Check out our new video that gives you a glimpse into the life of the Deep Creek Middle School.
CEI’s Anderson-Cabot Hall for Graduate Studies Opens to Create More Opportunities for Bahamians in Research
On Friday June 5th, Cape Eleuthera Institute (CEI) hosted a ribbon cutting on their newest building, Anderson-Cabot Hall for Graduate Studies. The grand opening was held during the SEA Change Youth Summit hosted by The Island School in partnership with 5Gyres and Jack Johnson. Government officials, staff, students, and school supporters gathered to celebrate with an official ribbon cutting ceremony which featured speakers involved in the building’s creation, as well as its future. Chris Maxey, co-founder of The Island School, began the event by celebrating the growth of the organization and introduced Aaron Shultz, Director of Cape Eleuthera Institute.
Shultz explained the importance of Anderson-Cabot Hall not only to CEI’s campus, but also to the island of Eleuthera and the greater Bahamas. “CEI is a major hub for research, education, and outreach. Our dorms serve over 1000 local and international students annually. Hallig House hosts professors, government officials, and short-course leaders. The missing link has been a place for graduate students and interns to live and work on campus. The Anderson-Cabot Hall will be the hub for the best and brightest local Bahamian and international graduate students in the Greater Caribbean Region.“
Shultz then introduced Alexio Brown, College of the Bahamas graduate, CEI Research Assistant and former BESS student at The Island School. Brown spoke about the opportunities that this building now opens up for Bahamian students like himself who aspire to pursue a career in the marine sciences. “Anderson-Cabot Halls allows me the opportunity to stay in The Bahamas and make a difference in the future of my country. There aren’t many places that offer this type of opportunity for young Bahamians in science like me.” As Shultz shared in his remarks, “Anderson-Cabot Hall is the first higher education facility built to support local and international graduate students in The Bahamas.”
In attendance was long-time supporter of the Cape Eleuthera Island School, John Dunagan, who dedicated the building to John “Giant” Norris Carey, builder and mentor. Ed Anderson and Linda Cabot, the primary financial contributors and for whom the building is named after, were present to cut the ribbon on the building and spoke to honor its opening.
As two-time Island School parents, The Anderson-Cabots told the crowd their motivation for supporting CEI’s newest building project. “Both our daughters Gigi (S’11) and Noelle (S’13) attended The Island School and had transformative experiences, that have been the cornerstones of their education. They returned home from the Cape as empowered young women; aware, excited and skilled to make an impact in their worlds,” shared Cabot. This building as a priority for Ed Anderson and Linda Cabot so that the Cape Eleuthera Institute could expand to reach more graduate students and eventually become, as Ed Anderson said, “the Wood’s Hole of the Caribbean.”
The opening concluded with remarks from Minister of Education, the Honorable Jermone Fizgerald and a luncheon honoring special guests, as well as the Carey Construction crew who built the Hall.
The Maxeys Make it to Bermuda!
Following the SEA Change Youth Summit held at The Island School June 5-7, Chris & Pam Maxey and their crew made up of Brittney Maxey, Mike Cortina (CSD sustainability teacher and F’02 alumnus), Kelly Duggan (S’11), Sam Kosoff (former IS teacher and Lawrenceville Dir. of Sustainability) and Georgie Burruss (CEI researcher) sailed from Cape Eleuthera, The Bahamas to Bermuda on their boat, Kokomo, sailing alongside 5 Gyres and Jack Johnson, who were aboard The Mystic. Also on board the Mystic for the leg from Eleuthera to Bermuda was Island School alumna, Aly Boyce (F’10) and now her brother, IS alumnus James Boyce (F’12), will board the Mystic for the next leg.
Kokomo and Mystic left the Cape Eleuthera Resort & Marina in the afternoon of Tuesday June 9th and arrived in Bermuda coastal waters in the early morning of Sunday June 14th. Along the way, both the Kokomo and the Mystic conducted citizen science: trawling for plastic pollution in the ocean.
Upon arrival in Bermuda, the sailboat caravan was welcomed by the educational officer at Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences (BIOS), JP Skinner who lives in nearby Paget Parish. Last night, they had the opportunity to visit BIOS and check out the amazing work going on there. The rest of their time on Bermuda has been spent exploring the town of St. Georges and the nearby beaches with the team aboard the Mystic.
Tomorrow, the Kokomo and the Mystic embark on the next left of their trip, bound for the east coast of the United States. They will be sailing together for the first few days until the Mystic splits to make its way towards New York City and the Kokomo heads towards the Chesapeake Bay. We wish all the sailors a safe passage and calm seas!
Cape Eleuthera Institute Stingray Research & Education
The Cape Eleuthera Institute‘s Shark Research and Conservation Program recently initiated a novel project that aims to assess the spatial ecology and genetic diversity of three species of stingray in the waters surrounding Southern Eleuthera. It is hoped this research will provide much needed information on how species critical for ecosystem function occupy and share space as well as exploit fragmented seascapes for migrations and dispersal corridors.
Check out this amazing video from our friends at Behind the Mask to learn more about the stingray project!
Inland Ponds Update
The Bahamas has an abundance of inland ponds that are rarely visited and poorly studied. These inland ponds are fragile ecosystems that are under threat from developments, pollution and the introduction of species, yet these ponds are rarely considered for conservation protection. Eleuthera has over 200 of these inland water sites. One of these, Sweetings pond, has an unusually high number of seahorses. This pond may not be the only special site, as these isolated ponds are known to support unique and endemic life. This semester, Island School students started to explore and assess the ponds of South Eleuthera to provide data to ensure their long-term conservation. Excitingly we found new species, please visit the CEI blog for more details.
Island School Hosts an International Youth Summit with Musician, Jack Johnson and 5 Gyres
This past weekend The Island School hosted the SEA Change Youth Summit with musician, Jack Johnson and 5 Gyres to raise awareness about the impacts of plastic pollution in the ocean and to inspire young students to be advocates for change. 34 Students gathered from Abaco, Grand Bahama, New Providence and Eleuthera as well as a school group out of New York and another student from Jamaica.
As part of the kick-off for the weekend on Friday June 5th, Jack Johnson took part in a designation ceremony to become a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The designation was timely as last Friday marked World Environment Day, a UN flagship event encouraging worldwide awareness and action for the environment, celebrated in over 100 countries.
Included in the kickoff to the festivities hosted on The Island School’s campus were remarks from Chris Maxey, founder of The Cape Eleuthera Island School, Anna Cummins and Marcus Eriksen, founders of the 5 Gyres Institute and Celine Cousteau, film maker, environmentalist and daughter of ocean explorer Jean-Michel Cousteau and the granddaughter of Jacques Cousteau. Also in the line up was Kristal Ambrose, founder of Bahamas Plastic Movement and Minister of Education, Science and Technology, The Hon. Jerome Fitzgerald.
The first day of the Summit centered around raising awareness on the issue of plastic pollution so that the students could create their own solutions based on the stories and information they’d received. In the afternoon students, facilitators, Jack Johnson and visiting UNEP representative, Naysan Sahba visited a local beach to do a clean-up lead by Kristal Ambrose. The day finished with a Junkanoo, cultural activity lead by Art teacher and Space to Create founder, Will Simmons in which Summit attendees, Island School students and Jack Johnson created original songs about plastic pollution to the Junkanoo beat provided by the visiting South Eleutheran students from Preston H. Albury High School.
The second day began with a workshop on how to reduce single-use disposable plastics in the household. Students were given tips and tools on how to make their own toothpaste and steer away from buying highly packaged products and personal care products containing plastic micro-beads. After lunch, David Stover, co-founder of Bureo Skateboards told his story of making skateboards from fish netting found in the ocean and beaches of Chile. The students then sifted through their findings from Friday’s clean-up to create a symbolic SEA Change eye sculpture out of plastics with Dianna Cohen, founder of Plastic Pollution Coalition. The sculpture was then showcased at the Deep Creek Homecoming where Summit attendees enjoyed a plastic free event thanks to a donation by World Centric for all food packaging. Recover also pitched in with a donation of t-shirts for the homecoming made from recycled plastic bottles.
The last day of the Summit was spent teaching the students how to tell and share their own stories and to create their own solutions. Facilitators and visiting activists, scientists and artists participated in group discussions on how each student could make a change in their home, on their island and in their country. The day ended in a closing ceremony with music by local band, The Rum Runners, as well as Jack Johnson, who performed alongside local and visiting musicians and even played a tune with two Island School students.
Summit organizer, The Island School’s Brittney Maxey, was blown away by the energy coming from the young students. “This is a historical event not only for us at The Island School and the island of Eleuthera, but also for The Bahamas and other island nations as a whole. We are sending these motivated young people back out into the world equipped with the tools to make a difference in their communities. The Island School’s mission is leadership affecting change and this weekend embodied this belief not only for the students but for the island of Eleuthera. We are a small place making big change.”
Thank you to event supporters: Johnson Ohana Charitable Foundation, AML Foods, Cape Eleuthera Resort & Marina, Recover, World Centric, From the Bow Seat, Bahamas Waste Limited, Cable Bahamas, One Eleuthera, The Muggia Family and Kim & Floyd Wilson.
Student Update: The Final Week
This morning all 53 students headed off on their way. Congratulations Spring 2015! Here are some reflections from the final week.
Conch Fest
Last night proved the saying “the party don’t start ‘till we walk in.” Arriving at conch fest around 4:35 we were the first ones to occupy the fair ground in Deep Creek. After a day of pouring rain, the grassy area sloshed under our feet. We decided to walk up the street for a little bit of puppy TLC. There is a house behind the local drug store Jemmaks that is home to seven or so puppies who have provided much enjoyment to Island School students over the past couple weeks. By the time we all finished loving on the little bundles of fur, Mooch (the famous) had set up her booth.
The interesting albeit ironic thing about conch fest is that the Island School and CEI profess strongly that conch should be given up in favor of a more sustainable fishery. Because of this, CEI had a booth dedicated to promoting lionfish consumption. Lionfish are highly invasive in this area and are both sustainable and delicious. In addition, one of the Community Outreach projects that was presenting at the festival was Destinee’s trashion show. The show featured Deep Creek Middle School students, Island School students, and faculty alike. I have to say, I was highly impressed by what Destinee was able to create with chip bags and Caprisun pouches. We left the festival early to prepare for the half marathon the next day. What a way to end the semester: trashion, fried food, and exercise.
-Locke Curtis
Human Ecology: Energy Track
I grew up hearing all about grown ups and work and the “real world.” It has all seemed so far off; but it wasn’t until I was sitting in a conference room with four of my peers, blankly looking at this project before us, that I realized “real life” was staring me right in the face. The task was to design a renewable solar energy system for the new Anderson-Cabot graduate hall. This design had to consist of an energy audit, schematic, financial analysis, step-by-step guide to what would be produced and how, all thoroughly explained and justified in the format of a professional written proposal.
Group dynamics were rough; with so much to do and no idea where to start, heads were butting and emotions were running high. It took awhile to get our ideas off the ground. But the reason there was so much frustration was because we were all so passionate about the project and truly wanted to do the best job we could. With 3 5-hour class blocks, we spent a total of at least 18 hours, not even including the hours put in outside of class. I realized that simply sitting down and getting it done would not be a possibility. It was a long two weeks of a lot of mistakes, a lot of compromises, and a lot of disappointment. But thankfully, we ended up with more successes than failures. Deadline day came and we turned in a completed 24-page proposal, followed by a 5-minute pitch to our peers, faculty, and even the family who donated the money for the building. Hard work doesn’t even begin to describe what we did, and accomplished doesn’t even begin to describe how we feel now. It goes to show that we truly are capable of anything we set our minds to- just one example of many showing how The Island School pushes you to be your best, and to explore the endless potential we didn’t know we had.
-Madeline Parker
Plastics Summit
On Thursday night we went to bed, just the 52 students and few teachers that live on campus. After a good night’s sleep, we awoke on Friday to find that there were suddenly over a hundred people in line at the dining hall. This semester, Island School had the honor of hosting a large youth summit on the issue of plastics on the weekend of June 5, or World Environment Day. The guest list included a number of Bahamian schools, members of the United Nations, Celine Cousteau-Jacques Cousteau’s granddaughter, 5 Gyres, Bahamas Plastic Movement, the Bahamian Minister of Education, and a few other organizations and important individuals dedicated to reducing plastic use. Oh, and there was this guy named Jack Johnson, whoever he is. Friday morning started with presentations from the preeminent scientists and researchers in the field of plastics and went on the ceremony where Jack Johnson was officially named a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations Environmental Program. He went on to play a few songs…and wow. He sounded exactly like his recordings, and he did it all with a laid-back ease. The next event on Friday was the dedication of the new Anderson-Cabot Grad Hall, where Maxey, Aaron Schultz, and the Bahamian Minister of Education honored the Andersons and Giant, the architect of the actual grad hall. The grad hall will serve as housing for grad students, interns and researchers that come through CEI.
On Saturday, we had our culminating project for research, where we displayed all of our work in a way that would reach audiences from toddlers to scientists. My group presented our poster, but we also had a slideshow with photos and videos and we designed and constructed two games. Research has been incredibly fun, but it was a relief to finally be done with our projects.
Today, Sunday, the Plastics Summit came to an end with a bang. We all biked down to the marina for lunch, and were greeted by a local band called the Rum Runners. After we finished our meal, we got a special treat. Jack Johnson then performed for us, with the help of some of the crew of the Mystic, the ship he sailed in on, the Rum Runners, and even two Island School students (shoutout to Lily and Hal).
This whole weekend was pretty surreal. There were so many impressive individuals, from scientists to politicians to musicians to professional surfers (who just stopped by today to say hi and join Jack Johnson). I hope that this summit and the relationships that we built during this weekend will last on to further semesters.
-Douglas Vetter
Alumni Spotlight: Katie Romanov (F’05) and Emma Payne (S’10)
Island School connections are everywhere! We recently heard from Fall 2005 IS alumna Katie Romanov and Spring 2010 alumna Emma Payne who are working together on an incredible project–to bring a nonverbal boy a voice!
Emma recently began working for VocaliD which is a start-up that creates personalized synthetic voices for people who can’t speak, so they don’t have to rely on the same limited set of generic, robotic-sounding voices. It’s very common that kids who rely on communication devices to talk often end up having around 5 other kids in their class using the same exact voice as them– it’s not only confusing, but communicating with such a generic, robotic voice hides a huge part of one’s identity.
Katie emailed the central VocaliD email account, which Emma is in charge of answering, and her story about her student Simon, a nonverbal 5th grade boy from San Francisco immediately made Emma want to do whatever she could to join Katie in helping Simon get his own communication device, communication software, and his own voice. Katie and Emma exchanged many, many emails as they brainstormed how to set up Simon’s Indiegogo Life fundraising campaign, and when Katie connected with VocaliD’s page on Facebook, Emma noticed that they had a mutual friend–The Island School–and they soon we realized that we were both IS alumnae, 5 years apart!
To learn more about Simon and his journey to get a voice, visit Katie’s Indiegogo page and watch this video of Simon in action!
Student Update: Time in the Kitchen
Last weekend, Peter Z pulled four of my fellow Boys Dorm residents and I aside. After breaking a rule earlier in the semester, we were due for a punishment. At the time this punishment seemed like the end of the world. I was terribly angry at my early-in-the-semester self for having broken a rule. In my mind I had lost 10 hours of my Island School Experience.
But The Island School is full of surprises; it finds a way to make punishment one of the outstanding experiences of the past week. On the Sunday after exploration there was a free afternoon, exploration from 1:15 until 6:00. It was the first of my three days of punishment. I can imagine the frown that must have been on my face as many of my friends rode past me on their bikes off campus.
Our first task was to move dozens of chairs from the dining hall across campus to CSD. After a few sweaty trips, we ran into facilities team member Arlington. Arlington lives in the nearby settlement of Rock Sound, and is recognizable by the tower of dreadlocks that he hides underneath a red, green, and yellow column of cloth and his warm demeanor. Immediately recognizing our struggle, Arlington offered to give us a helping hand. He made time in his day to bring his flatbed truck around to the dining hall so we wouldn’t have to carry more chairs. This first task became a few truck rides, mixed in with conversations with Arlington about life and morality. For the next three or four hours, we were scheduled to help out the kitchen staff. For me, the first hour of this period was really hard. For all that time, I was hunched over scrubbing mold from a brick corner of the dishes area where faucets fill up dish buckets. As I worked up a bit of a sweat and got my elbows dirty, I had some time to really reflect on what I had done wrong.
After we were done with the dishes area, Mooch (our head chef) surprised us with some leftover corn fritters. We shifted our efforts to helping our beloved kitchen staff members Mooch and Derece to organize the walk in fridge and freezer. While we worked, everybody’s mood improved. Mooch and Derece started acting goofy, then we started acting goofy, then everybody started laughing and joking as we worked.
Although we see Mooch and Derece are around campus a fair amount, I felt like I hadn’t had the chance to really get to know them. During this punishment, I got to see a side of them that I had no idea was there and that I’m so glad I found. When we finished our work it was about 4:00- there was 2 hours to spare. Instead of going back to Boy’s Dorm, us five boys stayed in the kitchen. We lost track of time as we joked and gossiped with Mooch and Derece over leftover cheesecake and mangoes. I can honestly say it was one of the most hilarious hangouts I’ve had in a long time.
As the culprit, it can be tough to take a step back and appreciate disciplinary action. But The Island School managed to make punishment hard enough to provoke healthy reflection about my rule-breaking attitude while at the same time making it a meaningful experience. Losing Exploration Time for me was not the same as wasting time at The Island School, it was a time for me to further explore a part of The Island School that I had not yet grown to appreciate.
-Cole Triedman
Student Update: Marina Cut
Marina Cut, just adjacent to the Marina, was just opened up this week, meaning that Island School students are now permitted to jump off the low bridge and float down current cut (with facility supervision of course).
So, now that the cut is now open, I was so excited to take my turn floating down the lazy river. My advisor, Flora Weeks, was kind enough to supervise a group of girls who all wanted to jump off of the low bike bridge and swim in the current cut. As soon as classes ended at 4:15, I ran up to girls dorm to change into a bathing suit, then I jumped on my bike and peddled towards the marina.
Before hopping in, I decided to make a quick marina store stop and buy an ice cream. After, I walked towards the cut and dangled my feet over the crystal clear water while enjoying the cold ice cream in the heat. After I had watched three or four people jump off, I decided that it was my turn. So, I grab my mask and snorkel. Just before jumping off, looked over my toes which hung over the edge of the bride into the vibrant blue water. The hue of the water was incredible because as a man made cut, it is very deep in the middle but quickly gets shallower on the outskirts.
I counted down from three, held my breath and took one huge leap off the bridge. Submersed in water I opened my eyes, remembering I had a mask on. I left the strong current float me down the cut as I watched the wide array of life swimming past me. To my left, I saw a cluster of mangroves that provided habitat for many small and colorful fish. Looking down, I saw a large ray gently gliding along on the bottom of the floor. So, I decided to hold my breath and dive down to try to get a better view. It was so incredible to see a ray so close; I got so excited under the water that I had to come back up for air. Continuing on my way, a little further down, I saw a huge nurse shark swimming in my direction. At first, my heart jumped a beat at the sight of such a large shark, but I quickly remember that nurse sharks pose no real threats to humans. So, the shark and I swam along side each other for what seemed like hours. But suddenly, the nurse shark darted out in front of me and then turned around to face me. He started to rise up to my level in the water and as he swam closer, I realized I should probably get out of its way. So, I dove down and let the shark swim over me. After, as I looked back it its dorsal fin swimming away, I was in complete awe. Hopping out of the water and walking back to the bridge to do it again, I was so completely amazed at what just happened.
-Hanna Pierce
