Thursday started off with a monster run swim or a modified run swim. We had the morning to work on our human ecology presentations that were being presented the next day. After lunch students and faculty went to Deep Creek Middle School for our last community outreach event. There was a basketball jamboree, dodge ball, dancing, and baked goods. It was a great way to finish off the semester with our buddies, even though it was difficult to say goodbye. After community outreach, advisory groups had their last advisory time together. My group chose to eat some yummy snacks and then go for swim next to the boathouse. Advisory time has definitely been a core part of my Island School experience; our group has gotten really close and always has a ton of fun. On Friday the day was entirely dedicated to final human ecology projects! We were able to walk around to all of the different projects and see what our peers had been working on. Many of the projects were continuations of projects started by last semester students and were executed this semester and some were entirely new projects such as Dana and Willis’s project that aimed to put the invasive species lionfish on the menus in restaurants in South Eleuthera. Dana and Willis created pamphlets with information when to eat certain fish species. Today is the research symposium, which will be an exciting event because research groups will be able to present their research to government officials and professionals.

On Tuesday the day started off with singing Julia happy birthday as she stood in the center of our circle at the flagpole (Island School tradition!). Since run-track and swim-track have ended we have been doing more group oriented workouts. On Tuesday we did a huge group swim and run workout in current cut. In community meeting we were put in small groups with our advisory and another advisory and talked about how we think others have grown over the semester. We shared snapshots of how we originally perceived people and how they have changed and grown. Next our task was to create a still image of a moment at The Island School that truly embodies the community. My group decided to do an image of all of the students in a mud fight around the flagpole. We felt as though this represented how close our group is and how we can make any situation fun and positive. After community meeting we had a 5-hour human ecology block to work on our final projects! There was a ton of progress that could be seen on campus. Liz and Franchesca painted the Harkness room orange, and Danny and Tiger’s aquaponics herb garden is now hanging by the dining hall. Girl’s dorm put together a surprise party for Julia on the dining hall deck with music, cake, and candy. It was a great way to close the day.

Wednesday the morning started off with some fun optional activities, such as dance track (started by Noelle Anderson), and free diving! I chose to do dance track in the boathouse, it is such a fun way to wake up. Everyone gets a chance to lead a dance to any song they choose and the entire group follows along. It has become a huge hit on campus; it’s a great work out and so much fun. Last week Rachel Shapiro and Scotty joined us and showed us some of their dance moves. The free divers had an incredible experience as they got to dive next to a loggerhead turtle. In the afternoon, students had their last research class to finish up posters for the research symposium on Saturday and had their final oral assessments. We also had our final marine ecology class, where we talked about how we are going to bring back what we have learned home. Students began working on their portfolios that will be sent to sending schools and also continued work on their Demonstration’s of Learning.