Hi everyone! This past week has been midterms for Island School students and the campus is pretty busy as we reach halfway in the semester. The midterm process here at The Island School is unique in that you have one on one time with all of your teachers to discuss how each individual is doing in each class. Tuesday afternoon, from 1:15 until 5:45 teachers had 10-15 minutes to discuss with their students.  I really enjoyed this process, as it allowed me to connect with my teachers on a personal level about what was going well and what could be improved upon.  Each student wrote letters home about this process, so parents you should receive this letter soon.

This is our last week before we start on Kayak rotations, so it was a great time to reflect on our classes before things start to change up a little.  On Sunday, the first Kayak group will head out on their adventure for eight days, while the rest of the student body stays on campus for regular classes, or goes on the Down Island Trip.  Each kayak group will leave every week, so there will be a period of three weeks where we won’t all be together.  On the eight day kayak group we will have a two-day solo, so there are a lot of adventures and new challenges coming up for students here.

Today, however, we have the opportunity to attend the Sustainable and Tourism Symposium that is happening here on campus.  We will be listening and talking all day to a group of adults who are a part of the Kinship Fellows program, Island School staff, and One Eleuthera. They all are coming together to discuss the development of South Eleuthera, while discussing how to make it sustainable. The students here at The Island School have prepared questions to ask the adults that relate to creating a sustainable future for this part of the Island.  It is a unique opportunity to be a part of this conference and play a role in the discussion about this Island.  Another aspect of this conference is to bring awareness to the culture and tourism of the Eleuthera. Last night, at dinner circle, we were surprised with a Jukanoo rush out done by our Deep Creek middle school buddies.  We all gathered around the flag and danced our way to the dinning hall for a celebratory meal. This was a great way to start out the conference with guests from around the world ready to discuss the tourism and sustainability of South Eleuthera.

On Saturday morning, after an intense workout of abs with Scottie, we had our morning academic classes.  In the afternoon, we prepared for our midterm check-ins, which will be on Tuesday and gathered our work for our portfolios. This is a time for each student to have one on one time with teachers to discuss what is going well and what areas could be improved upon.  It is a unique opportunity to talk with teachers about our academic life here.

Both dorms had deep cleans after we finished our work and ate some cookies that snack chores, Dale and Jack, made for us.  This clean consisted of pulling all the bunks off the walls and sweeping everywhere.  We wiped down all of our furniture, changed our sheets, and made the dorm new.  Along with that, the girls elected our new dorm head, congratulations Noelle! After we were done, we had exploration time until 6 o clock circle.

After dinner we had our Saturday night activity. The activity that we took part in, is an Island School tradition. At 7:15, we all grabbed our bikes and followed Ashley to High Rock as the sun was setting below the horizon.  We arrived as a group and circled up to share the moment together.   Becky explained that we would be jumping off high rock one at a time, and as we jump, to shout one personal thing we desired to change or have happen here at The Island School.  As the stars began to appear, Becky shared and inspiring quote about change and progress.  We stood together, united as a community listening and reflecting on our time here at The Island School.  When it was time to jump, we listened to what each person wanted to work on, and cheered as they jumped off.  One by one we gathered in the cool sea and floated together under the beautiful clear sky.  It is truly a moment I will never forget.  Riding back to campus with flickering headlamps, we made our way to Boys Dorm Beach where we ended a beautiful night with communal bonfire and s’mores.

Sundays, being our free days, people slept in, worked on some homework, explored the Island, or took some time off to read.  After our noon brunch, which is my favorite meal here at The Island School, the girls went over to Hallig Hall to have ice cream sundaes made by our Caciques! It was a wonderful treat and a great time to hang out with just the girls.  The rest of the afternoon, a large part of the community went to Fourth Hole Beach to relax in the sun before study hall began at night. It was also Scottie’s Birthday, so his advisory was very kind and baked him a cake. Overall it was a wonderful weekend that was filled with community bonding and exploration!

Yesterday morning another student and I had the opportunity to lead a run swim!  We got to pick what route we wanted to do, and improvise along the way as we swam and ran all throughout the cuts.  We took our group off triangle cut a few times, did planks in the sand, and treaded water as a group in water polo cut. It was challenging to lead everyone in these exercise, but it was a lot of fun to pick what we would have the group do next!

In the morning we had Community Meeting, where were met in advisories to discuss each other’s qualities.  We all shared things we saw in each other, that one individual might not see in themselves.  The exercise was a great opportunity to strengthen the trust in our advisory and share what we valued in each other.  At the end of the meeting, the new Caciques were announced, which is always very thrilling to hear! Before lunch we had our research classes, where we all discussed and practiced our presentations that we will be making in front of the whole community on Monday.  These presentations introduce everyone to what each group has been researching and why our research is important.  I am looking forward to hearing from all the students about their own work on Monday!

During History class in the afternoon, we had an in-depth harkness discussion on race.  Throughout the discussion, difficult and even sensitive subjects were examined, but each student talked with a respectful manner.  We had a very engaging conversation while maintaining a mature perspective on it all. I am very impressed and grateful for everyone’s attitude and contributions that were brought to the table throughout the harkness.  The conversations that we have, like the History harkness and the advisory discussions, are very unique to The Island School.  They demonstrate the trust that is expressed here between students and faculty, and it is a gratifying thing to be a part of.  It is truly something that cannot be found everywhere!

During exploration time, a group of students headed over to Sunset and Fourth Whole Beach to relax in the sun, snorkel around the patch reefs, and free dive at Saddle. It was a great day to be out in the sun with friends, while exploring the water life of Eleuthera!

Hello! My name is Isabel Jamerson and I am from Seattle, Washington. I will be the new student blogger this week and I am thrilled to share some stories about The Island School life.  Tuesday morning, after our long exercise, I went out in the field with my Marine Ecology class.  This week’s focus is water, so we focused on Mangroves and how important they are in our ecosystem.  We drove to a local marina where we trudged in the water looking at the different types and aspects of mangroves.  Our teachers, Peter and Becky, taught us about how mangroves can live in salt water and how each species deals with this differently.  We then traveled back to campus where we got in the water just a mile away from The Island School.  There we snorkeled around, looking at the fish and organisms living in the mangroves.  I observed many juvenile fish hiding in the roots of the mangroves, especially the small fairy basslets. The two-inch purple and yellow fish timidly peaked their heads out of rocks and roots as we passed by, and were very hesitant to leave their protected home. We floated along the shoreline for about a half an hour identifying and observing the life around us.

On Wednesday morning, I had my Human Ecology three-hour block, where we continued to look at water.  Continue reading →