Category Archives: Alumni

Alumni, Events

Island School Alumni & Admissions Teams Hit the Road!

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The leaves are changing, fall is in the air, and The Island School is on the road! The admissions and alumni relations teams, made up of Sharon Jarboe, Hannah Mauck, and Cam Powel, are road tripping through New England this week visiting some of our students’ sending schools, as well as our Island School alumni enrolled in universities along the East Coast. We will be writing blogs at the end of each day, complete with pictures, videos, and tweets of our travels!

When we visit the secondary schools, we will make a presentation to the student body and meet with some staff members so they get a better idea of The Island School program. This week, we will be visiting the following schools: Rocky Hill School (East Greenwich, RI), the Wheeler School (Providence, RI), Middlebury Union High School (Middlebury, VT), Hanover High School (Hanover, NH), Yarmouth High School (Yarmouth, ME), Freeport High School (Freeport, ME) and North Yarmouth Academy (Yarmouth, ME).

At the various universities we visit along the way, we are getting together with our Island School alumni Continue reading →

Alumni, Alumni Spotlight

Alumni Spotlight: Liza Morse (F’09)

Fall 2009 alumna and Grinnell College sophomore, Liza Morse, has been a leader affecting change both in classes as a biology and Spanish major, and in her extra-curricular activities. As a first year at Grinnell last year year she received a stipend for being the on-campus advocate for the organization Food & Water Watch. She also was elected Chairperson of the Student Environmental Committee for this year. In addition, this past summer she worked for the American Bird Conservancy in Washington, DC.

As part of Food and Water Watch, Liza acted as the Campus Coordinator for their Take Back the Tap Campaign, which aims to eliminate bottled water from campuses and encourage reusable water bottles, as well as to educate the student body regarding water issues (water privatization, fracking, etc.). You can read more about the campaign here!

As the Chair of the Student Environmental Committee this year, Liza has been running weekly meetings where the committee plans on-campus events for students and Continue reading →

Alumni, News

Love is in the Air!

This past weekend, two couples near and dear to The Island School’s heart tied the knot! Francesca Forrestal, a Fall 1999 alumna and member of the Cape Eleuthera Foundation Board, married Ian Enochs in Newport, RI. They are living in Miami, Florida where Francesca is completing her Ph.D. in marine biology and Ian is working for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Also married last weekend were former Island School faculty member, Kristin Sinclair, to Andy Robertson. The two got married  at Camp Wing in Duxbury, MA, a camp that  “inspires at-risk youth to develop their innate potential to become members of the next generation of diverse young leaders in Boston and Massachusetts, breaking the cycle of poverty and under-achievement and yielding systemic change in the communities where they live”. Their wedding venue expenses helped to support these programs and provide scholarships for kids. Kristin and Andy were able to tie a little bit of Island School into their ceremony by decorating with shells and seaglass from Eleuthera and sand from Lighthouse Beach.

Congratulations Francesca & Ian and Kristin & Andy!

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Alumni, Events, News

First Ever Monster Run-Swim!

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This weekend marked the first-ever Monster Run-Swim event at The Island School. The event took place on two courses: the normal Island School run-swim course, a sprint run-swim course with 1.7km of running and 0.5km swimming, and a ‘Monster’ course featuring a 7.4km run and a 1.65km swim. Rooted in a uniquely Island School morning exercise, the run-swim drew alumni and friends of The Island School from the U.S. and Nassau, including Alumni Advisory Board members Meg Bunn (F’01), Nick Del Vecchio (F’02), Kate Parizeau (F’03), and Johann Schdeit (SP’02). Many participants relished opportunity to revisit the course, sometimes for the first time since being a student, while at the same time knowing they were supporting the Deep Creek Middle School.

Despite some difficulty for participants to reach the remote location, the first installment of the Monster Run-Swim was a success. Including some Island School students and staff who participated in the event, 64 individuals tested their ability to truly cross train. Finishing first overall was Scott Aland (SP’05), who completed the long course in just over one hour, and the first woman across the finish line was Island School student Hope Logan (F’12), who finished only a couple minutes behind.

Be sure to join us in the future for the next Monster Run-Swim!

Alumni

CONCHtribution Has Begun!

CONCHtribution, the annual alumni giving campaign that raises money for the Cape Eleuthera Foundation’s Annual Fund, has officially begun! This year, the theme is Look Back, Give Back. While reflecting upon your experience as an IS student, we encourage you to look through old photos from IS and send a photo of yourself to alumni@islandschool.org, along with a current photo and a short description of where you are and what you’re doing. We will then post them on our new Pinterest page where other alumni can “look back” and be inspired to “give back” to this place that means so much to them. Click here to “Look Back” and here to “Give Back” now! Remember, it’s all about PARTICIPATION!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=kEiG8Zpiiu0

Alumni, Aquaculture

SP’12 Human Ecology Project on CEI’s Aquaculture Program

At the conclusion of every semester, Island School students break into small groups to focus on a single final Human Ecology project based on an particular interested that has developed throughout the semester. Spring 2012 students Brendan James, Liz Ellinger, Paul Henderson, and Kyle Forness studied the Cape Eleuthera Institute’s Aquaculture program and its history and created an informational and professional video for educational purposes. Check it out!

Alumni, Alumni Spotlight

Alumni Spotlight: Eliott Wellenbach (F’11)

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We are always encouraging alumni to give back to The Island School, Cape Eleuthera Institute, and Deep Creek Middle School in any way that they can. Fall 2011 alum and avid lacrosse player, Eliott Wellenbach, found a unique way to give back that combined his love for Eleuthera with his love for the sport of lacrosse.

As soon as he returned from his semester in December 2011, he contacted us about holding a lacrosse camp at Deep Creek Middle School for kids in the nearby Bahamian settlements and immediately started collecting old lacrosse sticks and other lacrosse equipment donated from friends and family. He began creating practice plans and designing drills for these campers–most of whom had never even heard of lacrosse or seen a lacrosse stick.

In August, Eliott, his older sister Lilly, and his mother Pat headed down to Eleuthera Continue reading →

Alumni, Alumni Spotlight

Alumni Spotlight: Jan Shi (F’09)

Fall 2009 alum, Jan Shi graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy this past spring and instead of going straight to college this fall like most high school graduates, Jan deferred his acceptance to the University of Virginia and has taken the opportunity to spend the year traveling. As the recipient of the Phillips Exeter Academy Perrin Fellowship, a $10,000 fellowship awarded to an Exeter senior that supports a year of independent travel before college, Jan now finds himself preparing for his journey. On September 12th, he will begin his trip by traveling to Southeast Asia where he will stay for roughly nine months. Jan’s exact itinerary is flexible at this point, but he has plans to visit Thailand, Myanmar, Sumatra & Sulawesi (Indonesia), Borneo, and the Philippines. Jan hopes “to wander around the coastal regions and jungles of Southeast Asia to learn about the sea, environment, and other themes from my time at the Island School” and encourages people to contact him at jan.shi@me.com with suggestions or ideas for his trip! Good luck, Jan, and congratulations on this amazing opportunity!

Alumni

Horatio Smith’s (F’02) Nassau Restaurat, Nelly’s Deli!

Horatio Smith (F’02) has been helping out The Island School’s amazing kitchen staff for the past few months, sharing his knowledge of cooking, catering, and the restaurant business. Two years ago, he opened his very own restaurant in Nassau called Nelly’s Deli. The restaurant is in a beautiful restored church and has a delicious menu. Next time you are in Nassau, be sure to stop by for a meal at Nelly’s Deli on Charlotte Street!

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Alumni, Alumni Spotlight

Alumni Spotlight: Francesca Forrestal (F’99)!

Fall 1999 alumna, Francesca Forrestal is a research assistant with ISSF and a PhD student at the Rosensteil School of Marine and Atmospheric Science at University of Miami in the Marine Biology and Fisheries Division. She recently wrote and published an article on the ecological effects of farming blue fin tuna as part of her research on ecosystem effects of bycatch in tuna fisheries. Be sure to read the full article here! Congratulations, Francesca!