustainably and joyfully in our home towns? There are currently 7 billion people on the planet with another 2 billion on the way before our students reach our age. We aren’t even close to figuring out how we are going to do this. How do we build communities that are sustainable and joyful to live in AND protect the wild places we have seen this week and the beings that live there? The important work of “rediscovery” leads to the important work of “reinhabitation.”

At the Island School we experienced first-hand what it looks and feels like to live in a joyful and sustainable community . We were comfortable and well-fed by food, energy and water producing systems that ran off of massive amounts of cleverness and ingenuity rather than tons of coal and barrels of oil. We spent a week on an island where, in the last 500 years, the people have had everything thrown at them from recurring hurricanes to the calamities of guns, germs and steel that the voyages of “discovery” brought to this part of the world. In the people living on these islands, around the hydroponic and tilapia tanks or in the ocean creatures we saw or held, all week we have felt the drumbeat of the universe beating strongly in Bahamaland. As we return to our home communities, like propagules falling from a mangrove tree, that drumbeat will animate our efforts to help our students and communities “rediscover” and “reinhabit” North America and the planet. “

News

Introducing our Summer 2014 City Bridge Scholars

City Bridge partnerships connect inner city students to The Island School. We find that providing transformative growth opportunities to these deserving students, we expand their worlds while immeasurably enriching our own. The City Bridge program continues to inspire young people to make a difference and emerge as leaders within their home communities. This year, 67% of our total financial aid budget was allocated to support our City Bridge program. This summer, we welcome 10 City Bridge Scholars to our campus.

Sahara Lewis: Horizons

Sahara LewisSahara is a passionate break dancer from Connecticut. Her dedication and discipline to overcome challenges has lead Sahara to The Island School. The Tourism and Development course includes traveling around the island and several adventurous activities, such as jumping from a cliff into a Bahamian ocean hole and descending far into a limestone cave system. Her teachers have noted an amazing flash of emotions that passes over Sahara’s face – from a moment of stepping out of her comfort zone, to her grinning and bearing the challenge, and then to her enthusiastic “jumping in” – all in an instant. Sahara has been fearless at The Island School.

 

Abraham Martey: African Leadership Academy

Abraham MarteyAbraham joins us at The Island School from Ghana. This trilingual student is currently enrolled in the African Leadership Academy and was nationally recognized as the “Most Innovative Student in Ghana”. He has already established himself as a leader at home by founding and managing a self-sustaining student-run poultry and rabbit farm in Ghana. Abraham’s farm helps fund a NGO he founded, “Reach the Children”, which provides school infrastructure and supplies to underprivileged students near his home. At The Island School, Abraham hopes to gain more skills on how to establish environmental protection policies in his home country. His teachers have all noted his ability to step up as a leader on campus and have been impressed with his dedication to learn to swim while taking detailed his field notes in Marine Ecology class.

Adrian Gutierrez: College Track

Monster R-S-40Adrian’s first trip in an airplane was from his home in San Francisco to Eleuthera for our Summer Term program. In San Francisco, Adrian’s life is centered around basketball, school and church. He is strongly committed to community service and has helped build a prenatal center, works at his local food back, and even started a petition for Darfur. Adrian has carried his ability to care for others with him to Eleuthera. All of his teachers have expressed that he is perfect example of how to be a community member at The Island School.

Celeste Adderley: Long Island Scholar

Celeste AdderlyCeleste is a native Bahamian from Long Island. As a role model in Long Island, she received the Governor General’s Youth Award for her outstanding talents in science and desire to understand the world around her. Her current teachers at The Island School describe Celeste as a future marine biologist who helps provide a strong local perspective in class. She is continuing to learn more about her world underwater as she dives for the first time ever!

Elijah Banks: Eagle Academy Foundation

Elijah BanksComing from New York City, Elijah was eager to jump right into things that were completely unknown to him. As an aspiring marine biologist, Elijah was especially excited to scuba dive and learn more about the world underwater. At home, Elijah is a dedicated community member. He tutors middle school students and provides entertainment and activities for residents at a senior home. At The Island School, Elijah redesigned a plot of land on campus to include edible plants and a Hibiscus arrangement spelling “Summer 14″.

Rebecca Stratchen: BREEF

Rebecca StratchenRebecca is an exemplary Bahamian student from Abaco who has earned a government sponsored academic scholarship to attend Acadia University in Canada. When in high school, Rebecca developed her passion for the science and hopes to contribute to current research on alternative energy sources. At The Island School, Rebecca brought a unique local perspective to discussions on fishing and marine conservation. She is especially excited to bring her permaculture site design back home to her mom. Rebecca left The Island School a few days early to compete in a Judo Championship in Florida. We wish her the best of luck!

Kaven Marte: Quest for Excellence NYC

DCIM100GOPROKaven’s journey to The Island School began when he left his small hometown in the Dominican Republic to pursue better educational opportunities in NYC. Kaven’s curiosity in his academics have led him to want to pursue a career in engineering.  At The Island School, Kaven is the most enthusiastic student during early morning circle and greets everyone with a warm welcoming each day.

Loth Oltukai: Hidden Hearts

Loth OltukaiLoth has made the long journey to The Island School from his home in Tanzania. In the wake of his father’s passing, Loth has stepped up to assume family responsibilities for his 8 siblings. While caring for his family, Loth also serves as an African Leadership Academy Global Scholar Ambassador with an avid passion for aviation engineering. At The Island School, he continues to push his curiosity and challenges himself to do things he has never done. His teachers use swimming as an example of his determination: having never been in clear water, Loth continues to push himself to learn to swim, snorkel, and enjoy the marine environment around him.

Marquis Rolle: BREEF

Marquis RolleMarquis is a local student from the island of Inagua. He has grown up working on his grandfather’s farm and volunteering with the Bahamian National Trust. At The Island School, Marquis is learning more about these skills and how to care for the environment around him. He has been an invaluable voice in his class discussions with his personal knowledge of the Bahamian culture and local plants. His comfort with classroom materials and topics allows Marquis to take the lead and guide his peers to dive further into the local Bahamian environment.

Malik Simon: KIPP Houston

Malik SimonMalik is a student who is constantly pushing himself. As a young boy, he would steal his mom’s friend’s law school books which has giving him his own desire to become a lawyer. He has challenged himself to play basketball at a higher level, plays chess against himself, and is teaching himself guitar! He carries this dedication with him at The Island School. He was the first leader of the day to be chosen by his classmates. He has been noted to be one of the most welcoming students and makes an effort to explore every person within community.

If you are interested to learn more about the City Bridge program, please contact Mary Assini at maryassini@islandschool.org. If you would like to support our City Bridge program, please visit our giving page here.

Alumni

Alumni Give Back Working at IS and CEI This Summer

The Island School stays busy all year round–especially during the summer. This summer we were excited to welcome back a number of Island School alumni who are working with The Island School Summer Term as alumni mentors, as well as over at the Cape Eleuthera Institute as research interns. Meet them and hear what they have been up to all summer:

Mike Cortina (F'02), Ami Adams (S'11), Patrick Lamontange (F'08), Hadley Dawson (F'08), George Giannos (F'10), Whit Powel (S'09), Sarah Allison (S'12), Jane Drinkard (F'11), Claire Davis (Su'12), Carter Brown (S'09), Nick Lanza (S'10), Catharine Pirie (F'10), Griffin Hunt (F'11)
Mike Cortina (F’02), Ami Adams (S’11), Patrick Lamontange (F’08), Hadley Dawson (F’08), George Giannos (F’10), Whit Powel (S’09), Sarah Allison (S’12), Jane Drinkard (F’11), Claire Davis (Su’12), Carter Brown (S’09), Nick Lanza (S’10), Catharine Pirie (F’10), Griffin Hunt (F’11)

Ami Adams (S’11) is working as a Marine Ecology teacher for the summer term and is so excited to be back on Eleuthera for the first time since Spring 2011. This summer, she has been able to bring her love for the marine world and field experience into the classroom while leading various experiential lessons on topics such as mangroves, food webs, and fish. Aside from Marine Ecology, Ami also took part in leading all of the sea kayaking trips during orientation week where she provided students the basic skills needed for sea kayak expeditions and taught lessons in the field including moon phases and Bahamian archaeology.  Some of her other responsibilities include participating on the medical team, acting as a personal advisor to four students, and keeping everyone’s stoke levels high!

Patrick Lamontagne (F’08), as part of the Summer Term faculty, has been helping to teach the Tourism & Development course. His position has involved leading down island trips for the three groups of students. Not bound by the traditional confines of the classroom, Patrick has been able to teach students through experience. Remembering the importance of the down island trip as a student, he has been thrilled to be able to come back as an alumnus and see the logistics behind these trips as well as help the students bond through the challenges it presents.

Hadley Dawson (F’08) is helping teach Food Systems, a course that integrates farm work, permaculture principles, and sustainable systems. She has greatly enjoyed working with such a fantastic group of faculty, many of whom are also alumni (she and Pat Lamontagne were in the same advisory!). Two of her favorite things here are sharing meals with students and seeing their improvement in morning exercise.

This summer, Whit Powel (S’09) has returned to Eleuthera to teach The Island School Summer Term students. Last summer, she served as a human ecology teacher, focusing specifically on food systems and waste. This summer, the curriculum has shifted and is now a Sustainable Food Systems unit that focuses on the principles of permaculture, methods of sustainable agriculture, and the various ways farmers on Eleuthera deal with the climate, poor soil, and lack of agriculture on this island. The students’ final project in the Food unit is a site design sketch of a space on campus that has the potential to be more productive.  With the use of the 12 permaculture principles and the knowledge and information from the Food class, farm visits, and field work, the students are creating designs that could be utilized in the future to make Island School’s campus more productive. In addition to teaching the Food unit, Whit has an advisory and is co-head of the Girls Dorm. Whit is loving being back for her second summer as a Summer Term faculty member and is looking forward to an awesome rest of the term with these students and faculty!

Sarah Allison was a student at The Island School during Spring 2012 and has returned as an intern on the Shark Research and Conservation Team this summer at CEI. The research she has worked on this summer has revolved around sharks, stingrays, and deepwater isopods. Sarah has immensely enjoyed coming back to Eleuthera on the CEI side of campus and being able to apply her experience and knowledge that she gained as an Island School student into a professional and research-intensive setting.

Jane Drinkard attended The Island School in Fall 2011 and is down on Eleuthera this summer as the Communications Intern. Jane manages the Instagram accounts and photo sharning pages for CEI and Island School, as well as document the Summer Term student’s semester. Jane is excited to be back and has been enjoying watching the Summer Term students experience this place for the first time.

Claire Davis was a student during Summer Term 2012. This summer she is working at the Cape Eleuthera Institute as a Flats Ecology and Conservation intern helping out with current research projects. Claire says It’s awesome to be back and see some of her Island School teachers again, and she can’t wait to come back soon!

Carter Brown (S’09) is on the Shark Team this summer as a Shark Research and Conservation Intern and so far has been able to study sharks, rays and deepwater isopods. Carter says it has been absolutely incredible to return to Island School/CEI and discover this place all over again with an amazing group of people. The pace at which the place is changing and expanding is crazy to see but the fact that all of the core values from when he was a student at The Island School five years ago are still in place is great to see because to Carter, coming here feels just like returning home!

This is Nick Lanza’s (S’10) third summer returning to teach Marine Ecology for summer term. This past May Nick graduated from Prescott College with a degree in Environmental Studies and Adventure Education. He will be staying through this summer into the fall and spring semesters as the new full time Marine Ecology teacher. For Nick, Island School has been a place of continuous growth. First discovering and devoloping leadership qualities as a student here in Spring 2010, Nick has worked hard to return as a faculty member during the summer, and he is very proud to be joining the team full time. This organization has allowed Nick to grow as a learner and a teacher. Now, he looks forward to growing as a professional.

This summer, Catharine Pirie (F’10) is working as a Summer Alumni Mentor at The Island School. Her main focus is on working with the Tourism and Development unit that spends four days traveling up the island. Ever since her IS semester in Fall 2010, she has been looking forward to coming back. This summer Catharine is presented with the opportunity of working with secondary level students. In college, she is working towards graduating with her certificate in secondary education, and any hands on experience is invaluable. Catharine is having a great experience working with students and getting to know them through class as well as advisory. It is awesome to watch their love of the school grow the same way Catharine’s did as a student. She is most looking forward to Parents Weekend to see how kids share this unique experience with their families.

Griffin Hunt (F’11) is working as a Summer Term Alumni Mentor. As such, he is teaching the Tourism & Development course, which includes a 3-night down-island trip and a 24-hour solo. This is his second summer at The Island School and he is excited to be working with many of the same teachers again.

Alumni, Events

Successful Second Annual Nantucket Run-Swim!

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We did it again and came back for round two–the Second Annual Nantucket Run-Swim! On July 12, 2014 The Island School with hosts, The Parizeau Family, rolled out a modified Run-Swim course to a group of excited IS alumni, parents, and friends of the school. With double the turnout as last year, it was a competitive field of recent alums all  the way through to impressive parents who showed us that The Island School spirit lives strong.

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Charlie Mounts (S’14) clinched the win with Doug Parizeau (S’06) in second and and Ernie Parizeau (P’F’03, S’06, S’10, S’14) not far behind in third. The weather was perfect and we could not have asked for a better day. After the race, all participants and cheerleaders were rewarded with an evening BBQ hosted by The Parizeau Family. For more photos from the day, click here.

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With the Third Annual now less than a year away, we hope you are all training and we can’t wait to see you in Nantucket in July 2015!

Uncategorized

You Can Do It!

We began the day with morning circle at 6:30am. The sun was shining brightly and the wind was blowing strong. When all 33 of us who weren’t on the tourism and development road trip were done singing the national anthem, we gathered together on the dock near the boat house to start our mile swim to the pole. One by one we all jumped in the warm water instantly we began freestyling to the pole. Some were slower than others. Me (Sahara), was one of the slow ones, while Abraham was in a swimming class because of his little experience with swimming. But he is getting better! When it hit around 7:15am, the teachers told us to swim back. This was pretty difficult because we had to swim against the current. Once again, some took longer than others but we all arrived back at the school at 7:35am. After the workout everyone began their daily chores. When all the chores where done at 8:00am all the students started their personal space in there dorms. At 8:15 am everyone lines up for breakfast but since our group, the Saber Tooth Blennies, was on dish crew we had to arrive at the dining hall at 8:00am to set up the dishes. When breakfast was over at 9:15am, the students split up into two groups; the marine ecology class and the food class.

Students learn about permaculture in the wet lab at the Cape Eleuthera Institute.
Students learn about permaculture in the wet lab at the Cape Eleuthera Institute.

In the food class, we studied about permaculture, a self-sustaining farming system. Following our introduction to permaculture, we went to the farm where we observed and noted down the self-sustaining methods in the farm. We also got the chance to make a heap of compost. Each of us was assign to a site to analyze the plot and re-design it based on what we had learned within the week.
It seems like yesterday we all unpacked our bags to begin are journey here at the Island School but now it’s quickly coming to a close. Everyone including those who had no experience with swimming before coming to the Island school, is training and looking forward to the “monster run- swim”, where we will do a four mile run and one mile swim on Sunday the 27th.To those who are nervous- don’t be! We know you can do it!

The Caciques of the Day,

Sahara Lewis and Abraham Martey

Alumni

Spring ’12, ’13 and ’14!

Spring 2012 alumna, Shelby Ambargis sent us this photo after she found herself with two other Island School alumni from the spring semesters that came after her.

Scott Voigt (S'14), Cole Vanacore (S'13), and Shelby Ambargis (S'12)
Scott Voigt (S’14), Cole Vanacore (S’13), and Shelby Ambargis (S’12)

We love hearing about your alumni gatherings! Send us your photos from Island School reunions or random run-ins to alumni@islandschool.org.

Uncategorized

Don’t Count the Time, Make the Time Count

Yesterday marked our last day off before our parents arrive and our final academic rotation begins. For all of us still here on campus, we slept in as late as our bodies would allow us, which for most of us wasn’t past 7:30 AM. However, one group woke up in a bit of a different setting…on their 24-hour solo on the beach. Everyone returned happy and well in the morning from their solos and the rest of campus was very excited to welcome them back after their long-anticipated arrival. Even on our days off at the Island School, the whole student body is always busy, never wasting a minute of our time here. Some of us searched the exploration grounds for the famous “Banyan Tree,” others relaxed at the beach, and a group even went to the nearby town Deep Creek with Peter for a game of basketball. After dinner, we congregated for the usual 7:15 PM night class, but this was no ordinary class. Whit and Nick took us to the boathouse to teach us a few swing dancing moves! No matter how experienced we were, we all managed to learn some of the motions and have a laugh while doing so. We all got our energy out and slipped right back into the academic mindset for study hours to prepare for the busy week that lies ahead.

Students are all smiles on their Down Island Trip
Students are all smiles on their Down Island Trip

Our campus is full of mixed emotions as we get underway with this week—we are all eagerly anticipating the arrival of our parents, but we are also sad to see our time here coming to a close. I think we are all surprised by how close we have become in just three weeks and the thought of leaving each other is unnerving. However, our fellow student Emily Jenkins reminded us this morning at Morning Circle to make the most out of it and recited a quote to us: “Don’t count the time, make the time count.” This quote encourages us enter this week with the best attitude possible, because we have so much more to look forward to. We still have another week of classes, the Monster Run-Swim, and Parents Weekend to take on with full force.

 

Your Caciques,

Hope Tierney and Jenson Meeker

Uncategorized

Push It to the Limit

“Don’t do it because it’s easy, do it because it’s difficult”
“Don’t do it because it’s easy, do it because it’s difficult”

As the sun rose yesterday morning, anxious kids climbed out of their beds and feared the morning ahead. What kids would be doing in twenty minutes time would be the longest morning exercise they have seen this summer. It consisted of a two- mile run to High Rock, a quarter mile swim to 4th Hole and a drenched mile and a half run back to the flagpole. This was a challenge even for the most athletic kids. Although everyone was exhausted from the course, people still cheered their classmates on with enthusiasm until everyone finished.

This group of students holds up deepwater Isopods (Bathynomus giganteus) during their afternoon research session.
This group of students holds up deepwater Isopods (Bathynomus giganteus) during their afternoon research session.

The energy was high at breakfast, which set a positive tone for a full day of research. Seventeen kids were split up into three groups: Lemon Shark, Stingrays, and Deep Sea. The Lemon Shark group went out into the artificial mangrove and collected two tagged lemon sharks to study at CEI. In the afternoon they ran a swim tunnel test on the sharks to see how they respond to stress. The Stingray group spent the morning catching rays at the Saddle where we were able to catch five Yellow Stingrays. From there, we pumped saltwater into their stomachs to see the contents inside. They were able to find shrimp, worms, and crabs in the Stingrays stomach and digestive system. The Deep Sea group set out early to extract isopods from 1,500 meters. They extracted DNA to differentiate the species from one another. Yesterday was a prime example of all of the opportunities The Island School has to offer for their students. We have ten days left, let’s make the most of it and continue to push ourselves to the limit!

Your Caciques for the day,

Margot Painter and John Rauen