by Caciques Ellen and Zeke

Zeke:

During exploration time today, the waters at High Rock and Fourth Hole were a little less than nice to those of us who decided to take snorkeling trips there. Before brunch, a group of us from the boys’ dorm went to high rock for a snorkel. After being tossed around by the waves for a few minutes, we were soon chased out by the lighting we saw offshore and biked back to school, a little disappointed.

After brunch Erik Canfield and I took a trip to Fourth Hole to see if the octopus we had spotted earlier was still in his den. We couldn’t even find the den, and great deal of our time braving yet more waves that were trying to “turn us into chowder.” We didn’t see too much there, due to the water’s murkiness, so we headed back to school to try our luck at Boy’s Dorm Beach. The water was much calmer there, enabling me to get some great photos with my SeaLife camera. [slideshow]

On this trip, we came across a yellow stingray that appeared to be trapped in a fisherman’s cage. Continue reading →

by Cacique Claire

The day started off with Bizarro tracks. So the students who usually swim, ran and the runners swam. The runners took on the challenge of swimming up the current towards the bridge by the Marina quarter mile down the road from school, while the swimmers ran the four mile inner loop. After breakfast and chores we all had math, then history class. In math we had a Harkness discussion on new possible ways to rotate which cisterns we pull from in order to conserve more water. In History we continued our discussion on race and the role it’s played in History and current-day culture. After lunch everyone headed out into the field for research.

It was a windy day for research here on Eleuthera. The queen conch research team went out after lunch to do density surveys in the sound. Everyone got there gear and piled into our boat, the Bonita and headed out to our research site. Everyone got their gear on and jumped into the waves. We spread thirty meter ‘transects’ or lines, from three sides of the boats, then swim along them and collect the conch we see, to weigh and measure. Everyone was very excited to get into the water. Annie and I were buddies and fearlessly jumped into the water first. When I opened my eyes behind my goggles under the water I Continue reading →

An Update Poem By Caciques Harrison & Katie T.

Each morning we wipe sleep from our eyes

For daily with the sun we rise

Round the flagpole, morning dew

As the day begins to brew

Lift up your head to the rising sun

Echoes, uniting us as one Continue reading →

by Caciques Tessa and James

As we do every Wednesday, we began our day with a relaxing sleep-in. Today half of the students spent a long period in Marine Ecology, while others spent it in Human Ecology. Over the past few weeks in Human Ecology, we have been focusing on ecosystems and agriculture, both marine and terrestrial. Today I had to the chance to see and experience the agriculture right here on campus. For the first half of class I was at the Aquaponics center  at CEI. We caught, weighed and filleted Tilapia that we will be eating for dinner on Friday. I was nervous to handle the fish, but I gave it a shot and helped scale a few fish. After this we moved over to the garden and farm on campus. At the garden we planted some tomatoes and helped fix the drip irrigation system. Josh showed us the most practical way to grow tomatoes in a climate like this one. It was interesting to see the behind the scenes work that goes into our food. Here at The Island School, one thing we struggle with is keeping our food local; both of these systems were put in place as an effort to become more self-reliant. At the end of a long day of classes, we were all surprised by a big load of mail, to lift our spirits!

by Tessa

A cascade of bubbles erupted from my regulator as I knelt down on the sandy bottom. I slowly looked around, surveying my environment, as I always do at the beginning of a dive. Peter gathered us together and gestured that we would be touring Cathedral for a short period before we broke off and studied the reef. We followed him, trying to feel as graceful and nonchalant as the thousands of fish around us. Continue reading →

by Caciques Lincoln Zweig and Jamie Perritt

Today was a long day of classes. The day started off with two intense workouts. The runners ran an extended loop and the swimmers swam sprint interval loops off of girl’s dorm beach. After these workouts we had a wonderful breakfast, as usual! After a morning packed with invigorating harkness discussions about race in America and the Bahamas we ate lunch. Twas great. Today marked the midterm of research. Each research group presented to each others teachers and advisors. The presentations were wonderful. Every single research group did an astounding job. We were finally able to learn about other groups projects and their goals for the rest of the semester. Each project was thoughtful and well rehearsed. This was one of the first times we have seen each other in such a formal environment. We look forward to hearing more about hearing about the final stages of the research process at parents weekend and beyond. It was a magnificent day.

by Caciques Charlie and Devin

Hey friends and family here’s a little part of our Monday! After a quick lunch the group gathered together for circle before we hopped into vans to go to Deep Creek Middle School. Once we got there the Island School students all went to their respective classrooms to meet up with their buddies to work on our community service projects. Although this is our third Community Outreach class I had never met my buddy, so as I walked into the ninth grade classroom I scanned the room for any new faces. Sitting across the room I saw a vibrant smiling face, and her eyes lit up when she saw me. I knew this was my buddy, and I couldn’t wait to meet her! Once we went through ice breakers the entire class came together to discuss our project of helping to reconstruct a local library. Continue reading →

by Cacique Ian Huschle

Saturday was a big day. We began at 6:30 AM with the long Saturday morning exercise. I’m on swim track for the semester, and to train for the 4-mile swim, all of us on swim track swam to the current cut. The current cut is a short strip of water cut across the point of Cape Eleuthera, leading out of the marina, and the direction of the current changes with the tides. The current will get so fast it can feel like a class-one rapid. On Saturday, we tried to swim into the current. Most of us swam pretty far up the current cut, and a few others swam all the way to the end. This was just the start of a busy day. After breakfast was research class. I am in the patch reef research class, and a typical day consists of either discussing issues in the classroom, or going out snorkeling in the field. The field is right out of my dorm room window; the bright, blue, shallow water marine ecosystem. Continue reading →

Being Cacique on my Birthday today was awesome, especially because it was a Sunday, and we got to sleep in and have exploration time almost all day. In the morning after everyone woke up around nine, the girls took a trip to High Rock to celebrate. The view was very relaxing and it was a great opportunity to even out farmer’s tans. After we went to brunch that day, my advisor, Peter, brought 6 pints of ice cream for girl’s dorm to share. I think everyone almost forgot what cold food tasted like, the girls were very happy, and the boys were a little jealous. For the rest of the day, people spent their time working on their Eleutheros, and Marine Ecology papers, and by dinner people were hungry for birthday cake, and since it was a Sunday and most of the faculty was off campus, students got as much as they wanted. My sweet sixteen was a lot more than I had expected it to be, and every one here took part to make it a great day.

By Cacique Ihna

As our van pulled up beside a field covered with more rocks than open land, multiple “Are we here?” remarks filled the car. My scrutinizing eyes surveyed, in confusion, the surrounding area that appeared to be just a random unharvestable plot. Going to the “farm”, I had an image of big, open fields with neat rows of crops, but, instead, random blotches of fruit trees welcomed me. I was a bit ashamed of myself; all term, I have been learning to always keep an open mind and to try to rid all my preconceived notions but that is not what I did. I quickly thought of the farmer, Reverend Nixon, as someone who must have been careless, but, after I met him, I realized how industrious he actually is. Continue reading →