Category Archives: Alumni

Maxey’s Trip to Maine

June 10, 2013 teamcomm

2013-06-07 09.45.29 — Wind generator at CHRHS, procured and funded by students.

This past weekend, Chris Maxey was invited to be the graduation speaker at Camden Hill Regional High School in Camden Hills, Maine. CHRHS has been sending groups of students down to The Island School during the summer for the past few years to participate in primary research with marine biologists. Like during The Island School semester, they will work as a team, earn high school credit and become part of an intentional sustainable community. Senior class president at CHRHS, Alex Crans, who got to know Chris Maxey quite well during his visit to The Island School last summer, asked him to be the speaker because of his energy and the admiration people have for him. You can read more about the relationship The Island School has with Camden Hills and other Maine Atlantic communities here.

Also during his time in Maine, Chris had the opportunity to connect with alumni and friends in the area. Here he is with Cooper FItzGerald (S’09) at Dou’s Fish and Chips, the take out restaurant Cooper is working at this summer before heading to school at Colorado College.

Chris caught up with Island School and Vinalhaven High School graduates, Willie Drury (S’10) and Izza Drury (S’11).

And finally, he enjoyed an early morning lake swim with parents of Sarah Haselton (S’13), George and Eliza Haselton.

Alumni, Events, Uncategorized

Boston Tough Mudder

June 6, 2013 teamcomm

While students and faculty on Eleuthera were running the half marathon and swimming the Super Swim this past weekend, members of The Island School staff, alumni community, Cape Eleuthera Foundation (CEF) Board, and friends of The Island School participated in their own beast of an athletic event–a Tough Mudder. If you are not familiar with these popular events that are sweeping the nation, a Tough Mudder is a “hardcore 10-12 mile obstacle course designed by British Special Forces to test your all around strength, stamina, mental grit, and camaraderie” and raises money for the Wounded Warrior Project.

Led by fearless leader, Ernie Parizeau, IS parent (F’03, S’06, S’10, S’14) and CEF board member, Team Sledgehammer took to the Boston Tough Mudder course at Gustock Mountain Resort, NH on Sunday morning. Kate Parizeau (F’03), Doug Parizeau (S’06), Wes Mize (S’06), Will Parizeau, Sally Tyrie, Dan Foran, Mary Assini (S’00, Director of Development), and Cam Powel (F’04, Director of Alumni Relations) made up the rest of Team Sledgehammer.

Nearly 4 hours, 12 miles, and 20 obstacles later, Team Sledgehammer made it through their final obstacle, Electroshock Therapy consisting of a field of live wires carrying up to 10,000 volts of electric shock, and crossed the finish line with smiles on their faces and lots of mud on their bright green team t-shirts.

Congratulations, Team Sledgehammer!

Alumni, Alumni Spotlight

Alumni Spotlight: Tessa Tracy (F’11)!

June 6, 2013 teamcomm

Fall 2011 alumna, Tessa Tracy, returned to her high school, Cambridge Rindge and Latin School, after her semester and needed a way to channel her Island School energy before she started to lose it. Therefore, she started the school’s Marine Conservation Club. In no time, the club had 40 members and was meeting on a weekly basis, under the supervision of faculty member, and IS Teacher Conference participant Paul McGuinness, who directs the Marine Science program at CRLS. Their focus for the 2012-13 school year was on the North Atlantic Right Whales whose population has dwindled to less than 500. To raise money for the endangered species, Tessa, as the Marine Conservation Club’s President led the group in organizing fundraisers, holding a dinner hosted by a club member’s family, wrapping christmas presents at a toy store, selling snacks during classes, and setting up potluck lunch sales. In the end, they raised $1,300 dollars and donated all of it to the New England Aquarium Right Whale Research Program. More donations to this program can be made here. As a result of all of their hard work, the Marine Conservation Club was nominated and selected for a 2013 New England Aquarium Ocean Stewardship Award. Below is a photo from when the club donated the money to the New England Aquarium:

Outside of fundraising the club has done a lot of advocacy work including making a video, getting signatures for a petition to regulate boat paths in Right Whale habitats, and writing letters to senators. Something they were especially proud of was organizing “whale week” where they set up activities in homeroom everyday for a week, like jeopardy or a video. They also organized an event each day like a food sale or “whale a capella”. In the future, they hope to do outreach in Cambridge’s middle schools.

In addition to leading the club, Tessa’s role as president Continue reading →

Alumni, Deep Creek Middle School

IS Alumni Parents Host DCMS Alumna Attending US Boarding School

May 30, 2013 teamcomm

DCMS appreciates the help of our Island School alumni families who look out for our students when they are stateside attending boarding school. DCMS alumna, Curchara Taylor, recently graduated from Garrison Forrest School in Baltimore, Maryland. Curchara couldn’t have done it without her Maryland Mom, Susan Naeny, Island School parent of Rob (F’01) and Stuart (F’04). Susan was a great support for Curchara, hosting her on long weekends and cheering at her softball games. In fact, Susan recently hosted a birthday party for Curchara at the Naeny’s home:

Hosting DCMS alumni while they are away from home on class trips, summer camp, at boarding school or college is a great way to stay in touch with Eleuthera. If you are interested in being a home-stay family, please contact Dr. Joanna Paul at joannapaul@islandschool.org.

Alumni

Island School Alumni Class Notes

May 8, 2013 teamcomm

Get caught up on what your fellow Island School alumni have been up to lately! If you want to send in an update, email alumni@islandschool.org.

SPRING 1999:

Class Agent: Joshua Lichtman

FALL 1999:

Class Agent: Lee Taylor

SPRING 2000:

Class Agent: Monique Johnson

Mike Brown is in the process of moving to Charlotte, NC with his wife Liz and their puppy McKenna. He is starting a new product management job and looking to move from a small apartment to an actual house. Mike looks forward to changing things up and try out a new city and hopes to catch up with fellow Island Schoolers passing through the Charlotte area! Ryan Eavey is pedicabbing in Boston, Austin, and New Orleans. He is also working at Hubway this summer. Monique Johnson is in the process of applying to business school and is looking forward to the summer. Suzy Newbury is finishing up her Ph.D. She got to see Andy Monk in LA this past fall, and spent some quality time with Chris, Pam, and Christian at Francesca Forrestal’s wedding. Fun times! Elizabeth Rosenberg is still in NYC, living downtown and working in merchandising for J. Crew. Elizabeth and her mother, Dee, went on a girls surfing trip to Costa Rica in March which was really fun. In a few weeks, they are going away with her father to Greece and Turkey in a few weeks which should also be a cool adventure! She loves living in the Big Apple but not curing any diseases quite yet…Abby (Jenkins) Watson moved to Madison, Wisconsin with her husband in 2012 but recently moved back to Portland, Oregon. She workw for a cycling apparel company called Rapha and spends most of her free time cycling.

FALL 2000:

Class Agent: Richard Woodhull

Andrew Thaler received his PhD in Marine Science and Conservation from Duke University last August and is Continue reading →

Alumni, Alumni Spotlight

Get on the Bus!

April 25, 2013 teamcomm

On Friday April 5th, Fall 2012 alumna Cate Ellison participated in “Get on the Bus”, an event organized by Amnesty International. She travelled from Boston to New York City to protest human rights issues with a group of twenty students, and two faculty members from Noble & Greenough School. Total, there were about 200 people from Massachusetts who “got on the bus”. Throughout the day, they were protesting and learning about different human rights issues in Sri Lanka, Sudan, Tibet, and Birma. They protested to end arbitrary detention in Sri Lanka, protected the rights and safety of civilians and people who have been internally displaced in Sudan, fought for the freedom of Tibetan film-maker, Dhondup Wangchen, and freedom for prisoners of conscience in Burma. In the morning, when Cate and her classmates first arrived to New York City, they listened to speakers talk about their experiences in these countries, and how they were directly affected by the lack of human rights in their countries. While all the stories were powerful, one that really stood out to Cate was the story of a man’s experience with arbitrary detention in Sri Lanka. Arbitrary detention is when a person is arrested, despite the fact that there is no hard evidence against them, there was no process of law, like we have here in the United States. He told the crowd of the horrors of jail that he faced, how the guards treated him like an animal, and many more terrible things, despite the fact that he did nothing. After hearing this story, it made Cate feel grateful for the rights that we have here in the US, and made her even more excited to protest the human rights of others. In the afternoon, they went out to four different locations, and protested this issues. They had different posters and chants for each one of the issues, and signed many different petitions, hoping to end the injustices that are happening globally. Cate says about the experience, “I am so glad that I decided to go to this event, and the experience made me appreciate the value of the rights that everyone in our country are given.”

Alumni

Summer Opportunities for Alumni

April 8, 2013 teamcomm

Our friend from Ocean Research and Conservation Association (ORCA), Edie Widder, sent us these two summer opportunities that would be perfect for some of our alumni! One opportunity runs from July 13-20 and takes place between Montreal, Quebec, and Toronto, Ontario, Canada. In collaboration with Dr. Sherri Mason of SUNY Fredonia, this Pangaea Exploration is an Environmental Research and Communications course, held aboard a 72 foot Challenger sailing yacht, the Sea Dragon. Participants will get the opportunity to take part in data collection, sampling and research reporting, while also learning sailing skills and techniques. The program will also focus on ways to present current environmental issues to the world through social media, activism and community participation. For more information, please visit the course description on Pangaea’s website. To register, contact Asta Mail, Expedition Coordinator, at asta@panexplore.com.

Another opportunity is an Apprentice Deckhand during the Sea Dragon’s expedition to the Great Lakes ecosystem this summer. The apprenticeship runs from June 24-August 27. For more information about the apprenticeship, see the description here: Pangaea Apprenticeship. Pangaea is accepting applications for those 16 years and older until May 20, 2012. Please forward Curriculum Vitae, cover letter and letter of reference to: info@panexplore.com.

Alumni

Introducing The Island School Boston Office Interns!

April 4, 2013 teamcomm

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?

April 3, 2013 teamcomm

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!

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 →

Alumni

Alumni in Breckenridge!

April 1, 2013 teamcomm

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!