A few weeks ago, we shared with you the story of a Fall 2008 alumna, Jenny Sherman, who was chosen from countless entries to speak at Duke University’s Commencement Ceremony. This past weekend, Jenny delivered the winning speech and did a phenomenal job! You can listen to her speech below. Congratulations Jenny and the rest of our alumni in the class of 2014!
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Happy Mother’s Day!
We hope that all of The Island School mothers had a wonderful day! We miss them and can’t wait for our families to visit in 9 days!!!!
DCMS’s Zachary Carey Accepted to Perkiomen School
DCMS and The Island School would like to congratulate DCMS grade 9 student Zachary Carey of Tarpum Bay on his recent acceptance to Perkiomen School in Pennsylvania. Zach will attend the school next year as a boarder for grades 9-12, joining fellow DCMS alumna Megan Sweeting (DCMS’11).
“Zach has been an incredible contributor to academics, the school community, and the greater community of South Eleuthera. He will add a lot to their school and will soak up all the opportunities he is offered while he is away,” said Dr. Joanna Paul, Director of Education. Zach is a member of the Eco-Club, Early Act Service Club, Founder of the Spanish Club, and an avid SCUBA diver. Here he can be seen as the Plastic Bag Monster while advocating for plastic reduction efforts at a workshop on Harbour Island.
Spring 2014 Kayak Trips
This weekend, the entire Spring 2014 semester will be reunited back on campus for the first time since beginning their 3-week block of academic, kayak, and down island trip rotations. This photo slideshow is a compilation of photos of each kayak group on the first day of their expeditions!
Faculty Alumni Spotlight: Nathan Weathington!
Many of our Island School alumni had the privilege of being taught by former faculty member Nathan Weathington (Fall 2001-Spring 2005). Nathan taught math class, but I’m sure many of our alumni can attest that they learned the most from Nathan outside the classroom through his hilarious, true-life stories. Nathan recently put all those stories into writing and has published Where the Hell Were Your Parents?, a comic coming-of-age memoir about him and his twin brother growing up in rural Georgia. You can get your copy of the book here.
Nathan is living in New Zealand with his wife, whom he met while working at The Island School, Morgan Black, and their two sons Hudson and Hank. Congratulations, Nathan! We can’t wait to get our hands on a copy.
DCMS Students Tour U.S. Boarding Schools
In April, five DCMS grade eight students spent a few days of their Easter vacation touring boarding schools in the Mid-Atlantic region. DCMS supports its students in applying for scholarships for US 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’s candidates are touring early and will be applying next year. They saw The George School, Oldfields, West Nottingham and St. Andrews to help them understand the range of schools and offerings that they can consider. Thank you to the homestay families, The Strathmanns (parents of Will F’07) and the Obrechts (parents of Annie S’12) for making their visit possible!
Forget the Tank, Remember to Breathe
It’s a quiet 6:10 AM wakeup call in boys dorm.
It still looks like night outside, but a few pull themselves out of bed to go free-diving, careful not to wake the others who opt to sleep in. W e gather our masks, snorkels, and fins, and head to the boathouse, where Chris Maxey is already leading breathing exercises.
From there we take two boats out to a place called tunnel rock. One of the faculty, Mike, instructs me on how to drive the boat around the shallow rocks and sandbars that stretch out across the ocean. We get to tunnel rock and tie the boat to a buoy. I look down to see the huge rock formation covered in beautiful coral heads, with a long, partially covered tunnel leading through it that the dive sit is named after. Most of the rock is only ten or fifteen feet deep, and the sandy bottom surrounding it goes down to thirty.
Some dive to look at the corals and fish, others choose to push their boundaries, trying to touch the bottom or see how long they can stay under. As the sun rises over the open ocean, the twenty of us begin our dives.
I am warming up, doing a shallow fifteen foot dive, when I see someone far below me on the sandy bottom, taking off his fins. He proceeds to grab a rock and take a couple steps. He drops the rock and swims to the surface. On my next dive I see a lionfish, and I swim over to it in order to get a better look, keeping my distance, and when I look down I see someone slowly and calmly passing through the tunnel. He reaches the end and ascends calmly.
I find as the dive progresses that I can go further and further down, just by merit of practicing pushing my limits. I can stay down longer and longer, allowing me to stay more relaxed in the water, and to see more. I can’t get down very far, but that boundary is constantly being pushed, and my ability is constantly expanding.
It’s like my whole experience at the Island School, really. I suffered on my first dive, barely making it ten feet down, splashing awkwardly, breathing in water, and flailing my arms the whole way, but I was thrilled and addicted. I’m still awkward, I still can’t stay down for very long, but the more that I immerse myself into the idea of getting deeper and deeper, the further I go.
Now , I can get down to forty feet, and I’m practicing for a swim- through of tunnel rock, and it hurts every time. At the Island School, the thing that I have learned every single day, over and over again, is how to push myself, and how to completely invest my body and my mind into what I’m doing. The focus and the struggle inherent in a free-dive is the perfect microcosm of the Island School experience.
by Hugo Wasserman
DCMS Alumni Compete in Track Relays at Penn
Deep Creek Middle School Alumni were out in full force at last weekend’s Penn Relays in Philadelphia. Four students at US prep schools participated in events.
- Anna McCartney and Treshae Clarke in the 4×100 (second place) and 4×400 (third place) for Wilbraham and Monson, MA
- Kristen Rolle in the 4×100 for Lawrenceville, NJ
- Benji Williams in the 4×400 for Pennington, NJ
Congratulations!
Island School Alumni Class Notes 2014
Our alumni have gone on to accomplish pretty amazing things since their Island School journey. Scroll down to read about what the past 15 years of IS students have been up to lately. A huge thank you to all the Class Agents for collecting and compiling all of these impressive updates. If you would like to send in your update or are interested in becoming a Class Agent, email alumnI@islandschool.org
SPRING 1999
Day in the Life
Mornings at the Island School begin at 6:15 with a beeping watch and a flick of the light switch. It is never easy dragging myself out of bed but the thought of doing push-ups at circle always gets me going. Once up, I quickly throw on some athletic clothes and grab my sneakers before rushing out of the door. At circle we do a quick count off, go through announcements for the day and then sing the Bahamian National Anthem with pride. After the National Anthem we split into either run or swim track and begin our morning exercise.
Before beginning our daily run, Sophia (an Island School Student) led us through some stretches. These stretches took us all over campus but ended near the dinning hall so we could all see and appreciate the beautiful red sunrise. Although waking up at 6:15 is definitely not my favorite thing, I look forward to seeing the spectacular sunrises every morning.
Once we had warmed up and stretched, we headed out to the Marina to do some sprints. The thought of sprints always makes me cringe but luckily today we did them in partner pairs so that one person would be sprinting and the other would be waiting on the bridge, recovering. When it was my turn to run the loop I started with a full-fledged sprint. However, by the time I was halfway through, my lungs felt like they were going to explode and my legs felt like jelly. As I neared the final stretch I was about ready to quit but the sound of everyone cheering kept me going. Once I made it to the top of the bridge I high-fived Will, my partner, and watched him sprint off. It was reassuring to know that I would have at least a few minutes to regain my breath.
After morning exercises we all split up into different chore groups. In past chores I’ve had Girls Dorm (which usually means you’re stuck cleaning toilets) and Farm Chores (meaning you get to pick lettuce and other yummy foods). By the end of chores music is always blasting from girls dorm as all the girls begin cleaning their personal space. By 8:15 (maybe 8:30 depending on how messy your personal space is) people are packing into the dinning hall for breakfast.
When everyone is done eating Dish Crew stays behind to clean while everyone else prepares for the morning classes.
This morning we had a 3-hour Human Ecology block, where we split into our separate groups to work on our projects.
My group is building a garden for the ELC (Early Learning Center). We spent today talking to Oscar (the head facilities manager) and collecting materials to start building our trellis. When we got back the presentation room we saw Anya, Bailey, Tess and Abbe cutting up coconuts for their new soap product. We all crowded around trying to get a small chunk of coconut to eat before class ended.
Once class was over I headed to the dinning hall to grab a quick lunch before research. For Sustainable Fisheries we headed out to Rock Sound, a settlement 30 minutes away, to interview some local fishermen on their perspective of the surrounding marine environment. Ted, a local from Rock Sound who works at The Island School, came with us and introduced us to some fishermen he knows. Both of the interviews we conducted were very successful and we heard some interesting stories about sharks. After a long (and very hot) day, full of interviewing, we headed back to The Island School just in time for dinner circle.
At dinner circle we went through all the announcements and then one of the caciques, told the quote of the day; “Speak if only what you have to say is more beautiful than silence”. The quote was followed by a moment of silence. Once dinner circle was finished we all headed to the dinning hall to eat.
After dinner my hectic day finally winded down. Since it was a nice night I spent my study hours on the dining hall porch with some other Island School students. We played some music and chatted as we worked on our Art projects. At 10:30 we headed back to the dorm for the night. As soon as I got back to the dorm I collapsed into bed, exhausted after such a busy day.
by Fiona Ross