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Congratulations Josh & Stephanie Hahn!

We happily congratulate Josh and Stephanie Hahn on the newest addition to their family! On Friday, February 15th, Samuel Francis Hahn was born at 6 lbs and 20 inches. Josh has been an avid supporter of The Island School since the beginning and has visited campus on numerous occasions to lend a hand to Jack Kenworthy in building design and construction in those early days. He then held the Sustainability Director position at The Lawrenceville School for a number of years and is now the Associate Head of School in charge of Sustainability for The Hotchkiss School. 

Please take note of Josh’s sweatshirt…as he says, he’s “always representing IS at important events!” Congratulations Josh and Steph!

Educational Programs

Gap Program Update #4

This Tuesday nine of us embarked upon a sea kayaking trip – destination: Lighthouse Beach for our 48-hour solo experience. With choppy waters, we paddled a whopping mile from campus before having to beach the boats and camp out for the night. Day two, we try again: only to encounter more sea-sickening waves and exerting far too much effort for the distance traveled. We stop for lunch and a nap on the beach, then out on the water again. Alas, we make it one-third of the way to our destination before resulting to hitching a ride the rest of the way to Lighthouse. Along the way, some lovely conversations, bonding over games of Wizard, and the best campfire pizza bliss. Valentine’s Day dawned upon us and we spent the holiday alone — in the most literal sense. Thursday marked the beginning of our48-hour solo. Seven of us scattered along the shore of Lighthouse Beach with nothing but pink sand, our thoughts, and the horizon of each new day before us. 

Solo: a time for self reflection, awareness, acceptance. Ye of little faith who may be wondering, “What in the world do you plan on doing with your life?” Well, I took some time during my solo to contemplate this question and let me affirm your doubts by responding–I still have no idea. “But,” you say, “weren’t you supposed to Continue reading →

Uncategorized

Now Hiring: Communications Associate

The Cape Eleuthera Foundation seeks an enthusiastic, motivated and driven individual to join its communications and marketing team. The ideal candidate will have demonstrated experience building communications and marketing materials in the non-profit context. This individual will work with all facets of the organization to promote our facilities and programs and share our work and ideologies with our alumni base, the scientific community, and the wider world. The successful candidate will build strong relationships by exercising outstanding design skills and tailoring the medium and message to the sophisticated and discriminating audience. This is a full-time, 12-month administrative position at the Lawrenceville Office, reporting directly to the Director of Communications and the Director of Development.

Responsibilities:
Publications

  • Prepares graphic files for publication
  • Seeks and obtains bids from printers and mailing houses
  • Manages print quality and control
  • Coordinates the timely, error-free, and cost-effective production of all publications, including writing, editing, design, photography, and print and electronic management
  • Provides editing eye for flawless final production

Graphic Design

  • Designs organization’s publications
  • Designs ads and other public relations materials Continue reading →
Cape Eleuthera Institute, CEI, News

Eleuthera’s Efforts to Eliminate Styrofoam

Cape Eleuthera Institute (CEI) partners with One Eleuthera and Out Island Eco Company to provide alternative disposable products to Styrofoam, on the Island of Eleuthera.

The Island School and CEI’s journey to becoming a zero-waste campus while extending the concepts of this model to our neighbors on the island of Eleuthera has taken patience, but we are now excited to announce we are one step farther.

This particular initiative began in 2010 as CEI outreach collaborated with the Deep Creek Homecoming Association at its annual homecoming festival “Conch Fest” using the tagline “da Creek gone green”. CEI worked diligently with the food vendors to source products that promoted sustainability and were a viable alternative to using Styrofoam. The venture was particularly challenging, as sourcing the right company to provide the products proved difficult. The import duty on Styrofoam-alternative products was 45%, which made using these replacing Styrofoam an unattractive and expensive option for the average resident. Through generous sponsorship CEI provided the products to the vendors, which drastically reduced the cost of going green.

Extensive research and communication with wholesalers of these products led CEI to connect with Out Island Eco Company (OIEC), formerly affiliated with BioShell Bahamas, a non-profit company located on the island of Abaco and led by Ms. Juliette Deal. As this partnership evolves, OIEC has successfully launched an educational and outreach model in Abaco and has worked diligently with the Bahamas Government to reduce import taxes on these ecologically friendlier items.

In 2012, One Eleuthera (OE) joined the cause and partnered with CEI and OIEC Continue reading →

Educational Programs

Gap Year Program Update #3

Why hello there! Here it is…the much-awaited update of the Gap Year lord and ladies. The highlight of this week was our down-island trip, during which we got to see some groovy spots on the island. Starting at the Laughing Lizard Café with a breathtakingly close encounter with Lenny Kravitz, we journeyed north to Harbour Island. We put on our ritzy pants and ventured into the resorts, only to discover that Cape Eleuthera is a far more beautiful, righteous, and down to earth place to be. After scrounging around looking at menus of the various restaurants, we decided that instead of spending our college tuition money on a steak and accompanying beverage, we would retire to the fried food shacks and eat al fresco. A great time was had by all as we watched the sun set, munched on questionable fried items, and listened to the sage life advice of Scotty and Taylor.

The next day we toured Spanish Wells, which was enticing insofar as it felt like an episode of The Twilight Zone, and the accents were delightfully funky. In order to understand what I’m talking about, one must travel to Spanish Wells and experience the magic therein. We went on to explore the Hatchet Bay Caves, Continue reading →

Events

Ocean Awareness Essay Contest

The film, From the Bow Seat (written and directed by alumni parent Linda Cabot), holds an ocean awareness essay contest every year that challenges high school students to think critically and creatively about environmental issues impacting the ocean. The contest invites students to write an original essay based on the film From the Bow Seat, or to explore a timely environmental issue beyond the scope of the film.

Awards of $2,500, $1,500 and $500 will be made to the first, second and third place winners, plus 15 Honorable Mention Certificates. In addition, $2,500 will be awarded to the high school science department of the first prize winner.

If you are interested in learning more about the contest or want to submit your essays, visit the contest website here. Good luck!

Educational Programs

The Island School Hosts New York Harbor School SCUBA Divers

Last week The Island School hosted 12 SCUBA divers from the New York Harbor School. Accompanying the divers were dive instructors Liv Dillon and Joe Gessert and board member Eli Smith. The divers continue the relationship between the New York Harbor School and The Island School, which includes dive trips such as this one as well as bringing students to enroll in Island School semesters as part of the City Bridge program. Students participated in up to 22 dives (four per day), 10 received their Advanced Open Water Certification, while the other 2 students (who had already completed their Advanced Open Water) worked towards their Divemaster.

For more information on the New York Harbor School, check out their website, and for a glimpse of what the students experienced, check out these photos and the video below:

Educational Programs

Gap Year Program Update #2

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It’s been a busy week down on Eleuthera, and with our Down Island Trip right around the corner, us gappers are excited about all we have experienced and accomplished in the last seven days.

SCUBA 

After grinding away for hours on the elearning, we all passed our final assessments and were able to get out on the water for some real SCUBA training. We started with some confined dives at The Saddle where we learned and practiced skills to get our Open Water Diver certification.  After 4 confined dives over the course of the week, and practicing a bunch of skills both under and above the water, we all received our Open Water Diver certifications on Thursday and began advanced work Sunday.

Pig Slaughter

We awoke on Wednesday morning to a beautiful sunrise and headed over to the farm Continue reading →

Alumni, Alumni Spotlight

Alumni Spotlight: Mina Bartovics (S’01)!

Island School alumna, Mina Bartovics (S’01) recently began a 6-month adventure in India! As she travels around, she will be teaching science to women and children, as well as working in a labor and delivery hospital. Instead of sending out mass, impersonal emails to her friends and family, she decided to keep a blog. The Island School has enjoyed following Mina’s first month of adventures and travels on the blog, as well as admiring the beautiful photos. If you are interested to see what Mina has been up to, check out the blog here: http://rowanandmina.wordpress.com/. Safe travels, Mina!