by Cacique Grace Fowler

We made our way down the mooring line slowly, hand over hand, until we reached the sea floor fifty-five feet below. Curious fish swam at a safe distance as we explored the reef. Spend just two minutes hovering at over one spot, and you will see hundreds of different fish and reef plants. Colorful sea fans and anemones waving in the current. Bold purple, red, and yellow fish. Cleaner shrimp courageously standing inside a grouper’s mouth and thousands of tiny minnows swimming in unison. Frilly anemones that close themselves in a split second when touched and coral polyps reaching out to collect particles. Reefs are a never-ending I Spy book, no matter how much time you spend, there is always more to discover. Continue reading →

by Cacique Jane Drinkard

Today was one of the longest days we’ve had here. It was a big day for all of us; Kayak groups 3 and 4 left for their 3-day kayak adventure and the rest of us broke off into our scuba groups to start scuba week. It also marked my weekaversary here at the island school (woohoo!) Many of us had never been scuba diving before so some of us were kind of anxious to get into the water. Maxey talked to us last night about how the underwater world makes up 98% of our earth yet we’ve hardly explored any of it’s depths. He lowered his voice and in front of a magnificent projected photograph of the earth he informed us that tomorrow we would all be “aquanauts,” which is the equivalent to underwater astronauts. After our morning exercise of psychos and swimming with our fins we embarked on our scuba journey. Continue reading →

by Caciques Carter and Griffen

Three shrill notes from the irate alarm clock permeate through the room of 12 sleeping boys. Brendan slaps down the source of this rude interruption and slowly the 12 of us roll out of bed, preparing for our first run, a 4.25 jog through the lush wilderness. Despite fighting new temperatures, unreal humidity, and foreign surroundings, we all returned with smiles of accomplishment and a new-found pride. After brief chores and breakfast, we said our goodbyes to our friends who had spent their morning preparing for the 3-day kayak trip around south Eleuthera; we would stay behind, to spend that time learning how to scuba dive.

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by Cacique Emily Peters

The bright blue waters of the little Island School Marina cove lapped over the wooden beams holding up the dock. My partner and I had our feet dangling over the edge of bright sunlit dock; watching the little fish swim around in large groups. We were waiting- waiting for directions on how to make the next knot we were learning. Today one of the things we learned how to tie various knots, knots for keeping boats to the docks, knots for a strong hold, and knots that could be used for anything. Through the hole, you make a loop; the “bunny” comes out of the hole, around the “tree,” back through the hole, and then pull tight. Our beloved scuba instructors kept saying, “Practice makes Permanent.” Continue reading →