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Cacique Update November 4, 2011

by Caciques Sam Saccomanno and Alex Spring

More Reflections on Kayak:

It was a beautiful day, one we hadn’t had in the past 3 days. It was our day to kayak all the way to Light House beach-one of the top ten prettiest beaches in the world. It was the ideal location for our 48 hour solo. None of the kids expected such a long day of kayaking. No one knew that we would be kayaking 15 miles from the morning to6 P.M.with a short 30 minute lunch break. It was definitely the most challenging day of my 8 day kayak trip, and probably one the most challenging days at The Island School in general. It was physically and mentally demanding, but turning the corner to see the stunning Light House beach was so rewarding. We all jumped out of our kayaks, enthusiastic to be on ground and out of the kayaks. Kids ran around screaming and dancing-happy to have made it. Because we arrived so late, we had to quickly move kayaks and set up camp and dinner. Later that night, we all ate a delicious pasta meal around the warm fire. We were all excited for the following solo days, happy to be on ground, and proud of our accomplishment. It is the challenges such as these that make the Island School experience so unique and life-changing.

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A Scary Idea

Zooming out over the open ocean on the Bay Scout this morning with Chris Maxey, in the still brightening darkness just before sun up, haunted by hints of the Halloween festivities on campus from the night before, we both agreed: it was scary.

When young people are given the creative space to work towards a common goal that excites and motivates them, what they can do is scary, startling, if not downright astonishing. Yesterday,Island School students were charged with the opportunity to plan and perform the annual Haunted Campus for Deep Creek Middle School students. Each fall semester The Island School designs and opens up a terrifying, bio-diesel curdling Halloween celebration that will make the hair on your mosquito bites stand up.

DCMS students arrived in full costume and began the evening with fun and games, bobbing for apples and pinning the broom on the witch. Then, led by teenage guardians of the underworld, they were ushered around campus to visit the half-dead orchard, an insane asylum, a boat house scuba massacre, and the med-room gone maniac. As the night progressed and as sonic screams echoed off of solar panels, I found myself started by the most unexpected thing. It was not Geoff, the head of facilities, running around with a chainsaw that caught my eye—he does this every year—nor was it the ketchup dripping mouths on faces pale with baby powder that stopped me in my tracks, what I was most surprised by was the sheer intensity of energy and creativity our students demonstrated.

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Students had all of an hour and a half at the most to plan for the event. Continue reading →

Cacique Update, Uncategorized

Cacique Update October 29, 2011

by Spooky Caciques Tyler and Forrest

Slivers of light beamed through the trees, pillars in the dark night. Feet shuffled and nervous giggles escaped passed the lips of the DCMS students as they filed in and out of multiple haunted areas around campus. The night fell silent, eyes darted around the trees attempting to distinguish some of the monsters that surrounded them. Suddenly a dark figure rose out of a hole in the ground, “EEEEEEEEEE!!!! HEEEEEEHEEEEEEHEEEEE!!!!” It was echoed by the terrified screams of students and pound of running feet. The group scattered in all directions, and was met by the roar of a chainsaw, the whisper of a “motherless” Teschna, the melancholy songs of Anika and above all more terrified screams. The DCMS students, in their bright costumes, arrived with high expectations for the haunted campus and they left with pounding hearts and wide smiles.

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Cacique Update, Uncategorized

Empty Campus

For the next few days the campus will be quiet. No screams and giggles from dorms. No thudding and scurrying of feet along the conch lined walk ways. No classes. No morning exercise. All students are off on expedition! K1 and K4 are both on Down Island Trips, an educational road-trip across the island run by the Histories department. K2 and K3 are on opposite ends of their 8-Day Kayak trips. What that means for you, our readership, is that there are no Caciques on campus, and thus: no Cacique Updates. Luckily, this last week student Caciques have been busy busy busy and reluctant to get their updates turned in on time. So, I have a bit of a back-log of Updates to offer you in the next few days. Standby for Cacique thoughts on Island School  life from October 22nd, 24th, and 25th. But for now… enjoy these short hellos and goodbyes from K1, K3, and K4 and expect to hear more from K2 very soon.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZyWOsV8Rvc

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Greetings from the Oldest Student on Campus

Good day, Island School Blog readers!  This is Katie McDougall, the Fall 2011 “Master Teacher in Residence.”  By way of introduction, I hail from Nashville, TN where I’ve been teaching English at Ensworth High School.  Before that, I taught for a decade in Colorado Springs at The Colorado Springs School and at Cheyenne Mountain High School.  The Master Teacher position at The Island School was created so that a more experienced teacher can have a presence on campus and serve as a mentor to the many young teachers.  I came into this role quite serendipitously and have found myself amazed on a daily basis at this grand and sublime adventure.  (Right now as I type, the deep orange sun is rising over the ocean outside my front porch, confirming the accuracy of the word, sublime.)

As Master Teacher, one of my charges, in addition to team-teaching with the dynamic and fabulous Lit Department, is to regularly observe classes in subjects outside my discipline, and as a byproduct, I have become a student again.  I’ve been learning more broadly than I have for many years, and in doing so, I have had the unique opportunity to experience the full range of the students’ academic adventure (minus the homework.)  Continue reading →

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Thoughts from Blog Chore

by Cacique Update Editor Claire

It’s early morning and Annie and I are sitting on the dining hall deck as the sun rises in front of us. Each of us are busy at work writing blogs. This is the scene that unfolds every morning for me being on blog chores, each time with a different cacique. I have the pleasure of sitting with the cacique of the day and hearing about what was special for them that day. Often times it’s events that were barely memorable to me, but as they describe it, I get a brand new prospective on the past day. These past few days have been long workouts, then sleep-ins which means we don’t have chores. I have missed this tranquil time in the morning these past few days. I love the idea of reaching out to everyone at home through writing and I am glad that we’re back to chores, even though things are about to get even more busy and exciting here at The Island School! Eight-Day Kayak rotations start Monday!

 The anticipation of the coming weeks is buzzing on campus. In the short time we have been on campus everyone has come together so much it’s so strange to think half of us won’t be here. Kayak is another exciting event which the whole community comes together to enjoy and work through together. The sun has come out on Eleuthera! We hope the weather continues as our first group heads out on their kayak trip!

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Island School Math Class Takes on Water Issues

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Back at home, it’s easy to think that when you turn on a tap, water will come out. Here at The Island School, however, we have learned that water is not an unlimited resource. In fact, our water supply is contained within five underground cisterns on our campus. The water that fills our cisterns comes from the sky, and roofs across campus collect this water, which then flows directly into the cisterns. We draw water from one cistern at a time for drinking, cooking, showering, and various other purposes. Each morning during chores, the Cistern Crew is responsible for measuring the level of water in each of the five cisterns, and entering the data into an Excel spreadsheet. This data is then examined to determine how much water we have used up and how much is left. The problem is that, currently, there is no real system behind deciding which cistern we draw water from. Over the past few weeks in math class, we have been figuring out a solution to this problem.

Continue reading →