“The Wise Octopus”

By Caciques Meaghan Kachadoorian and Hammy Wallace

Today, the 47 of us addressed matters that we really care about in our 3 hour Human Ecology block this morning. We have split up into our final project groups, and we spent the day in the field making our plans a reality. Some visited local farms to inquire about an all local meal (Meaghan), while others researched bio diesel production (Hammy). What we all had in common this morning was the initiative we took as leaders working for a greater change. After lunch, we had a long block of research. All over campus, groups were huddled over excel worksheets, Continue reading →

“Too Many Themes!”

 By Caciques Augie Cummings and Aubrey Faggen

As the lights of our dorms turned on, we scrambled out of our comfy beds to get ready for the long day ahead of us. Swim and run track presented us with many challenges yet we all strive for our very best, especially when we are coming closer and closer to our “Super Swim” or half-marathon run. Breakfast as always was a delicious plate of grits, eggs and yummy toasted bread.  Our classes took up most of the day. Everyone is finally getting back into our regular school schedule after those crazy three weeks of kayak rotations. Some of us were still working off Governors Harbor baked goods, Homecoming conch fritters and Goombay slushies. Continue reading →

“Your World Through Our Eyes”

by Caciques Ashlie Thompson and Jack DeVries

Students had the option of waking up to a morning free dive: our minds entering another world as we enter the water, a place of calmness and beauty that is all natural. This is what many of my classmates decided to do on their Wednesday morning sleep in time. On these mornings we would explore the beauty of another world. While the rest of us went into the depth of our minds and succumbed to dreams on end while safe in their cozy dorm beds.

Sadly, there are no more eighth and fourth graders here as St. Andrews departed this morning, leaving breakfast back to its usual Wednesday morning granola which everyone has begun to enjoy more and more as the weeks prolong. Human Ecology electives was the first part of our agenda that we jumped right into. Continue reading →

“Brr its cold in here, there must be some islanders in the atmosphere”

by Caciques George Giannos and Allegra Rumbough

We awoke to a cool autumn morning in The Bahamas. Although it was around 70 degrees, we were all wearing winter hats and fleeces. We have all adapted to this warm weather that we are blessed with and we all are awaiting tropical storm Tomas to just pass by for good. We are done with all of the cold weather! Today we recognized that we only have 28 days left until the end of the semester, exactly 4 weeks. The community was in awe that time has flown by so fast, and we discussed our goals for the following month to come. Continue reading →

“Our Last Month Stretch”

by Caciques Garneisha Pinder and Will Overman

Today, it hit me like thunder: Remo reiterated that today November 8^th 2010 marking our last month stretch at The Island School. We have four weeks here to get after it, and leave our mark here. 

Our day started with Human Ecology final project selections. We broke off into groups: food, transportation, urban development, miscellaneous, humanities, bees etc. There, we discussed ideas, wrote questions about what we wanted to do, and formulated our plans of action. Once our groups had been permanently established, we set off to get the structure of our plans finalized. We were off to save the world. These projects focus on, not only helping The Island School, but the rest of our home communities, and even generations to come. Continue reading →

“Lazy Sunday”

by Caciques Marianne Foss-Skiftesvik and C.J. Easton

After a night of hugs, salsa dancing, and a great sleep we woke up to a campus full of smiles and laughter. Today, it has been a tad chilly and extremely windy which makes it truly feel like fall. Since Sundays are our days off, everyone was in sweatpants and sweatshirts. Many people spent their day sleeping in, and watching movies. It was a perfect day to relax and reunite with the friends that we had not seen in what seemed like forever. All of us shared stories of Down Island Trip and Kayak Rotation, we even had pictures to go along with those stories. The K2 kayak group swam with dolphins and K4 had to sit in lightening position in a torrential downpour for their last night of solo. Continue reading →

“A Saturday Reunited”

by Caciques Chris Pibl and Pheobe Fitz

Today was a day we’ve all worked very hard preparing for: Human Ecology elective presentations! We all anxiously awaited class so we could put some finishing touches on our presentations. The water elective went first, and educated us on the harsh reality of bottled water, tap water, and the global water crisis. Conscious consumerism came next, and we enlightened everyone on the true effects of the harmful chemicals that we put on our bodies every day without even realizing it. Compost then gave us a very interesting presentation during which we got to stick our hands deep into the compost pile- talk about hands-on! Biodiesel was last, and they showed us a video they made titled “Cash Cab: Biodiesel Edition.” We left Human Ecology class today excited to learn more about each others’ electives when we choose our final projects next week.

Upon the return of K3 and K4, Continue reading →

Today’s run-jump-swim for swim track was possibly one of the best and most exciting run swims yet. It involved multiple jumps as well as an emphasis on swimming. Everyone in swim track was excited and determined to finish strong. Everyone loved to jump off the wall into current cut and then leisurely float down the cut. Today’s swim track was a great way to switch up our normal routine. It provided encouragement for our swim team, strength in both fields (swimming and running) and bonding moments between swim track.

Everyone at the school is excited to see our parents and show them what we have accomplished here at The Island School.  They will be able to witness all of the training we did up to their arrival and currently completing. To everyone here, parent’s weekend will be the pinnacle of our Island School adventure. The adventure that will continue even after our Island School experience has ended. In the end, we can’t wait for your arrival.

-Garneisha and Brandon

This morning we had a chance to sleep in and jump slowly into the day. In art class we started our art projects that are to be shown during parents weekend. We all were excited to start and it appeared that everyone had a good idea of what their project was going to be.  There are so many different styles that are being used to answer so many questions that will make our show amazing. Today also provided us with a chance to visit with our buddies at Deep Creek Middle School. I was working with grade 9 and we got so much done in our planning for Deep Creek’s homecoming carnival next February. My group alone was able to acquire a stage and stalls for the event. To finish off the day we have been blessed by rain. The rain is a great commodity here at the Island School providing us with full cisterns, and a full cistern is a happy cistern.

-Charlie

“Our fingerprints never fade from the lives we touch.” -Unknown

Hearing this quote made me think about all the people in my everyday life who are important to me; whether they are back home, one of the 47 students at the Island School, or a member of the faculty. How many times a day, or even a month, do I take time to tell them Continue reading →

Legacies, Labor and Appreciation

The day was full of manual labor, hard work, legacies and appreciations. We started off with clean shirts, ready for the day ahead. The twenty-four students still on campus were split into three legacy groups: CEI, Bike shed and Faculty apartments. All the groups were in charge of planting and landscaping one of the three areas. At CEI we moved sand from piles to create a smooth, elevated surface. Then we took enormous rocks and encompassed our mound of sand. Although it may seem like effortless work, by lunchtime all of our shirts were dirty. After a well earned meal we dug holes and planted our trees.

At the bike shed we first started out our morning pick-axing the hard curry soil and digging 3 foot wide by 3 foot deep holes. We filled these in with tamerun, palm and citrus trees. After planting we then went on an adventure into the inner loop to retrieve rocks that would ultimately line the drive way.

Our day of hard work and manual labor was not only a day where we left our mark on the school, it was also a day where we realized the challenges of our landscaping staff. This day also taught us to challenge our own personal strength and it brought teamwork back into our school community.

-Julia G. and Scott E.