After a long week of settling into our new routine, we were all in desperate need of a sleep in. This rare treat sent us revived and ready to work straight to Celestial Navigation. Because today is the equinox, meaning that the sun moves directly over the equator, we learned how many years ago, scientists measured their locations in latitude and the circumference of the Earth.

After a quick lunch, half of us rushed over for our weekly scuba expedition while the other half had the opportunity to chat with a nice native fisherman and policeman named Niemiaha. He explained to us how much fishing is a part of the Bahamian culture, and how the government is trying to protect the waters from illegal fishing and overfishing.  In order for us to understand more about the daily life of a fisherman Continue reading →

“Run Like a Fish”

September 21, 2010

Caciques: Ellen Doughty and Liam Donovan

We began our morning with the sunrise and slowly made our way to circle. After circle, we had our first official Run or Swim Track practice of the semester. A mix of emotions began this challenging day and we set our minds to a new goal. While students were nervous and excited, we did what we had to do regardless. The feeling of pure accomplishment filled us when we reached the end.

The swimmers embarked on their journey right from the boathouse. With our goggles in place, we set our watches and swam for fifteen minutes, setting our own paces. Challenged by the waves, current and wind, the twenty-six young leaders slowly, with the Continue reading →

As an urbanite, I was apprehensive about my journey into the bush of The Bahamas. The class started off with a video of the old resort on Eleuthera.  The commercial tried to set up a paradigm of luxury and class. The narrator of the commercial remarked that Cape Eleuthera resort has been “untouched except by the nice things in life.”  After finishing our discussion, we set off on a trek with skilled leader Remo as our guide.  In pairs of two, each group was assigned a particular plant to discuss. My partner was Jackson and together we walked down the path to the first group, no knowing what to expect. What were my fellow Continue reading →

by: Team Acult: Lea Luniewicz, Nate Smith-Ide, Gian Paul Graziosi, Catharine Pirie and Augi Cummings

Aquaculture is a research program involving the rearing and farming of fish. This semester we will be researching how to breed gobies most effectively in order to use them as parasite cleaners on the population of Cobia. Later in the semester we will receive our order of cobia eggs and eventually rear them until they can live in the aquaculture cage out at sea. Today we received our order of rotifers, food that will feed the cobia hatchlings.

The first day on the job went swimmingly. We set up our breeding tanks for the gobies. There are six outdoor and four indoor tanks for goby breeding. The construction of the tanks was as easy as shooting fish in a barrel. When we got to the lab, we worked on the goby holding tank. Augie Continue reading →

“Encounters with Greatness, A daily event at the Island School”

Caciques: CJ and Brigid

September 20, 2010

Today was an excellent day at The Island School; the students participated in community outreach and later broke into small groups for advisory time.  During community outreach the 8^th and 9^th grade buddies went to a gully and enjoyed the wonderful scenery. A gully is a massive water hole with beautiful rocks and crevices surrounding the hole. Meanwhile the 7^th grade buddies stayed at campus and learned Continue reading →

Cacique Quote: “Grow like a tree, not like a fire.”

Sunday, September 19

Caciques Brandon Gell and Sarah Sasek

Sunday: arguably the favorite day on campus. A day dedicated to relaxation, reflection, and a little extra sleep. Celebrating my birthday in the Bahamas last night, once again made me realize how lucky I am to be on this once in a lifetime adventure. With a newfound appreciation for my classmates and the faculty for making my birthday extra special I woke up bright and early, excited to dive into another great day at The Island School. During exploration, I joined a group of my friends at Sunset Beach, sitting on the hammocks and enjoying the view of the horizon (and gladly forgetting about trying to figure out the distance to it for Celestial Navigation class).  After a while, I departed from my classmates for some much needed alone time. As I rode my bike Continue reading →

[slideshow]

Congratulations to IS alumnus Carter Brown (S09) for completing the Philadelphia half marathon this weekend!  Carter, who placed first in the S09 Super Swim, returned to the States last June and decided to sign up for the 2009 Philadelphia half marathon.  Since then, he has completed a half marathon in Bermuda and this weekend completed his 2nd Philadelphia half-marathon, setting a personal record with a time just under 1 hour and 35 mins.  Carter is currently a high school senior at Shipley in Pennsylvania, where he co-captains the cross-country and the crew teams.  Well done Carter!

By Caciques Hannah Leeman and Gian Paul Graziosi

When woke up this morning, everyone was excited and eager to explore the settlements of South Eleuthera. As we each separated into our settlement groups, we set off on our journeys to discover more about Bahamian culture and find a stronger sense of place here on the island. As we passed through the island’s forests and mangrove flats, we saw settlements such as Deep Creek, Greencastle, Rock Sound, Tarpum Bay, and Wemyss Bight.  Through exploring the settlements we met friendly, welcoming people, visited shops, tasted local Bahamian food, and truly get a chance to know our community.
During my time in Rock Sound, my most meaningful experience was Continue reading →

By Caciques Heather Seeley and Jack DeVries

Today was the second day of sample run and swim tracks, in which half the campus split to run the 4-mile loop and the other half swam a loop around triangle cut. The run, though a challenge, proved rejuvenating for all participants. As for me, running on the flat, sandy roads with the Bahamian sun rising behind our backs was an experience like no other.  The samplings of morning exercise tracks seem to have given the students a better idea of whether they want to train to accomplish the 4-mile ocean swim or run the half-marathon (13.1 miles).

After a satisfyingly filling breakfast, we headed off to start our fifth Continue reading →