This weekend, the entire Spring 2014 semester will be reunited back on campus for the first time since beginning their 3-week block of academic, kayak, and down island trip rotations. This photo slideshow is a compilation of photos of each kayak group on the first day of their expeditions!
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Forget the Tank, Remember to Breathe
It’s a quiet 6:10 AM wakeup call in boys dorm.
It still looks like night outside, but a few pull themselves out of bed to go free-diving, careful not to wake the others who opt to sleep in. W e gather our masks, snorkels, and fins, and head to the boathouse, where Chris Maxey is already leading breathing exercises.
From there we take two boats out to a place called tunnel rock. One of the faculty, Mike, instructs me on how to drive the boat around the shallow rocks and sandbars that stretch out across the ocean. We get to tunnel rock and tie the boat to a buoy. I look down to see the huge rock formation covered in beautiful coral heads, with a long, partially covered tunnel leading through it that the dive sit is named after. Most of the rock is only ten or fifteen feet deep, and the sandy bottom surrounding it goes down to thirty.
Some dive to look at the corals and fish, others choose to push their boundaries, trying to touch the bottom or see how long they can stay under. As the sun rises over the open ocean, the twenty of us begin our dives.
I am warming up, doing a shallow fifteen foot dive, when I see someone far below me on the sandy bottom, taking off his fins. He proceeds to grab a rock and take a couple steps. He drops the rock and swims to the surface. On my next dive I see a lionfish, and I swim over to it in order to get a better look, keeping my distance, and when I look down I see someone slowly and calmly passing through the tunnel. He reaches the end and ascends calmly.
I find as the dive progresses that I can go further and further down, just by merit of practicing pushing my limits. I can stay down longer and longer, allowing me to stay more relaxed in the water, and to see more. I can’t get down very far, but that boundary is constantly being pushed, and my ability is constantly expanding.
It’s like my whole experience at the Island School, really. I suffered on my first dive, barely making it ten feet down, splashing awkwardly, breathing in water, and flailing my arms the whole way, but I was thrilled and addicted. I’m still awkward, I still can’t stay down for very long, but the more that I immerse myself into the idea of getting deeper and deeper, the further I go.
Now , I can get down to forty feet, and I’m practicing for a swim- through of tunnel rock, and it hurts every time. At the Island School, the thing that I have learned every single day, over and over again, is how to push myself, and how to completely invest my body and my mind into what I’m doing. The focus and the struggle inherent in a free-dive is the perfect microcosm of the Island School experience.
by Hugo Wasserman
Day in the Life
Mornings at the Island School begin at 6:15 with a beeping watch and a flick of the light switch. It is never easy dragging myself out of bed but the thought of doing push-ups at circle always gets me going. Once up, I quickly throw on some athletic clothes and grab my sneakers before rushing out of the door. At circle we do a quick count off, go through announcements for the day and then sing the Bahamian National Anthem with pride. After the National Anthem we split into either run or swim track and begin our morning exercise.
Before beginning our daily run, Sophia (an Island School Student) led us through some stretches. These stretches took us all over campus but ended near the dinning hall so we could all see and appreciate the beautiful red sunrise. Although waking up at 6:15 is definitely not my favorite thing, I look forward to seeing the spectacular sunrises every morning.
Once we had warmed up and stretched, we headed out to the Marina to do some sprints. The thought of sprints always makes me cringe but luckily today we did them in partner pairs so that one person would be sprinting and the other would be waiting on the bridge, recovering. When it was my turn to run the loop I started with a full-fledged sprint. However, by the time I was halfway through, my lungs felt like they were going to explode and my legs felt like jelly. As I neared the final stretch I was about ready to quit but the sound of everyone cheering kept me going. Once I made it to the top of the bridge I high-fived Will, my partner, and watched him sprint off. It was reassuring to know that I would have at least a few minutes to regain my breath.
After morning exercises we all split up into different chore groups. In past chores I’ve had Girls Dorm (which usually means you’re stuck cleaning toilets) and Farm Chores (meaning you get to pick lettuce and other yummy foods). By the end of chores music is always blasting from girls dorm as all the girls begin cleaning their personal space. By 8:15 (maybe 8:30 depending on how messy your personal space is) people are packing into the dinning hall for breakfast.
When everyone is done eating Dish Crew stays behind to clean while everyone else prepares for the morning classes.
This morning we had a 3-hour Human Ecology block, where we split into our separate groups to work on our projects.
My group is building a garden for the ELC (Early Learning Center). We spent today talking to Oscar (the head facilities manager) and collecting materials to start building our trellis. When we got back the presentation room we saw Anya, Bailey, Tess and Abbe cutting up coconuts for their new soap product. We all crowded around trying to get a small chunk of coconut to eat before class ended.
Once class was over I headed to the dinning hall to grab a quick lunch before research. For Sustainable Fisheries we headed out to Rock Sound, a settlement 30 minutes away, to interview some local fishermen on their perspective of the surrounding marine environment. Ted, a local from Rock Sound who works at The Island School, came with us and introduced us to some fishermen he knows. Both of the interviews we conducted were very successful and we heard some interesting stories about sharks. After a long (and very hot) day, full of interviewing, we headed back to The Island School just in time for dinner circle.
At dinner circle we went through all the announcements and then one of the caciques, told the quote of the day; “Speak if only what you have to say is more beautiful than silence”. The quote was followed by a moment of silence. Once dinner circle was finished we all headed to the dinning hall to eat.
After dinner my hectic day finally winded down. Since it was a nice night I spent my study hours on the dining hall porch with some other Island School students. We played some music and chatted as we worked on our Art projects. At 10:30 we headed back to the dorm for the night. As soon as I got back to the dorm I collapsed into bed, exhausted after such a busy day.
by Fiona Ross
Advisory Time!
It’s been about 6 weeks since all 48 of us arrived here at The Island School and we’re already completely immersed into the academic structure. One thing that I look forward to every week is advisory time. On thursday afternoons, advisories get to go off campus and have fun doing activities of their choosing. I’m in Margaret’s advisory with Avery Vanacore, Krista Church, Scott Voigt, and Zach McCloskey.
Two weeks ago, we got the chance to go to Red Bay beach and help Liz, a member of our extended advisory create a video for a competition she’s entering. On the beach we blasted music and had a contest of who could pick up the most trash. In the end, Zach had an overflowing garbage bag and was the winner of our contest. Avery and I had loads of fun when we found buoy a with a rope attached to it and immediately decided that it would be our bunk pet back in Girls North. We dragged it around on the beach and enjoyed including it in our advisory pictures! Afterwards we all hopped in the van and headed over to dispose of the trash and went to get cups at Mr. Henry’s, a small local store run by Mr. Henry himself in Deep Creek. Cups are plastic cups filled with frozen passion juice, and are a favorite among Island Schoolers.
I remember the first day that I met my advisory group. It was right after we had somewhat finished unpacking our luggage and, settling into the dorms and getting ready for dinner. No one really knew what the procedure was so we were all staring around the tables until instructions of sitting with your advisory groups were given. I immediately panicked as I looked around, unable to find Margaret’s table. After what seemed like an embarrassingly long time to be looking for something so obvious, I spotted Margaret with a group of strange faces. After sitting down and introducing myself I looked back at the other members of the group. I recognized the girl who introduced herself as my bunkmate but the other faces were completely new. After an awkward yet enjoyable dinner we all left to go to or dorms. I didn’t really know what to expect for future advisory meetings, we all seemed like such different people and it was hard enough to learn their names. Looking back at it now, I had no idea what would happen.
Last week was a pretty fun advisory meeting, we went to Liz’s house and played fun games while we made two batches of chocolate chip cookies, because one just wasn’t enough. Krista played the Ukelele while Avery and Zach focused on the cookies. Scott led some games while I wandered around trying to do everything at once. The time seemed to go by so fast and when it was time to leave to get back to school on time for dinner circle I watched everyone get back into the van and leave while I waited to get picked up by my Histories teacher, Emma in order to go to a festival for my project.
More than a month through this incredible experience, I can confidently say that although our advisory is filled with attitude, craziness and just plain weirdness, we’re all good friends and only getting closer by the day. Kayak rotations begin next week and we’re all so excited to see more of the island with a new group of people. Unfortunately we will be scattered around for almost a month; but I can’t wait for our first advisory meeting after rotations where we can share our amazing experiences.
by Sophia Strautmanis
No Phone, No Problem
Before I came to The Island School, I didn’t know what it would be like to live without a phone or Internet; none of us did. Our generation has grown up with access to both. The Internet was always a part of our lives before coming to IS, never further than the smartphones in our hands. It was bittersweet to surrender our devices immediately after landing in Eleuthera to start our semester.
The first week was surely a change for us all. I constantly felt like I was missing a piece of me. I was always so accustomed to feeling the subtle weight and bulkiness of my phone in my pocket; it felt unorthodox to lose the sensation. As time progressed, we all became more and more acclimated to the lack of Internet. After being here for over a month, the loss of the web and my phone is the last thing on my mind. Instead, it has been refreshing to disconnect from those distractions and live our daily lives like all of our parents did when they grew up. Communicating with friends now means actually finding them and talking to them.
Doing papers means taking notes in class and talking to teachers; Wikipedia is no longer a last second option after a week of procrastination. Checking the weather app is no longer necessary, as our eyes are more accurate in sighting rain clouds off in the distance than any weather radar around. Life went on before the Internet existed, and it will certainly do the same for us here. It may be unrealistic to think we will all avoid the Internet and give up our phones when we return to our lives back home, but at the same time I hope this experience gives us all a new outlook on what really matters in our lives.
by Zach McCloskey
Getting Comfortable Doing the Wobble
Each Island School student has a Deep Creek Middle School buddy during community outreach where we help them achieve a goal to better their society. Last week Island School students had the unique opportunity to socialize with their buddy outside of the classroom environment during the DCMS dance. The dance was held at the Marina Pavilion where we all rode our bikes or took vans while the DCMS students took bus to the Marina. When I got to the Marina I was cheerfully greeted by my buddy and his friends who were all excited to dance to the music and eat good food.
It was an incredibly fun experience when the DCMS students made a large circle for a dance off while dancing to “Wobble.” At first, I was a bit shy to join this dance off circle but my excited buddy quickly pulled me in the middle and forced me to dance. I am grateful for my buddy doing this because after that moment I felt so accepted within the DCMS community that I kept on dancing until I got tired. After this, some students went to Sunset Beach to witness one nature’s most beautiful spectacles: the sunset. After seeing the sunset, the party continued into the night where all the students kept dancing and building friendships. Events like this, I have realized, allow people to break their comfort zones and build friendships with people they would have otherwise ignored. This event proved incredibly important for me and my buddy because we have learned more about each other and will help us reach our goal that we have set off to accomplish.
Ferris Bueller Said It Best…
…When he said…
How do you start a blog post about where we are in the semester? Days can be tallied, sure. It’s been 37 if anyone’s been counting. Those days have been filled with 6:15am wakeups, morning workouts, 3-day kayak trips, scuba diving, and so many other activities that make each one of these days so jam packed and busy.
It’s often said that the days feel like weeks and weeks feel like days. I would be baffled to find a single student or faculty member that didn’t agree. Each week seems to come and go faster than the bacon does at Sunday brunch, which is astounding in itself. We have less than 2 academic weeks left until the heavily anticipated 8-day kayak and down island trips. Rumors surrounding the 48-hour solo on the kayak trip have been floating around since Day 1, and the buzz has only increased as we get closer and closer.
As we move forward through the term, we have all noticed each day getting hotter and the ocean water getting warmer. The Bahamian winter–which is surely nothing to complain about–is behind us and spring weather is emerged. Looking at the bigger picture, the 3-week kayak and trip rotation will take us to the middle of May. That will soon be followed by parents weekend, which we’ve all looked forward to since the moment our planes left the runway. After research symposiums are presented, the semester starts tapering off and June 12th marks the day of return to our families and friends.
Although dismal to think about leaving this special place we now call home, it makes us cherish each and every second we have left. We all eagerly look forward to what the next 63 days will hold.
by Zach McCloskey
Somewhere, Something Incredible is Waiting to be Known
During our first querencia, we were exposed to the three important styles of writing that we will be using throughout the semester, which includes Personal Narrative, Descriptive, and Natural History writing. Through our three prompts to reflect upon during our querencia time, we learned how to work with each style of writing.
Later that week, students expanded their skills of specializing these three styles by writing an anonymous excerpt from each piece they wrote during querencia time as examples of what each style looks like. We then put all of our examples into one pile for the whole class to pick out of and practice identifying each style.
After organizing the excerpts into the categories of Personal Narrative, Descriptive and Natural History and discussing the reasoning behind our choice of which category to place it in, Olivia designed double sided posters to hang up in the dining hall as a way to share our voices in the contexts of our first impressions of querencia.
“Have you ever noticed that trees never sway the same way twice? The color of the lights refraction on its boughs gives it away” and “the waves encompass all around them in great storms, then recede like long hands, dragging back all they can carry” were some profound examples of our descriptions of querencia. This assignment allowed us to let our mind run freely and document our surroundings while still teaching us how to write in very different styles.
The Island School is on Google Maps Street View!
The Island School is excited to announce the launch of Island School Street View! You can now take virtual tours of The Island School, Cape Eleuthera Insitute, and Center for Sustainable Design campuses, as well as iconic locations around the Cape as if you were there! To move througout the tours, pan around the “photosphere” and click on the hovering arrows or circles located on the screen.
The Island School Campus Tour has six locations throughout the tour: The Flag Circle, Entrance, Boathouse, Dining Hall, Boy’s Dorm, & Boy’s Dorm Beach.
Cape Eleuthera Institute has four locations: CEI Entrance, The Wetlab, CEI Walkway, & Hallig House.
The rest (DCSM, The Sand Bar, The Offshore Aquculture Cage, Cathedral Rock, Scuba Class on the Cobia, and Weirda Bridge) can be found on main Island School profile page on Google Maps.
Junkanoo Jamboree
After settlement day we all gathered at my settlement, Tarpum Bay, behind the elementary school before walking over to the festival. We walked along the beach until we arrived at the festival.
The second we arrived everybody had the same idea, food, Food, FOOD! The four stands had long lines within seconds while everyone bought drinks, conch fritters, cupcakes, pigs feet and much more.
After most of us were satisfied we began to here the loud rum of Junkanoo music so we turned to see the brightly colored costumes. The elementary school had won a Junkanoo competition and was preforming for the festival.
All we could see was the radiant colors and lights moving around in a blur with the kids smiling and dancing their hearts out. After the amazing performance, other people went up and sang songs that we knew!
Everyone was laughing and dancing. One local girl, around the age of nine, decided all the girls needed to dance with a boy so she was setting up pairs left and right. After several of the boys learned how to spin and dip their partners, John S. called us all into a circle, we counted off, and left our second saturday night activity.