Here on campus, we’ve been carefully monitoring the continued coverage of the Zika Virus.  We would like to reiterate that no cases have been reported in the Bahamas, and also that we will continue to keep a watchful eye on the progress of the virus.

We on Eleuthera have been following the reporting on the Zika virus in the news and want to update you on our response and address some concerns that have been raised.  We are aware of the spread of the Zika virus throughout South America and the Caribbean, and are monitoring the CDC, PAHO/WHO, the US Embassy in Nassau, and local media and public health reporting in The Bahamas for updates. The CDC does not currently list The Bahamas as having any reported cases of Zika virus infection. Because the spread of Zika and other viruses to all countries where Aedes aegypti are endemic is predicted, we are applying our standing mosquito protection protocols for our community as usual.

The spread of these viral diseases is difficult to monitor properly – as the article mentions, infections of a specific type can only be verified in a laboratory test.  We encourage prevention of mosquito bites – some students bring personal no-see-um mesh camping type nets for their beds, and bug-net pants and tops. We also promote use of DEET and encourage covering up with long socks and long pants and long sleeves.

We also monitor the CDC for general medical issues:

http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/destinations/clinician/none/the-bahamas

and the US State Department for safety, travel, and security:

http://travel.state.gov/content/passports/english/country/the-bahamas.html

and

https://www.osac.gov/Pages/ContentReportDetails.aspx?cid=17138

We recommend you read the information in the above links and be familiar with the local issues.

The health of our students and communication with families have always been top priorities. Please reach out if you have any questions.

Read the prepared PDF from Global Rescue LLC here

The Island School community was honored to welcome Ambassador Pamela Hamamoto to our campus last week.  She gave a presentation to our staff and students in Hallig House where people were overflowing onto the deck.  Themes of her presentation revolved around foreign policy, women’s rights, and sustainability. Her focus on climate change and the included political challenges was very pertinent to the studies here at the Island School. She pointed out the political challenges of working on climate change policy, but was certainly optimistic about the number of people she works with who were determined to find solutions.

Ambassador Hamamoto was sworn in as the 18^th Permanent Representative of the United States of America to the United Nations and Other International Organizations in Geneva in May, 2014 by Vice President Joe Biden.  She is the second woman to serve in this position since 1958. As ambassador, Pamela Hamamoto oversees a staff of around 250 diplomats and locally employed staff representing over 15 different U.S. government agencies. The United States Mission in Geneva engages daily on issues such as refugee and migrant crises, global health, international law, economic development, internet governance, trade, climate change/the environment, arms control, and human rights.

Ambassador Hamamoto’s final message to our eager students was this: you have to make the change you want to see.  While students are here, they will be exposed to many important issues about sustainability, biology, and policy.  The education and tools to make change will be provided, but what it comes down to is personal drive.  The ambassador made it clear that the path toward large-scale change will always be demanding and sometimes frustrating, but our students are in a position of great opportunity.

Chris Maxey closed with words about the importance of family.  Ambassador Hamamoto’s husband and two children were in attendance, and clearly were a strong support system to her demanding and integral position in world diplomacy.  Maxey connected the concept of support back to the Island School family and how these students will always be able to rely on their ties to Eleuthera and the Island School.

Thank you, Ambassador Hamaomto, for your inspirational words and time taken to ensure our students know their potential and opportunities.

I had bid goodbye to one of the most exciting chapters of my life, my experience at Island school, just two years prior. I was dying to get back to the water and be face-to-face with the sharks I learned to love and respect during my semester at Island School and summers interning with CEI.  An e-mail arrived from an ocean conservation foundation inviting me to join a scholars program exploring the Cayman Islands.  The leaders, Georgienne Bradley and Jay Ireland, promised a combination learning experience including science, conservation and underwater videography.  I jumped at the opportunity and they delivered in spades.

My experience with Sea Save Foundation during this program synergized with the passion I had brought away from Island School.  The direction of my life path had been changed forever.  My relationship with Sea Save has continued and flourished over the years.  I have learned about national and international public policy and watched their leaders play critical roles at CITES as well as in local political ocean campaigns such as shark finning regulations with AB 376 and plastic bans in California.

I was reunited with the team last fall when I joined them on an expedition to Cocos Island, a World Heritage Site known for its remote locale and proliferation of megafauna.  Because Sea Save leaders assisted with the development of the UNESCO petition of admission, we were afforded excellent access. My dives were punctuated by visits from whales, turtles, schools of jacks, tiger sharks, hammerheads, eagle rays, whale sharks and many other mesmerizing species.

Sea Save is currently planning an intimate excursion to Cat Island in our loved Bahama-land from May 9 – 15, 2016.  This fundraiser is open to ten participants and will place SCUBA and free divers face to face with oceanic white tips in the open ocean.  This high adrenaline encounter is a perfect opportunity to capture still photographs and video that will be used to promote ocean conservation.

This is a great group of people, they are accomplishing much and they create a fun environment within which we can enjoy the ocean and support conservation. Learn more by going here.

Or send an e-mail to: expeditions@seasave.org

This month, The Island School welcomed Brad Weiler and Sarah Richardson who are undergraduate students at Carleton University in Ottawa, Ontario. Brad and Sarah have spent two weeks with us working on coral disease transmissibility through biotic vectors. They hope to find patterns in transient fish populations, sponge, algae and coral species that may be responsible for spreading disease.

Brad will be staying with us for another two weeks to collect more data and do fieldwork for additional research projects. We are excited to be able to provide resources such as staff, boats, and housing for this project.

Feel free to check out their blog at https://coralresearchblog.wordpress.com/ and their Instagram @CoralResearch for more information on their project!

Doug Cowper, Bahamas Trade Manager for Tropical Shipping, recently traveled to South Eleuthera with a giant check (and we do mean giant) that will support Bahamian scholarships at Deep Creek Middle School and Cape Eleuthera Island School/Institute. After visiting the settlement of Deep Creek, Mr. Cowper shared, “It was great to get a tour with the Deep Creek Middle School students and learn about their commitment to sustainability.” Deep Creek Middle School was the first school in The Bahamas to receive the Green Flag award and currently provides education for approximately 50 local students.

Tropical Shipping, a member of the SALTCHUK group of companies has been the leader in container and ocean transport services to The Bahamas for more than 40 years.  Wherever Tropical sails, they are sure to bring a focus on supporting community.  “The best way to uplift a community is to invest in young people…our core value at Tropical Shipping has always been that our people are our priority,” says Tropical CEO Rick Murrell.

During his time on Eleuthera, Doug Cowper also toured the Cape Eleuthera Institute and The Island School and was able to meet with graduates of the Bahamas Environmental Stewards Scholar program (BESS), a year-long post graduate opportunity to attend Island School and gain professional experience out in the conservation arena working with BNT or BREEF.   The Cape Eleuthera Foundation invests over  $500 k annually to support Bahamian students and the Tropical Leadership gift of $62,500 is a giant boost to the continued support of future leaders of The Bahamas. Much thanks to Tropical Shipping and to Doug for making the trip!

Have you ever been to a place where you have 28 sisters? At home, I am the eldest child and I have a younger brother who is five years younger than me. I had gone to camp for 6 years and had lived in a cabin with 8 other girls, but I have never truly experienced dorm life quite like Island School girls’ dorm. All of the girls in both North and South dorm have a bond that is incomparable to any other friendship or sisterhood. We eat together, work together, dive together, sleep together, and have so much fun. There is no feeling quite like waking up next to your best friend for 100 days. In these past 3 months, the memories that have been made in the girls’ dorm are ones that I will never forget. Whether it is laughing so hard that someone pees or crying because of stress, we are always there for each other and have created the best support system there is. I love you Girl’s Dorm and I will never forget the time we spent together in our 100 days.

The dinning hall was empty. Andrieka, Aissatu and Rikki and I are in the photo. We just finished a sandwich and we are happy and tired. We successfully completed the four mile ocean swim!

A little before 8 AM we gather on Sunset Beach and circle with our new yellow swim caps and our swim buddies for a final stretch. All hands are in the middle palms facing up to promote positive energy for a last cheer. We enter the water and our support team, all who completed the half marathon the day before, are with us cheering from the beach and from kayaks and boats.

Andrieka is my buddy and through her huge smile I sense her courage and her fear. The count down launches us into the clear shallow water and the acute angle of the sun casts shadows across the rocky bottom. We pull together over reefs into a flooding current. We swim over lobsters and rays and an abundance of colorful fish darting out to see what is splashing above. We pass a curious barracuda and a shy reef shark.

When we peak out around the first point the turn-around boat seems so far away. On the cliffs our run team cheers us on and Catherine Klem is there watching over us in a kayak.

On the way back there are times when you might call the kayak over and quit. Andrieka finds hidden strength down the last stretch of beach and hits the finish float. The shore erupts with celebration.

Andrieka and I swam together for four and a half hours to finish. Rikki and her buddy Ian passed us way back. Max re-injured his right shoulder and swam most of the way with only one good arm and never considered pulling out. Aissatu could not swim when she arrived 97 days ago and she braved her way to the finish with her buddy Emma in just under 6 hours.

This is why we are so proud and why the dining hall is so quiet. The journey continues…..

When I was told I got to write a blog, I was excited to share some of the many amazing experiences I have had here at The Island School. Unfortunately early last week I ran into a tree during one of our run-swims, and got a concussion. Because of this I have not been able to write about what I anticipated writing about. So instead I would like to share a poem I wrote earlier this semester for literature class. I wrote this poem about how most of us will be going home to the cold very soon. For me personally, I often leave my snowy hometown, Jackson Hole Wyoming for a warmer climate, but always end up coming home and learning to love the snow time and time again.

Cold
Snow cascades to the ground
The golden leaves that were once on the trees are now buried until spring
Cold
The wind feels like a slap in the face as you walk out the door
You try to walk but the glistening ice stares you in the face
Cold
Your fingers are as blue as the sky
Your nose as red as the fire
Cold
You want to leave but
The snow pulls you back time after time
Cold

How many teenagers get to conduct research projects? This past week during Parents Weekend every Island School student did. In total there were 9 research projects which the 50 students were a part of, ranging from sea turtles to deep sea sharks.

Conducting a research project when you are only 16 is a pretty amazing feat. Students worked all semester on one of 9 projects: Conch, Stingray, Lemon Sharks, Deep Sea Sharks, Sea Turtle Habitat, Sea Turtle Knowledge, Plastics, Bonefish, and Ponds. Students worked with 4 or 5 of their peers to culminate a final project of a scientific poster and a presentation during Parent’s Weekend.

For our research project, we tested the behavioral and physiological responses to capture of a lemon shark. We were testing to see if the behavioral response had a relationship with the physiological response.

As much fun as it would be to drone on and explain our entire research project to you, I’d like to talk about the process. Trying to create a research presentation and poster, both which are at the collegiate level, is a daunting task when first presented.

When I first arrived at The Island School, I thought, “I’m excited to be here and am ready to learn, so is everyone else.” Team work was an important skill to learn. Being in the field chasing after a lemon shark is difficult alone, but if you work together, it becomes a lot easier. The same was true for work in class, if we split up the work, it got done better and quicker.

Before coming here, I was a driver leader, which means getting stuff done and I didn’t know how to be a spontaneous motivator and rally the troops. Working in a group with a topic I was passionate about (sharks), definitely improved my leadership skills.

In the end, our presentation went well and our poster looked great, it just took a couple bumps in the road to get there. To look at the posters and videos of the presentations, check out the CEI website and The Island School Research page.

At the Island school, there are three main pillars, community, sense of place and sustainability. Everyday in class, with friends, and with the challenges we take, we are working to fully understand these three ideals, and learning how to apply them to everyday life. The point of school for us is no longer learning facts to prepare us for the next test, but instead classes bring purpose and meaning into what we are learning. We look not only at what things are, but instead discuss why they came to be, and how it affects the world around us. This change from what we were used to at home all began on one of the first days at Island School, when early in the morning, we were taken down to Boys dorm beach, asked to grab a handful of sand, and told to rub it around our face, talk to it, and really understand it. We thought our teacher was crazy at first, but after a few minutes we were laughing at each other and were covered in sand from head to toe.

This was only the beginning, because now as a community we’ve learned how to laugh together, care for each other, and trust each other. As we went through our first 5 academic weeks, and were forced to be busier than ever before, we challenged ourselves to get to know each other better, and to get used to the routines of campus. This routine was then tossed out the window when 8-day kayak/sailing rotations started, and we were split up and stuck with a new group of kids (different from class groups) that we didn’t have a choice but to get along with. For a week we bonded over campfires and hardships until all of sudden we were each alone, dropped off on the beach sleeping under the stars, with no one to talk to or lean on but ourselves. As we returned to campus, each with a new perspective, we rejoined the other students, once again being the group of 50, ready to begin the final stretch. Island school is the only place where a day can be so exhausting and crazy that it feels as if it never ends, but before you realize it weeks will have flown by. We’re all realizing now that more then three-quarters of our time here is gone, and that before we know it, we will be on the plane home, each a different person than we were when we first left.