by Caciques Tori Suslovitch and Brendan McDonnell

Today was the first full day that all of us were split up into two groups; half of us are out on 8-day kayak trips and trips “DownIsland.” In the next few days, kayakers will be camping out and the students going down island will get the chance to see the North side of Eleuthera. The other half of us are staying on campus for an academic week: classes today included a Research Statistics class, Marine Ecology, and Math.

During exploration time today, we rode our bikes to theMarina, enjoyed candy bars and cold sodas at the Marina Store, and floated down the current cut – a place where the tidal currents create a “lazy river” through the narrow channel. Swimming in the current cut is a little bit like life at The Island School: similar to the variety of marine life that coexists in the cut – butterflyfish, angelfish, grouper, stingrays, and countless others -  the Island Schools brings students from a variety of different places and backgrounds together. Continue reading →

by Caciques Tori O and Erik

Due to the crazy schedule of kayak rotations, this Sunday was not our day off but rather a regular day filled with academic classes.  After sleep in till 8:00and breakfast, the morning began with Literature Class in which we discussed the importance of a hero’s journey both within the text of Omeros, as well as in our own lives.  We talked about famous heros we have read about and watched in movies and compared those to the personal heroes that play important roles in shaping who we are as individuals.  After Literature we had a long block of art which focused on the special objects we collected during our beach sweep the previous day.  We explored why these objects became personal as well as began water colors which displayed our objects in a unique way.

Following lunch we split into our Human Ecology classes and continued working on our projectitos.  The four groups, Mangroves, Osprays, Bees, and Agriculture continued to work in the field as well as on their presentations for the following day.  Our hard work went up till dinner which was then followed by regular study hours.

by Cacique Claire

We worked under the hot Bahamian sun shoveling seaweed to build our little mound of nutrients. All the while we talked about what it meant to be at The Island School and how after everyone has gone home, every student here leaves a legacy. Which is exactly what we did today! Today was legacy day here at The Island School which meant we all split up into groups and worked on certain projects to beautify and improve the campus. The mission of our group was to help to give shade and protection to the aquaponics wet lab, by planting trees and bushes in front of it. To do this we laid out logs then put down tree branches and on top of that we layered seaweed and sand to give our plants nutrients to grow. While we were hauling the logs and shoveling the seaweed we all began to talk about what we were doing. I imagined returning to The Island School years from now, and looking over to the wet lab and seeing the tall trees, that were the babies we planted today. We all began talking about what it’s like here at The Island School, and what our wanted our own personal legacies to look like. Continue reading →

by Caciques Ihna and James

Yesterday, we visited a cruise ship port inSouth Eleutheracalled Princess Cays. Through our interactions with tourists, local Bahamians and cruise ship employees, we were able to get different perspectives on how the industry affects the individual lives of local Bahamians, and their economy as a whole. For most, this trip was an eye-opener. We started to realize how muchIslandSchoolis really changing us, how it has affected the way we act and think.

Ihna:  During our tour of the facilities, we often asked questions that related to how sustainable the area is. They were atypical questions, like “How do you get rid of your waste (both human and garbage)?” and “Do you use chemicals to get rid of the mosquitoes?”

All in all, it was a very interesting experience. It was really our first time being around non-locals and in fact, for me, I felt more comfortable approaching the Bahamian workers than the tourists. Continue reading →

by Caciques Hallie and John

Today started out like so many before, gusting wind and a drizzle of rain. Not the kind of whether you’d expect from The Bahamas, but then again this whole experience has been a rollercoaster, fun but a little strange at points.  We had our run/swim tracks, with the runners sprinting around the Marina, and the swimmers swimming sprints through triangle cut. We then went to breakfast and prepared for the art field trip planned for the morning. We met at the vans at9:15for the drive to a beach in Rock Sound where we started off our time there with a 20-minute individual sketch session on the beach. The ocean was filled with white caps and the wind was whipping as we drew in our sketchbooks. Continue reading →

by Caciques Connor Sullivan and Simon Mauck

Today was a day of mixed emotions. It was the beginning of our three week long rotation of Down Island Trips (DIT) and kayak adventures. For the DIT’s, we stay in our same groups from our kayak trips and car camp while we take an educational road trip down the island, going north. They are called “down island” trips due to the current that flows along Eleuthera that runs south to north. We (Connor and Simon) are in kayak group three, which means we will be having academic class time for the first week and a half. For the other half of the students, they spent the morning preparing and packing for either their eight-day kayak trip, or DIT. After goodbyes to fellow friends leaving for their adventures, we started our academic classes.

Despite rearranged schedules and new class groupings, we still have our weekly Community Outreach class with Deep Creek Middle School. As being a part of the grade 8 class, my buddy Cam and I (Connor) worked on Continue reading →

by Cacique Anabelle Florio

Today was the most lazy Sunday yet! I automatically woke up in order to finish my Eleutheros and then had a movie marathon. Since it was raining all day, the girls in the dorm re-constructed the common room and moved the couches around to make one big “fort.” We all watched movies in the fort and made friendship bracelets when we finished our work due. We paused  all movies when Ally came in and informed us that there was popcorn in the fishbowl. Naturally, we all ran! After an about an hour more of this leisure day, K1 kayak group went to go set up their equipment for tomorrows 8 day adventure. K2 is meeting tonight to discuss the three day trip down island. It was a great day to have girls bonding time in the dorm before everyone parted. K3 and K4 is going to miss K1 and K2 while they are out on their adventures!

by Cacique Elliot

Today was a very long and exciting day! We started off the day with PSAT’s in the morning from 8-12. Then we went to a beach right outside of Rock Sound that was a little off the beaten path. We spent the rest of the afternoon tanning, body surfing, snorkeling and having a blast. After the beach we went home and prepared for our first Homecoming. Each settlement on Eleuthera has a Homecoming each year, and that is when everyone who has moved away comes back and celebrates with a big street party. When we arrived to the Homecoming at 8:00pmit was an amazing site. There were vendors lined up on the streets with all sorts of local specialties.  I right away hoped in line at one of the stands and got a basket of conch fritters and an ice cold mango smoothie. There was also a basketball court that turned into a big dance floor. Towards the end of the night there were many Island School students out dancing with some of the locals to local rake and scrape music played by The Rum Runners. The whole Homecoming was just an amazing experience to end on before our community splits up for three weeks and has 8 day kayak rotations that start Monday.

by Caciques Tyler and Anika

I caressed the slip of paper in my hand as I walked up to Cam. My eyes were covered by a pair of Aviators that were bigger than my face. I walked up to her and slipped the piece of paper into her hand. She looked up at me, her eyes curious. I nodded curtly and saw her eyes widen before she nodded in response. On the slip was a name; Teschna and it was circled in red. She looked up at me before turning towards the door and running out of the dining hall to catch Teschna. I took off my glasses and smiled smugly, my next slip of paper already in my hand. Today, Anika and I organized a game where students compete in a clandestine game where at the end of the day, only one individual wins. It started with just students but by lunch had moved among the teachers. Tensions were high among the students and the teachers and the campus was filled with paranoid glances. I was happy with the turn-out of the game and I am sure that a more organized version would be definitely be an option for the oncoming weeks.