All posts by teamcomm

Alumni

Introducing The Island School Boston Office Interns!

Don’t let school get in the way of your education.

Any alumni of Island School surely knows this quote by Mark Twain, as it is one of Maxey’s favorite and attests to the value of the unique experiences one has in Eleuthera. Island School believes that education should not be restricted to the classroom, something that is tested each day from morning exercise at 6:30am to late-night research presentations before bed. At The Island School you live and breath your education, and although Maxey will get the occasional student who argues that their Eleutheros paper is interfering with the educational value of getting food at the Marina Store, it generally works out well. This quote has inspired us to explore beyond the boundaries of our own classrooms this spring and create a senior project where we will hopefully help to keep the knowledge we learned and experienced on Eleuthera alive back at home.

This spring, we (Sarah Allison, S’12, Devin Caccavaro, F’11, and Kate Maroni, F’11), three seniors from Noble & Greenough will be working with the Island School Boston office as interns to help ease students’ transition back home and to promote The Island School program. We will be working from Nobles two days a week for 2 hours, and from the Boston office once a week for 4 hours. Our project began at the end of March and continues until the end of May. The Island School left a lasting impact on each one of us, and we therefore feel obligated to stay involved and to help the school grow.

For our first project, we will be working on creating a Transition Manual for returning Island School students. We have all experienced how difficult it can be to integrate back into our home communities, and to resume our daily routines while still maintaining the Island School values. Our transition manual will incorporate both our own tips for transitioning, as well as the advice of other recent alumni. For our big project, we will be visiting local schools in Boston to present the Island School program to them in hopes of allowing more students the opportunity to benefit from such a transformative semester. Lastly, we will be making phone calls to other institutions and organizations with study abroad programs in order to gain perspective on how to strengthen our own alumni network.

Please follow our blog to view all of our progress, and we encourage all email comments and questions about our project!

Our blog link: islandschoolblog.wordpress.com 

Alumni, Events

IS Parents Are Busy Saving the Oceans. Alumni–Where Are You?

Island School students leave campus charged with the energy to want to apply what they learned to make a difference in the world. Turns out that some of the best role models for our graduates are…their parents!

Kirsten Dawson (parent F’04, F’06, F’08), Linda Cabot (parent S’11, S’13) and Molly Cramer (parent S’08)

Yesterday Kirsten Dawson (parent F’04, F’06, F’08), Linda Cabot (parent S’11, S’13) and Molly Cramer (parent S’08) attended the Women Working for Oceans (W2O) “Leave only Footprints” event at the New England Aquarium in Boston to learn from marine scientists about establishing and monitoring some amazing habitat: the Phoenix Islands marine protected area in the Pacific ocean. Past events have educated on issues of ocean plastics, the impact of auto emissions on climate change and oceans, as well as “fight with your fork” (choosing sustainable seafood, eco-friendly packaging, and vegetarian option) approaches to addressing climate change. They walk the talk too – the vegetarian lunch by the Aquarium chefs was amazing!

Women Working for Oceans always ends their lecture events with actions steps, so The Island School Continue reading →

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Student Leadership Update – New Cacique Council Selected

Each week, a group of students is selected for their unique potential as leaders to come together as the 5 student Cacique Council, “Cacique” meaning leader in ancient Lucayan. During that week, the group will plan special activities for their peers, run morning and evening circles, facilitate communication between students and faculty, and fulfill other important roles as needed. Members of the council are welcomed into the new role during Community Meeting, in which a public acknowledgement of each individual’s leadership qualities is read aloud. Enjoy these “Cacique Pass-Offs” written by last week’s Cacique Council. Join us in welcoming the next group of young leaders: Helena, Taylor, Ben, Charlotte, and John. Continue reading →

Deep Creek Middle School

DCMS Early Act Club Gets Chartered

On Thursday, 20 students from Deep Creek Middle School were chartered as the first Early Act Club on Eleuthera. Early Act stands for “early action” and is a service club for primary and middle school children in the family of Rotary International. The students were awarded their charter and pins in front of an audience of about 100 students, family members and guests from The Island School. Read more here.

happy easter
Student Update

Student Update April 1, 2013

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Happy Easter from The Island School! We’ve had a great holiday weekend down on Eleuthera. After a hard morning workout and some classes, Saturday afternoon kicked off with settlement day. George, Ashley, and I, my settlement group, went to the settlement of Wemyss Bight, where we met an extremely interesting man named Garret. Born and raised on Eleuthera, Garret has been all over the world, including parts of Africa and Arabia. He showed us a picture of himself in the US navy, where he worked on the nuclear submarines. Now, Garret is known as the “fixer” of the settlement, as he is very talented with his hands. He has built almost everything in his home, including the lion statues that sit at the end of the walkway. In the morning, people line up outside of his home for him to fix their broken belongings. We talked for nearly 45 minutes, and learned all about his travels and life on Eleuthera.

Once settlement day interviews were over, we went to our Saturday night activity: the annual Rock Sound Homecoming! Continue reading →

Alumni

Alumni in Breckenridge!

We always love hearing about alumni get togethers, especially when the alumni are from different semesters! Some of the strongest Island School friendships are found not within the same semester, but rather across multiple Island School semesters! This past weekend, Nick Del Vecchio (F’02), Ted Griffith (S’02), and Johann Scheidt (S’02), who became friends through their involvement with the Alumni Advisory Board, met up in Breckenridge, CO for a fun ski weekend and to celebrate Ted Griffith’s birthday!

Student Update

Student Update March 30, 2013

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Hello! My name is Willis Zetter, and I am a sophomore down here at The Island School. I will be taking care of the student updates for the next week. On that note, Friday the 29th was a great day. Students started off with a relaxed morning exercise of either yoga or Ultimate Frisbee, their choice. Yoga with Brady and Emma was a great way to stretch and unwind, and Ultimate Frisbee was a lot of fun. Some previously unseen talent was unleashed on both sides. After breakfast, we had our weekly community meeting, in which the Caciques led an activity called “Four Faces.” We split up into groups, and shared four experiences that have shaped us into the people we are today, as well as moments that have shaped our Island School community. One that stuck out for me was the students’ singing around the bonfire the weekend before. It was a great activity that brought the whole school together. The following afternoon was filled with research and classes, but the days highlight had to be dinner and the movie.

For Good Friday, Chef Emory and the kitchen staff cooked a wonderful dinner of whole fried fish, head and all! While I can’t say I tried one, Michael Mahacek says their eyeballs were delicious. Dinner was followed by a Human Ecology night class, in which we watched the eye-opening documentary Food Inc. After learning about the sustainably and organically grown food that The Island School purchases, produces, and gives to the community, I found it appalling to learn what the American food industry feels the need to hide from us. While I can’t speak for other students, it was an incredible movie that personally changed my view on the food industry. It was a great day, and I am looking forward to tomorrow’s trip to the Rock Sound homecoming.

Alumni

Maxeys Visit Campfire Safari Academy

Maxey Family with Suegnette Cronje, Laetitia Cronje and her son Christopher and sister Adele de Beer

If you are looking for a great GAP year challenge, follow other alumni who have spent some time exploring and learning all about African wildlife and conservation. Recently the Maxeys visited Campfire Safari Academy, located in the Balule Nature Reserve and part of the Greater Kruger National Park. The Academy is focused on educating the next generation of wildlife conservation professionals to help conserve the natural beauty of Africa’s flora and fauna. There is the potential to build a bridge through our GAP year at Cape Eleuthera Institute to GAP and intern opportunities at Campfire Academy.

Pam and Chris Maxey with a baby black Rhinceros at the moholoholo wildlife rehabilitation Center, http://www.moholoholo.co.za
Student Update

Student Update March 29, 2013

If someone had told me a month ago that In one day I would be running five miles, eating sugar cane on a farm, and joining team japan for a world cup soccer game all in one day, I would have told them they were insane. But, believe it or not, that has exact scenario has become a reality for me. Thursday morning, we were woken up to the always delightful anticipation for our five mile run. We had the option of running five or three miles; I chose five. After finishing our morning workout, I hopped in a van with the rest of my Human Ecology class and followed Joseph, our on and off campus farmer, to his farm in Deep Creek. There, he taught us all about agriculture on the island and how it has changed in the last few decades. We also got to sample some of his delicious produce right there off the vine. I tried sugar cane, tomatoes, corn, green beans, and so much more I can’t even remember.

Then, we broke into our different Community Outreach groups Continue reading →