The Spring 2012 Island School semester has officially begun! Here is a photo of the group at the Welcoming Ceremony in the Boathouse. It’s going to be a great semester!
Helen Bourdeaux (S’10) and Family Revisit The Island School
Exactly two years ago, Helen Bourdeaux (S’10), was just beginning her Island School journey as a student. Last week, Helen, now an alumna, stopped by the Cape with her family to check out the school and reconnect with some familiar faces. It was great to see you, Helen! If any other alumni are going to be in the area for spring breaks, please let us know by emailing alumni@islandschool.org.
Mask and Snorkel Donation
This fall, Cape Eleuthera Institute’s conch research intern from the College of the Bahamas, Tarran Simms, facilitated the donation of 500 masks & snorkels from Dolphin Cay at Atlantis resort in Nassau to Ron Knight, Island School Director of SCUBA operations and waterfront manager. Knight in turn, divided the bulk of the snorkel gear among every 4th, 5th, and 6th grader between Tarpum Bay & Deep Creek, where the excited students and teachers accepted appreciatively. Knight also intends to distribute the remaining gear to student of DCMS in Deep Creek, Eleuthera.
Gap Year Program Update #3
It’s hard to believe it, but we’ve reached the middle of our time here. Looking ahead, we really need to make the most of our remaining time. Looking back, we had one heck of a week!
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We began work in earnest on our Independent Student Projects, meeting with our respective mentors to figure out what form our end results will take. My mentor, Ian, seems pretty gung-ho about posters, so that’s what I plan on doing. We also continued to play host to the Warner family, eventually meeting with them regarding their assignments. I can’t vouch for the other mentor/mentee meetings, but this was a great chance for us to step into the shoes of a teacher and–in turn–a wonderful learning experience.
But the real highlight of the week was our Down Island trip. We headed out at the crack of ten on Thursday, ready for an adventure. And boy, did we ever find it! In the space of three endless days, we: Continue reading
Mrs. Carnetta Ferguston Returns to Visit the Cape
On February 17, Mrs. Carnetta Ferguson from the newly launched National Parenting Center of the Ministry of Education visited Cape Eleuthera today, where Jennie Freeman was hosting the Deep Creek Middle School advisory board meetings underway. Mrs. Ferguson was an early supporter of The Island School, having been instrumental in bringing UNESCO to Cape Eleuthera in 2001. Her support of the Deep Creek Middle School includes her popular “Fly Like an Eagle” speech from the DCMS 5th year anniversary celebration in 2006. Welcome back!
Island School Parent’s Inspiring TED Talk
Ernie Parizeau, parent of IS alumni Kate (F’03), Doug (S’06), and Molly (S’10), gave a great TED talk at Middlebury College this fall titled “Fortune Favors the Bold”. Check it out!
Vote for DCMS Students’ Youth Activism Projects
For several weeks, the DCMS grade 9 students have been studying youth activism. Our class brings students, teachers, and community members together to create a vision for a more positive world. In the first two weeks, we learned about young activists all over the world and throughout history, brainstormed social and environmental issues in The Bahamas that we want to solve, and went out into our community and interviewed leaders. Then, each of us chose an issue that matters to us. We all made surveys, gathering information for our research. After collecting data, we wrote letters to the editors of different Bahamian newspapers! Now, we’re writing up our project proposals on Facebook. Please read about them and then VOTE for the projects you want to see happen!
By Kenya Polidor – grade 9
Putting Schools To Work
The Island School is proud to announce the launch of the Putting Schools to Work website. This consortium of like-minded institutions that focus on teaching leadership by allowing students to tackle real world problems and issues through research and human ecology projects serves as a model of what education can be, when schools get out of the way. The projects featured on this site were presented at the first Leadership in Education conference held at The Island School in the Spring of 2011. Putting Schools to Work is a component of a new Wilson Family Center for Leadership in Education funded by Floyd and Kim Wilson. We invite you to watch videos, read articles, and learn more about what other schools and programs are doing to empower students, all on this site. Enjoy!
Make An Island School Presentation at Your School!
We are always encouraging students to make presentations about The Island School when they return to their sending schools after their semester. Not only does it help make their transference back home a bit smoother to have others understand some of their experiences from this semester abroad, but it also gets the word out about The Island School, Cape Eleuthera Institute, Deep Creek Middle School, and all the amazing things we are doing here. We are especially proud of Katie Harpin, a recent Fall 2011 alumna, for sharing her Island School experience with her Taft School peers. Each Tuesday and Thursday during the school year, all Taft students gather for Morning Meeting. In addition to talks by the headmaster, chaplain or other members of the faculty, students themselves often address the school. You can listen to Katie’s speech during a January 26th Morning Meeting here. Great job, Katie!