Congratulations to Spring 2011 alumna, Ami Adams who was named Agriscience Student of the Year Runner Up at the 84th National FFA Convention! She was awarded this honor based on the agriscience-related research she conducted on diamondback terrapins, which are the only sea turtles common to southern New Jersey. Read more about her experiment and the National FFA Convention here. Way to truly carry out The Island School’s vision of “leadership effecting change!”
DCMS Students Visit Boarding Schools in the US
by Ashley Gibson, grade 9
The DCMS Grade 9 boarding school tour was spectacular! We woke up early Sunday, October 16th, 2011 and met at the Rock Sound Airport to begin the journey where we would interview at boarding schools in the U.S. for high school options. From there we went to New Providence where we would soon board our U.S Airways flight to Washington D.C. The flight to Washington was two hours but we were occupied with music and studying for our upcoming SSAT exam.
When we arrived to Washington we drove to Virginia. For that night we stayed in an old faculty house that belonged to St. Margret’s School where two girls interviewed and toured the next day. We then moved on to New Jersey where we stayed at the Maxey’s house. On this journey we stopped in Downtown Philadelphia to try a famous “Philly cheese steak.” Continue reading
Cacique Update October 25, 2011
by Cacique Tessa Tracy
Today was a busy day of Island School life! On Sunday we had a routine school day, so today was our free day for the week, but with more Kayak andDownIslandgroups leaving tomorrow, the day was packed. Last night, when I was on my night dive, the first kayak group to finish their 8-day came home. I was excited to hear that they all had an amazing time, and a bunch felt it was the best part ofIslandSchoolthus far. But still, they were reluctant to tell us too much, especially in terms of our 48-hour solo. After a long day of packing and logistics I am at the edge of my seat in anticipation. Part of me is nervous, because I know it will be long and hard, but most of me is excited for bonfires and beautiful sights. My group, K3, is changing it up by having some students hiking along shore while other students are kayaking. Between kayaking through the windy weather we have been getting, and snorkeling stunning reefs, this will be an action packed trip. Every challenge I have faced here so far has proven to be for the best, so I have no doubt that I will gain something from this adventure. I can already tell these will be eight days that I will remember forever.
Cacique Update October 24, 2011
by Cacique Grace
Skimming over clear blue water in the setting sun, we raced towards Tunnel Rock before dark set in. After several attempts thwarted by bad weather, several students finally got the chance to go night diving. Excited chatter and worries about man-eating sharks filled the boat ride to the reef. Before we knew it, we had plopped backwards off the boat into darkness. Slowly, we made our way to the seafloor forty feet below. Swimming around the base of the reef, we watched coral polyps filter the water with tiny fingers, fish hide in crevices for the night, and stingrays dodge our bright lights. The reef at night is a completely different world than in the daytime. The purple and yellow fairy basslets and colorful parrotfish were replaced by small, translucent fish, crabs and squirrelfish that darted in front of our lights. Through the water, glowing lights from other divers pierced the darkness, illuminating tiny circles of sea fans and coral.
Following each other’s lights through a tunnel in the reef, we felt like aquanauts exploring a new world as we swam through the tight pass. Continue reading
Cacique Update October 22, 2011
by Caciques Helen and Harry
With K3 and K4’s academic weeks coming to a close, we are also passing off our Human Ecology Projects to our friends in K1 andK2, who will be picking it up when they’re done with their Kayak and Down Island expeditions. For the last few days, we have been hard at work, studying osprey, agriculture, mangroves, and bees. My group, the remaining half of Coconut Palm, was hard at work trying to get bees back to The Island School campus, both for the pollination of our orchard and so we can get fresh honey into our kitchens. After doing some research, the team, including Claire, Brian, Frankie, Erik and I, realized that in order to successfully start a hive we’d need to a get a queen honeybee to make The Island School its home. And as simple as that sounds, its really not. Groups had done it in the past, but the hive never stayed for more than a few months. We decided that we would be the group to change the future of The Island School bee issue. Continue reading
Empty Campus
For the next few days the campus will be quiet. No screams and giggles from dorms. No thudding and scurrying of feet along the conch lined walk ways. No classes. No morning exercise. All students are off on expedition! K1 and K4 are both on Down Island Trips, an educational road-trip across the island run by the Histories department. K2 and K3 are on opposite ends of their 8-Day Kayak trips. What that means for you, our readership, is that there are no Caciques on campus, and thus: no Cacique Updates. Luckily, this last week student Caciques have been busy busy busy and reluctant to get their updates turned in on time. So, I have a bit of a back-log of Updates to offer you in the next few days. Standby for Cacique thoughts on Island School life from October 22nd, 24th, and 25th. But for now… enjoy these short hellos and goodbyes from K1, K3, and K4 and expect to hear more from K2 very soon.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZyWOsV8Rvc
Cacique Update October 18, 2011
by Caciques Tori Suslovitch and Brendan McDonnell
Today was the first full day that all of us were split up into two groups; half of us are out on 8-day kayak trips and trips “DownIsland.” In
the next few days, kayakers will be camping out and the students going down island will get the chance to see the North side of Eleuthera. The other half of us are staying on campus for an academic week: classes today included a Research Statistics class, Marine Ecology, and Math.
During exploration time today, we rode our bikes to theMarina, enjoyed candy bars and cold sodas at the Marina Store, and floated down the current cut – a place where the tidal currents create a “lazy river” through the narrow channel. Swimming in the current cut is a little bit like life at The Island School: similar to the variety of marine life that coexists in the cut – butterflyfish, angelfish, grouper, stingrays, and countless others - the Island Schools brings students from a variety of different places and backgrounds together. Continue reading
Cacique Update October 23, 2011
by Caciques Tori O and Erik
Due to the crazy schedule of kayak rotations, this Sunday was not our day off but rather a regular day filled with academic classes. After sleep in till 8:00and breakfast, the morning began with Literature Class in which we discussed the importance of a hero’s journey both within the text of Omeros, as well as in our own lives. We talked about famous heros we have read about and watched in movies and compared those to the personal heroes that play important roles in shaping who we are as individuals. After Literature we had a long block of art which focused on the special objects we collected during our beach sweep the previous day. We explored why these objects became personal as well as began water colors which displayed our objects in a unique way.
Following lunch we split into our Human Ecology classes and continued working on our projectitos. The four groups, Mangroves, Osprays, Bees, and Agriculture continued to work in the field as well as on their presentations for the following day. Our hard work went up till dinner which was then followed by regular study hours.
Greetings from the Oldest Student on Campus
Good day, Island School Blog readers! This is Katie McDougall, the Fall 2011 “Master Teacher in Residence.” By way of introduction, I hail from Nashville, TN where I’ve been teaching English at Ensworth High School. Before that, I taught for a decade in Colorado
Springs at The Colorado Springs School and at Cheyenne Mountain High School. The Master Teacher position at The Island School was created so that a more experienced teacher can have a presence on campus and serve as a mentor to the many young teachers. I came into this role quite serendipitously and have found myself amazed on a daily basis at this grand and sublime adventure. (Right now as I type, the deep orange sun is rising over the ocean outside my front porch, confirming the accuracy of the word, sublime.)
As Master Teacher, one of my charges, in addition to team-teaching with the dynamic and fabulous Lit Department, is to regularly observe classes in subjects outside my discipline, and as a byproduct, I have become a student again. I’ve been learning more broadly than I have for many years, and in doing so, I have had the unique opportunity to experience the full range of the students’ academic adventure (minus the homework.) Continue reading
Cacique Update October 19, 2011
by Cacique Claire
We worked under the hot Bahamian sun shoveling seaweed to build our little mound of nutrients. All the while we talked about what it meant to be at The Island School and how after everyone has gone home, every student here leaves a legacy. Which is exactly what we did today! Today was legacy day here at The Island School which meant we all split up into groups and worked on certain projects to beautify and improve the campus. The mission of our group was to help to give shade and protection to the aquaponics wet lab, by planting trees and bushes in front of it. To do this we laid out logs then put down tree branches and on top of that we layered seaweed and sand to give our plants nutrients to grow. While we were hauling the logs and shoveling the seaweed we all began to talk about what we were doing. I imagined returning to The Island School years from now, and looking over to the wet lab and seeing the tall trees, that were the babies we planted today. We all began talking about what it’s like here at The Island School, and what our wanted our own personal legacies to look like. Continue reading