“Stress-Busters and Birthdays”

By Caciques Haley McCalpin and Arben Ukperaj

The final match: Lindsey versus Damian, cheers erupting on either side, Lindsey throws the winning hand. Tonight at our dinner circle, we decided to do a “stress-buster” in attempt to relieve stress from the students and bring our community closer together. Each person went around the circle playing different people in a two out of three rock-paper-scissors game with the losing person cheering the winner on. By the end, half of the community supported Lindsey while the other supported Damian. We found this was a great way to incorporate a fun activity into our circle while taking the students’ minds off of their workload. Continue reading →

By Caciques James and Lindsay

We woke up at 6:15. No sleep in today; rather we had a demanding morning exercise. The South Dorms swam the triangle cut while the North Dorms ran 4 miles around the loop. Later, we completed our chores and were then off to breakfast.  As always, the exercise made our morning meal taste that much better.

Some students had marine ecology, where class today was a 35 minute dive at Tunnel Rock. Continue reading →

by Caciques Teddy Lamont and Sam Essig

“Ahhh!!!” screamed the entire Island School at 6pm dinner circle. After yet another jam-packed day on the gorgeous island of Eleuthra, the two of us were definitely feeling the stress of the day setting in, and we thought everyone else might be too. We, as caciques, decided to organize a collective “exertion of voices” in order to relieve their mixed emotions: excitement, eagerness, exhaustion, or any of the thousands of other emotions Island School students experience ever day. After everyone yelled, wiggled, and pranced there stress away, we took a few moments to reflect on the events of our stimulating day. Continue reading →

by Caciques Kelly and Nathan

This morning we woke up to an early run-swim, in which all the south dorms were timed. The north dorms worked together to cheer them on, as they, in the previous morning, had completed the run-swim themselves. This was a great activity because of how it brought us all together. As we begin to move into classes and start our research projects, support from the community in every aspect is crucial in order to succeed in academics and leadership. We saw leadership taking place during the run-swim today.  Leadership is part of our vision and what we, The Island School, believe in accomplishing. Today, we were introduced to our History, Math, Human Ecology, and Art classes. Continue reading →

“A Day Full of Firsts”

by Caciques Caroline V. and Alec

For all the students at The Island School, today was an extremely busy day, filled with firsts.  We started off the morning by raising the flag in the dark because of daylight savings, but by the time the sun rose, half of the students were ready to start their first timed run-swim. We swam through girls dorm cut with a sense of urgency, scrambled up the wall as fast as we could, and flew off the cliff with speed, all for the very first time. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhS0zSY7Lqs Following breakfast, we started our first day of class rotations.   Continue reading →

by Caciques Aidan and Bronte

Today could be considered our first day of freedom after completing orientation and fully dedicating ourselves to the oncoming semester.  We were rewarded with a sleep-in and a day to ourselves to explore. Many students celebrated their day of independence with a nap, a game of Frisbee, or a trip to the local coffee shop at The Cape. Surrounded by friends, sitting on the deck of the coffee shop and starring out over the ocean, we had time to reflect on what was ahead of us. Quickly the realization of the long journey we had all committed ourselves to began to sink in. Continue reading →

“Jumping into the Semester”

by Cacique Georgianna Anderson

Waves skipped upon the face of High Rock, as a student was perched on the lip of the cliff. Arms flailing, the student jumped into the water and slowly sank just below the surface. Rising, though salty eyes the student could see the faces of the peers who had jumped before them. After a two mile run the students and faculty arrived at High Rock to celebrate the ending of orientation. Each student and faculty member began his or her day by jumping off High Rock into the indigo water below to symbolize the official beginning of the 2011 Spring Semester. The day continued with a series of traditions and celebrations. Continue reading →