Category Archives: Uncategorized

Their Heroic Journeys

Last week, students were asked to undertake another in a series of epic challenges at The Island School. The Literature Department assigned students to write a story of their Island School experience through the form of the traditional Heroes Journey. Even more difficult, they were made to do it in the very specific stanza and rhyme form in which Derek Walcott’s Omeros was written (the primary text for their course). In the truly triumphant tradition of our students here, they persevered and were able to articulate beautifully written poetic expressions of the knowledge that is gained through the journey.

Enjoy this example written by James Boyce, describing the epic experience of free-diving with Maxey as his epic guide:

Free diving through Cathedral

The conch horn blows as a calling to free diving.

The sun is just emerging from the blue ocean.

I don’t want to wake up and have trouble finding

 

the motivation to move. I feel a notion.

The thought that my time here is limited comes to

me and I decide to put my day to motion Continue reading

Eleutheros

The Human Ecology, Histories, and Literature Departments have collaborated on a series ongoing personal reflective essays called Eleutheros. Each week students are asked to write a reflective essay that demonstrates their understanding of the themes from their coursework and effectively links these themes to their unique thoughts and experiences.  For each essay, students are asked to answer a new interdisciplinary prompt which inspires an integrated reflection on class learning. Our final essay asked students look at their academic semesters holistically  and consider the value of their learning. In the coming week, look forward to some articulate examples of how our students have deeply and personally engage with this essential question. The prompt: So What? Why does what you have learned in your classes matter?

by Ryan Schendel:

My parents always told me it started when I was four years old. According to them, we were sitting on a plane on the way to North Carolina, and I turned to my dad and asked him a question. Apparently, it was a basic question like, “Where are we going?” and “How big is this plane?” In the number of times I have heard this story from my parents, they always exaggerate more and more, but as I have been told, by the time we had landed, I had asked them hundreds of questions over the course of two hours. My dad always told me how exasperating it became, but he and my mom were glad that I turned out to be a curious boy.

I have been asking questions throughout my entire life. I always look at the world as a great wealth of information that I can learn about through asking. My teachers at school tell my parents every year that they’re amazed at how inquiring I can be and how often I ask questions, even if it eventually bothers them. My grandmother, who used to be a high school English teacher herself, has always told me, “Don’t stop your questions. You can always learn something new, you just have to ask.”

Reflecting on my life before The Island School, I came to believe that I arrived on Eleuthera because I was curious. My sister embarked on a semester in 2010, and she returned home as someone who I did not recognize anymore. She had changed in positive but drastic ways, and seemed to be extremely happy in regards to her time here. I wanted to know why. I did not want to only hear her stories about The Island School. I needed to come here and experience it myself. Continue reading

NYC Admissions Reception

We had yet another successful admissions reception last night, this time in New York City at the home of Tommy Robertshaw (Su’12) and his family. It was an incredibly impressive turn out with over 60 prospective students, families, and alumni in attendance! Thank you to everyone who came to the reception! An even bigger thank you to the Robertshaw family for hosting such a wonderful event–and for finding the space in their home for all the guests!

New York Harbor School in the News

At the Island School we are always excited to see students working to solve real world problems. We are especially proud of our friends at  the New York Harbor School who were recently featured in the New York Times’ Dot Earth blog.  Check out their innovative insights into how they are working to protect their region against future threats of storms like Sandy: Students Press the Case for Oysters as New York’s Surge Protector

Admissions Reception at Cohen Home in Westport, CT!

Last night, a number of prospective students, as well as Island School alumni and alumni parents gathered at the home of Carolyn, Gary, and Rachel Cohen (S’12) in Westport, Connecticut. A huge thank you to the Cohens for opening their home and hosting such a successful admissions event!  We appreciate everyone who came out for the event–it was great to see you!

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We are nearing the end of our tour of fall admissions receptions! Our next reception is tonight in San Francisco at the Hunt household (Griffin Hunt, F’11). On Wednesday evening, the Robertshaws (Tommy Robertshaw, SU’12) in New York City will be hosting a reception, and finally on December 5th, we are hosting a reception in the Baltimore, Maryland area at the Obrecht Home (Annie Obrect, S’12). For more information on these receptions, visit our website!

Student Update November 22, 2012

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My name is Brian and I’m excited to be writing the student blog for the rest of the semester. Some random facts about me are that I like to run and I like eating grits with lots of peanut butter and jelly.

The past couple days have been a whirlwind of classes and schoolwork. On Tuesday in Histories class we all participated in a mock stakeholder meeting wherein we discussed the upcoming mega-resort Baha Mar which is being built in Nassau. Each student had different roles in the meeting ranging from the Bahamian government, local Bahamians, environmentalists, and the Chinese government. I was the role of a US businessman representing the hotels and the airlines involved in the development in Baha Mar. Everybody got really into these roles and many dressed up or even put goofy mustaches on to really fit into their roles. There was a lot of heated, but friendly discussion. We learned a lot about the different perspectives that go into making big decisions about local development. And, it was really interesting and fun to be someone other than Island School student.

On Wednesday, we continued to work on our final Human Ecology projects. Continue reading