Category Archives: Alumni

Alumni, Cape Eleuthera Institute, CEI, Events, News, research

CEI’s Anderson-Cabot Hall for Graduate Studies Opens to Create More Opportunities for Bahamians in Research

On Friday June 5th, Cape Eleuthera Institute (CEI) hosted a ribbon cutting on their newest building, Anderson-Cabot Hall for Graduate Studies.  The grand opening was held during the SEA Change Youth Summit hosted by The Island School in partnership with 5Gyres and Jack Johnson.  Government officials, staff, students, and school supporters gathered to celebrate with an official ribbon cutting ceremony which featured speakers involved in the building’s creation, as well as its future. Chris Maxey, co-founder of The Island School, began the event by celebrating the growth of the organization and introduced Aaron Shultz, Director of Cape Eleuthera Institute.

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Shultz explained the importance of Anderson-Cabot Hall not only to CEI’s campus, but also to the island of Eleuthera and the greater Bahamas. “CEI is a major hub for research, education, and outreach.  Our dorms serve over 1000 local and international students annually. Hallig House hosts professors, government officials, and short-course leaders.  The missing link has been a place for graduate students and interns to live and work on campus.  The Anderson-Cabot Hall will be the hub for the best and brightest local Bahamian and international graduate students in the Greater Caribbean Region.“

Shultz then introduced Alexio Brown, College of the Bahamas graduate, CEI Research Assistant and former BESS student at The Island School. Brown spoke about the opportunities that this building now opens up for Bahamian students like himself who aspire to pursue a career in the marine sciences. “Anderson-Cabot Halls allows me the opportunity to stay in The Bahamas and make a difference in the future of my country. There aren’t many places that offer this type of opportunity for young Bahamians in science like me.” As Shultz shared in his remarks, “Anderson-Cabot Hall is the first higher education facility built to support local and international graduate students in The Bahamas.”

In attendance was long-time supporter of the Cape Eleuthera Island School, John Dunagan, who dedicated the building to John “Giant” Norris Carey, builder and mentor. Ed Anderson and Linda Cabot, the primary financial contributors and for whom the building is named after, were present to cut the ribbon on the building and spoke to honor its opening.

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As two-time Island School parents, The Anderson-Cabots told the crowd their motivation for supporting CEI’s newest building project. “Both our daughters Gigi (S’11) and Noelle (S’13) attended The Island School and had transformative experiences, that have been the cornerstones of their education. They returned home from the Cape as empowered young women; aware, excited and skilled to make an impact in their worlds,” shared Cabot. This building as a priority for Ed Anderson and Linda Cabot so that the Cape Eleuthera Institute could expand to reach more graduate students and eventually become, as Ed Anderson said, “the Wood’s Hole of the Caribbean.”

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The opening concluded with remarks from Minister of Education, the Honorable Jermone Fizgerald and a luncheon honoring special guests, as well as the Carey Construction crew who built the Hall.

Alumni, Cape Eleuthera Institute, CEI, Events, Island School, News, research

The Maxeys Make it to Bermuda!

Following the SEA Change Youth Summit held at The Island School June 5-7, Chris & Pam Maxey and their crew made up of Brittney Maxey, Mike Cortina (CSD sustainability teacher and F’02 alumnus), Kelly Duggan (S’11), Sam Kosoff (former IS teacher and Lawrenceville Dir. of Sustainability) and Georgie Burruss (CEI researcher) sailed from Cape Eleuthera, The Bahamas to Bermuda on their boat, Kokomo, sailing alongside 5 Gyres and Jack Johnson, who were aboard The Mystic.  Also on board the Mystic for the leg from Eleuthera to Bermuda was Island School alumna, Aly Boyce (F’10) and now her brother, IS alumnus James Boyce (F’12), will board the Mystic for the next leg.

Kokomo and Mystic left the Cape Eleuthera Resort & Marina in the afternoon of Tuesday June 9th and arrived in Bermuda coastal waters in the early morning of Sunday June 14th. Along the way, both the Kokomo and the Mystic conducted citizen science: trawling for plastic pollution in the ocean.

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Spring 2011 Island School alumna, Kelly Duggan (right) who was also aboard the Kokomo with the Maxeys, helps CEI researcher, Georgie Burruss (left) set up the first trawl.

Upon arrival in Bermuda, the sailboat caravan was welcomed by the educational officer at Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences (BIOS), JP Skinner who lives in nearby Paget Parish. Last night, they had the opportunity to visit BIOS and check out the amazing work going on there. The rest of their time on Bermuda has been spent exploring the town of St. Georges and the nearby beaches with the team aboard the Mystic.

Tomorrow, the Kokomo and the Mystic embark on the next left of their trip, bound for the east coast of the United States. They will be sailing together for the first few days until the Mystic splits to make its way towards New York City and the Kokomo heads towards the Chesapeake Bay. We wish all the sailors a safe passage and calm seas!

James Boyce (F'12), Chris Maxey, Pam Maxey, Aly Boyce (F'10), Jack Johnson, Cha Boyce, Britt Maxey, Kristal Ambrose, Frank Boyce
James Boyce (F’12), Chris Maxey, Pam Maxey, Aly Boyce (F’10), Jack Johnson, Cha Boyce, Britt Maxey, Kristal Ambrose, Frank Boyce
Alumni, Alumni Spotlight

Alumni Spotlight: Katie Romanov (F’05) and Emma Payne (S’10)

Island School connections are everywhere! We recently heard from Fall 2005 IS alumna Katie Romanov and Spring 2010 alumna Emma Payne who are working together on an incredible project–to bring a nonverbal boy a voice!

Emma recently began working for VocaliD which is a start-up that creates personalized synthetic voices for people who can’t speak, so they don’t have to rely on the same limited set of generic, robotic-sounding voices. It’s very common that kids who rely on communication devices to talk often end up having around 5 other kids in their class using the same exact voice as them– it’s not only confusing, but communicating with such a generic, robotic voice hides a huge part of one’s identity.

Processed with VSCOcam with g3 presetKatie emailed the central VocaliD email account, which Emma is in charge of answering, and her story about her student Simon, a nonverbal 5th grade boy from San Francisco immediately made Emma want to do whatever she could to join Katie in helping Simon get his own communication device, communication software, and his own voice. Katie and Emma exchanged many, many emails as they brainstormed how to set up Simon’s Indiegogo Life fundraising campaign, and when Katie connected with VocaliD’s page on Facebook, Emma noticed that they had a mutual friend–The Island School–and they soon we realized that we were both IS alumnae, 5 years apart!

To learn more about Simon and his journey to get a voice, visit Katie’s Indiegogo page and watch this video of Simon in action!

Alumni, Alumni Spotlight

Island School Alumni Class Notes 2015

Our Island School alumni have gone on to do some incredible things since their time with us on Eleuthera. Read below to hear about what some of them are up to now! To submit your own class note, email alumni@islandschool.org.

SPRING 1999

Class Agent: Joshua Lichtman

FALL 1999

Class Agent: Lee Taylor

SPRING 2000

Class Agent: Monique Johnson

Monique Johnson is training for the Spartan Sprint race in a few weeks. It’s an obstacle course race that involves 5+ kilometers and 15+ obstacles.  It’s the closest thing to an Island School run, bike, swim morning workout. Monique says to all her S’00′ers changing the world one day at a time… keep up the good work and she hopes you are enjoying the liberty of life wherever you are in the world! 

FALL 2000

Class Agent: Richard Woodhull

SPRING 2001

Class Agent: Nina Kumar

FALL 2001

Class Agent: Mary Coleman Farrell

Meg Bunn will be starting an executive MBA program at UVA’s Darden School of Business this coming fall. She met up with Mary Coleman Farrell in NYC in May. Mary Coleman Farrell recently moved to Richmond, VA with her husband and two children. 

SPRING 2002 Continue reading →

Alumni, Events, News

Boys Hope Girls Hope Recognizes Island School’s Chris Maxey with Distinguished Global Service Award

Simi Sonubi (F'14) introduces Chris Maxey who received the Distinguished Global Service Award from BHGHNY.
Simi Sonubi (F’14) introduces Chris Maxey who received the Distinguished Global Service Award from BHGHNY.

On May 7th, 2015, over a record breaking crowd of 875 people gathered at Cipriani Wall Street for Boys Hope Girls Hope New York’s (BHGHNY) annual Vision of Hope Awards Dinner. Introduced by Fall 2014 Island School alumna and current BHGHNY student, Simi Sonubi, Island School Founder, Chris Maxey was honored for the incredible work he has done through The Island School’s City Bridge Program.

BHGHNY Maxey Award Speech

Maxey has created an international platform where year after year students and professionals from all over the world live and work hand in hand with locals to build a green community that focuses on marine and ecology studies, sustainable development initiatives, and  “fosters the development of responsible, caring, global citizens”. The Distinguished Global Service Award was inaugurated in 2012. The past three recipients are Barbara Chase, Former Head of School of Phillips Andover Academy, Charles Deacon, Dean of Undergraduate Admissions of Georgetown University and Bradford Gioia, Headmaster of Montgomery Bell Academy.

Also honored was Doug Kimmelman, Founder and CEO of Energy Capital Partners with the Vision of Hope Award. Super Bowl-winning New York Giants Hall of Famer Michael Strahan received this year’s Wellington T. Mara Award. In addition, BHGHNY student Adrian Roque-Silvas received the Mary Lanning Service Leadership Award.  Also in attendance was distinguished guest John Mara, the co-owner of the New York Giants.

The strong relationship between The Island School and BHGHNY continues with two students attending the semester program next academic year with full scholarships.

About Boys Hope Girls Hope New York

Founded in 1979, BHGHNY aims to serve low-income-first-generation-college-bound-students who are most in need and who have the demonstrated ability to excel in a demanding academic setting.  As the region’s only urban boarding program, BHGHNY is at the vanguard of youth development and its overall efficacy and approach continue to set new standards in student services and support. Over the years, our scholars have enjoyed high school retention/graduation and college placement rates of over 85% and hundreds of our graduates have gone on to enjoy productive lives as contributing members of their communities.

Alumni

Congratulations Candice Springs Hipp (S’04)!

Island School Spring 2004 alumna Candice Springs got married earlier this month on May 2nd in South Carolina to her now husband Will Hipp. Candice wanted her favorite place, Eleuthera, to be represented at her wedding so she served Kalik, the beer of The Bahamas, and conch fritters at the reception!

Congratulations Candice and Will!

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Alumni

Internship Opportunity for IS Alumni

Chris Maxey’s son, Brocq Maxey works for a company in Cape Town, South Africa called Shark Explorers (http://www.sharkexplorers.com/), which offers unique shark diving and view expeditions. Their philosophy is to change peoples’ perspectives of sharks and protect them as the ocean’s ultimate predator.

Shark Explorers is currently seeking interns, specifically among Island School alumni 18 and older this summer, August 1-21. See below or click here to learn more. If you are interested, email Brocq at brocq@sharkexplorers.com. 

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Alumni, Alumni Spotlight

Alumni Spotlight: Carter Brown (S’09)!

Carter Brown (S'09), the anchor on his Seneca7 Relay Team.
Carter Brown (S’09), the anchor on his Seneca7 Relay Team.

Congratulations to Spring 2009 alumnus Carter Brown on his impressive finish at The Seneca7 Relay Race this past weekend in Geneva, NY. He and his other 6 teammates, team “Fish Out of Water”, were just one team among 223 that entered the relay race. They had hoped to finish in the top 100 but ended up surprising and impressing themselves by finishing in 19th place overall and 8th place in the mixed team category! It took the team almost 10 hours to complete the race. Congratulations, Carter!

Carter Brown (far left) and his Seneca7 relay team.
Carter Brown (far left) and his Seneca7 relay team.
Alumni, Alumni Spotlight

Alumni Spotlight: Hunter Foote (F’10)!

Hunter FooteFall 2010 Island School alumna, Hunter Foote, is launching her own media company called Laurel and wanted the opportunity to share her endeavor with The Island School alumni community.

Laurel was born out of a time of tricky transition for its founder, Hunter Foote. As someone who was about to step out of a university setting and into the “real world,” she felt lost about what to do with her life and who to go to for advice. Through Laurel, Hunter sets out to fix this for other young women like her.

Laurel is a multimedia platform. It is online now, soon-to-be in print, and will be social and mobile as well. Additionally, Laurel will have events like an annual Laurel Women’s Conference, dinners, and social gatherings to bring the Laurel community together. Laurel also hopes to provide a network of mentorship. They want a community of readers who are willing to mentor and be mentored. Readers will be able to connect with women in their field, in their stage of life, or with whom they have a kindred spirit at these events and social platforms.

While many women’s lifestyle magazines give great advice for this Friday night, Laurel is in it for the long haul – for the seasonal periods of transition. Laurel will be an outlet for mentorship for this hard time of transition and will provide relevant information to young women. 

Laurel will talk about the real stuff that help young women in their 20s live a full life in transition from career advice to how to cook when you step out into the world, where to travel to enjoy this time of freedom, and, most importantly, they feature Real Women–Laurel women who have made it through these times of transition.

If you are interested in learning more about Laurel, visit their website or Kickstarter page! Best of luck to you, Hunter! We can’t wait to hear about the future of Laurel and all of your other successes!

Alumni

Alumni Invasion!

The Island School has been lucky enough to welcome back so many of our amazing alumni over these past few weeks–it’s been an alumni invasion!

In February, Willie Drury (S’10) sailed into Triangle Cut with two of his friends and shipmates. The three of them have been sailing south since they left Annapolis earlier this winter and we were happy to have them on campus for a few days. We wasted no time putting them to work…

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Zach Jones, Willie Drury (S’10), Trey Warren “earning their keep” at The Island School when they stopped over during their sailing trip.

Grace Fowler (F’11) and Anne Vetter (S’11) became friends at Colby College and decided to make great use of their spring break. They escaped the never-ending winter in Maine and spent a some time with us on Eleuthera!

Anne Vetter (S'11), Grace Fowler (F'11), Chris Maxey
Anne Vetter (S’11), Grace Fowler (F’11), Chris Maxey

We welcomed our most recent visitor, Connor Boals (F’03), earlier this week. Connor works for CNN and is on-site doing a piece with Dr. Edd Brooks at Cape Eleuthera Institute. Earlier this year, Connor worked with The Island School to produce a feature for the “Wish You Were Here” series CNN ran. In addition to having the opportunity to reconnect with The Island School campus, Connor also caught up with fellow F’03 alumnus and Island School mathematics teacher, Catherine Klem!

Catherine Klem (F'03), Connor Boals (F'03)
Catherine Klem (F’03), Connor Boals (F’03)