“We Give Thanks”

by Caciques Sasha Whittle and Jack DeVries

This morning we woke up excited because it is thanksgiving! During morning exercise we had easy run and swim track practices because the Half Marathon and Super Swim are just around the corner and we are resting our bodies. All morning we worked on our Human Ecology final products. Many of the projects are starting to get important things done. For example today the chicken team finally got chickens and the glycerin soap team finally made soap. In the afternoon Continue reading →

 “Pig Preparation and Giving Thanks”

By Caciques Noah Boskey and Aubrey Faggen 

At The Island School we raise pigs on the farm that we use for food throughout the semester.  The community takes care of them by feeding them food scraps and making sure they are well.  Each year, the day before Thanksgiving we slaughter one pig that we use for our main course on Thanksgiving. This morning the community had an option to sleep in or watch the pig slaughter.  Many students were debating weather or not to go but as we circled up many chose to watch it. We had a quick circle with a briefing and then we all made our way to the pig pen in the farm. Joseph and Spencer took us in like we were professionals and had us help them prepare the pig.  We took rocks to clean the body and poured boiling water on the pig to loosen the hair so we could skin the pig.  At this point of the semester it was great seeing everyone taking a risk as we scrubbed and cleaned off what we are going to be eating the following day.  Continue reading →

“The Here and Now”

By Caciques Catharine Pirie and Nate Smith-Ide

We gathered in the boathouse all anxiously awaiting our second to last community meeting. With the conversations lately focused around the future and leaving, our first instinct was to find a way to stay in the here and now. With a one-word whip around of animal noises describing how we felt the mood was lightened. Coupled with the skits we made about things to do for the next two weeks the boathouse was filled with laughs and smiles. Appreciations, a part of community meeting when individuals stand up and speak thanks to members of our community, were more important with time winding down to tell each other the good things we see. During these next two weeks it is going to be important for us to be the strongest community we can be. All our hard work is all going to pay off in such a short time.

And watch the following clip for more on today’s Island School events…

Welcome to The Island School daily news update.  Our hosts are Perry Leavitt and C.J. Easton.  Today’s video clips will be discussing the events of November 22, 2010.  Perry will be interviewed about her sleep-in, while C.J. will be interviewed about the Deep Creek Basketball Jamboree.  We hope that you enjoy the first Island School Fall 2010 video blog.

A note to our loyal readership: Our apologies for the cacique update being so past-date. Busy with the family festivities, Caciques just could not find time to blog. So, here is the scoop on Friday, and tomorrow we will resume daily updates as usual. Keep reading and we will keep you posted on the glorious, challenging, and ultimately inspirational moments that happen here each day… and don’t forget about the Super Swim and Half Marathon this weekend! Stay tuned…

“Parents Weekend Mania”

by Caciques Nate Smith-Ide and Hunter Foote

Much anticipation surrounded the morning of the second day of Parents’ Weekend. The pressure was on. Today was the day that we would be presenting our research presentations to our parents. As we waited to present our work, the students were scattered about the classrooms trying to calm their nerves and memorize those hard to remember facts. After the presentations, the feeling was gratifying. Following, there was a mass exodus out of the presentation room towards the flagpole. All the students and faculty corralled their families into one massive group for a photo.

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“Reunited”

by Caciques Liam  Donovan Margaux Burnham

We woke up on the morning of Thursday the 18 exited to see our parents. But unfortunately before the arrived we had a list of thing to do the get everything ready, such as clean windows, make food for the art gallery, clean dorms and class rooms and pick up all of the lost and found. During the campus clean we were very off task, it was hard to concentrate because our parents were coming in a couple hours and we have not seen them for 2 months. As the minuets passed the arrival time came closer and closer. The parents started to trickle as the students were getting ready and waiting to be reunited with there families. All of the reunions were joyful, we were lucky to get to witness one precious moment between Brandon Gell and his brother. As Brandon and his little brother made eye contact across the circle they started running toward each other Continue reading →

“Our Old and New Families”

By Caciques Brandon Gell and Marianne Foss-Skiftesvik

After an exciting day of preparing for parents weekend, I can safely say that everyone in the community is itching to spend time with their families. It was right after dinner circle when I realized just how excited I was to see my family and show them everything I have done here. From how I have adapted to excel in my new home and how I have come to know this island like the back of my hand. I am excited to show my family my new friends and family here. I came to these realizations during an exercise Marianne and I led proceeding dinner circle. Continue reading →

“You Can Sleep When You’re Taking the Dirt Nap” –Chris Maxey 

By Caciques Jackson Rafter and Louise Shiverick

Brandon poked me on my side, and I jerked up onto my side, ready to rush to get to morning circle. I glanced out the window to see the orange semi-circle peeking out of the horizon, melting in with the clouds. I looked around the room and noticed everyone was still sleeping, and remembered this wasn’t a normal morning. The faculty had put an extra Tuesday morning sleep-in on the schedule, a blessing, but my watch still showed 6:18, just like every morning. Why? Brandon had organized a morning free dive to the cage with Maxey, and I knew I couldn’t miss out. All night I had heard Maxey’s voice in my head: “you can sleep when you’re taking the dirt nap!” It would be so easy to go back to bed right now, I thought, now stepping outside, Continue reading →

“Morning Glory”

Megan O. - We woke up in anticipation for our practice research presentations.  We were nervous and excited to present in front of all the other research groups.  Half of us presented in the octagon and half of us presented in the presentation room.  We wanted to make our research advisors proud and make ourselves confident for the final presentations for parents on Friday.  We were critiqued by all the other groups, which really helped us perfect our Powerpoint presentations.  The amount of hard work that we showed today made the community appreciate the research that we have been conducting over the semester. Continue reading →

“Like Any Other Sunday”

Caciques Tucker Beckett and Dorothy Long

Today was like any other Sunday, just another day of sleeping in and relaxing at the coffee house, decompressing after a long week of classes. It felt odd to be back into our old routine after the long weeks of kayak rotations, especially with the anticipation and anxiety for the big events of the weeks ahead looming over us. Parents weekend is right around the corner, and parents are already starting to trickle in to Eleuthera. There was also plenty of work stress to go around with research presentations just a day away, and every research group rushing to put the finishing touches on their individual shows. Continue reading →