by Caciques Ellie and Austin

Happy Earth Day! Our very own Lissa Eidelman greeted us at dinner circle with an excerpt from President Obama’s Earth Day speech. Being so disconnected from the outside world, it was pleasing to hear that others are also putting effort into a greener, more sustainable world. Obama talked about how our world needs to use less energy and conserve more. The little efforts are what count. Here at The Island School, we try to do this by turning off the lights whenever we leave a room. We also try to be as sustainable as possible when eating our food. We buy as locally as we can to reduce the carbon footprint, and in many cases, we grow our own food.  Before I came to The Island School, I never considered the aspect of food in sustainability. I never knew that buying so locally and organically could make such a big difference! Continue reading →

by Cacique Jessica and Marco

We all came to The Island School expecting our math class to be Celestial Navigation.  A lot of us, including myself, were disappointed to find we would be doing statistics instead.  I understand that statistics is much more helpful when it comes to Research Class, but I wanted to know how to do celestial navigation also. I have taken astronomy at home and know quit a bit of trigonometry, so I thought it would be neat to apply it to find my latitude.  Today in math class we were surprised to find that, due to popular demand, we were doing a crash course in celestial navigation.  Matt taught us a little bit about how celestial navigation works and about how to use a sextant and then we were off to try it on our own.  To use a sextant you look through the eyepiece at the sun (don’t worry, there are filters) and adjust it until you can see two suns.  Continue reading →

By Caciques Jon and Haley

It began with the mangroves. When the developers decided to dredge the cuts, demolish the swampy mangroves and create space for the projected resort, they ended up moving tons of limestone onto the property where The Island School currently stands. On legacy day, it was our duty as students to leave our mark on the campus. As we swung our pickaxes and shovels, as we pitted our strengths against the solid ground and as our sweat formed beads on the dusty earth, we were in a sense “building character.” What this truly means is different for everyone, but to me it was a time to not only collect blisters while digging holes and planting tamarinds, but also to collect my thoughts after a stunning 50 days. Continue reading →

by Caciques Emma and Evan

About the 51^st day,

There is so much to say.

Free diving for exercise,

What a marvelous surprise!

Maxey showed us the skills we need,

To become free divers that succeed.

Following breakfast, we had classes,

When having fun, how fast time passes! Continue reading →

by Caciques Hannah T and Marco

The days seem to fly by here on the island of Eleuthera, and today marks the halfway point in our journey. When we first arrived, our bonds had yet to be formed and unforgettable experiences awaited us. We were simply a group of unfamiliar teenagers that were eager to begin this journey of uncertainty and discovery together. Since then, we have developed lasting friendships and countless memories. Continue reading →

by Caciques Ami and Aidan

Today was our last day as a whole community for quite some time. In fact, K1 is leaving for eight day kayak and K2 is leaving for their Down Island trip tomorrow. We will not be seeing everyone together for the next three weeks. What better way to prepare us than a sleep in? For Aidan and I, as members of K1, today was spent preparing for our expedition. We sorted through the gear, making sure that tents, paddles, dromedaries, and everything else was accounted for. We packed food, our personal belongings, and bonded with our new “family”. Finally, as an end to our preparations we elected leaders (Hannah and TJ) for our first day on the water. The rest of the day was spent with the friends we would soon be leaving behind to their own adventures at school. We’re looking forward to getting out in our kayaks, maybe slightly nervous about our solo and the bugs. Let’s hope it doesn’t rain! We bid the school and our friends on K2, K3, and K4 farewell and good luck.

by Caciques J.P and Nathan

Today was a Thursday and all the students woke early to hear the birds singing and waves gently crashing on Boys dorm beach. There was a dark thundercloud hovering over the horizon, which foreshadowed the much-needed rain to come. We circled up and lifted our head to the Bahamian Flag, which was hardly moving due to no wind. As we sang the words we have been so familiarized with over the past month and a half, a contagious yawn had spread throughout the students and the National Anthem was not the best one we had conducted this semester. After that not so pleasant spectacle, the students parted into their running or swim tracks for the morning. The swimmers had a timed lap around triangle cut while the runners had a timed run around the loop; everyone had showed much improvement from their previous times. It is exciting knowing how much people have improved since we first arrived, Continue reading →

by Caciques James and Adam

Today was a significant day for Island School students. It was the last art class with everyone together until after eight-day kayak rotations. And, we were blessed with the presence of Antonius Roberts, a famous Bahamian artist, and his thought-provoking presentation. Roberts has worked within the communities around him to create his artwork. By involving multiple ideas and perspectives into his work, he is able to create a product that inspires meaning into the mind of all the members of the community. After his insightful presentation, the students were able to show him our own work. Roberts thought that our work was, “creative, clever and thoughtful.” We were assigned to create art for advocacy, Continue reading →