There is no more wonderful way to start the day than cliff jumping into a blue hole in the Bahamian jungle. Each DIT was able to experience this daybreak glory, but only K3 caught it on video. Watch as Daisy, Augie, Jack, Clay, Louise, Hunter, Ellen, Hammy, Lea, Tucker, Allegra and Aly, lead by faculty: Francesca, Gabe and Ashley take the leap, one by one, saluting the morning with screams of joy. And stay to see if Allegra, the last to face the leap, will indeed have the courage to make the jump…
Cacique Update November 10, 2010
“Your World Through Our Eyes”
by Caciques Ashlie Thompson and Jack DeVries
Students had the option of waking up to a morning free dive: our minds entering another world as we enter the water, a place of calmness and beauty that is all natural. This is what many of my classmates decided to do on their Wednesday morning sleep in time. On these mornings we would explore the beauty of another world. While the rest of us went into the depth of our minds and succumbed to dreams on end while safe in their cozy dorm beds.
Sadly, there are no more eighth and fourth graders here as St. Andrews departed this morning, leaving breakfast back to its usual Wednesday morning granola which everyone has begun to enjoy more and more as the weeks prolong. Human Ecology electives was the first part of our agenda that we jumped right into. Continue reading
Introducing: Aquaponics Research
by Apon students: Brandon, Garneisha, Ashlie, Sasha, George, and Perry.
Adventurers of sustainable fish farming
Quest to understand why tilapia have a musty flavor
Understand how to rid tilapia of this flavor
Amazed by results
Pondering how to make tilapia taste better than wild tilapia
Opened our mind to aquaponics
Necessary to sustain our current population
Interesting
Clever
SUSTAINABLE
This semester in Aquaponics our research team investigated the impact of finishing our tiliapia in different conditions before harvest. We purged our tilapia, which is when they go without food in order to rid them of funky tasting fat deposits, for two weeks while also finishing them in different salinities. We thought, because people tend to prefer salt water fish, that fish finished in saltier water would improve the overall flavor of fish. Tilapia often has a muddy or musty flavor. Since over fishing is a problem in South Eleuthera it is much more beneficial to eat farmed fish that actually taste better. We are excited for our parents to understand more about the aquaponics research in a few weeks!
AQUAPONICS: Conquering the funky taste of tilapia is our goal.
Cacique Update, November 9, 2010
“Brr its cold in here, there must be some islanders in the atmosphere”
by Caciques George Giannos and Allegra Rumbough
We awoke to a cool autumn morning in The Bahamas. Although it was around 70 degrees, we were all wearing winter hats and fleeces. We have all adapted to this warm weather that we are blessed with and we all are awaiting tropical storm Tomas to just pass by for good. We are done with all of the cold weather! Today we recognized that we only have 28 days left until the end of the semester, exactly 4 weeks. The community was in awe that time has flown by so fast, and we discussed our goals for the following month to come. Continue reading
Faculty Spotlight–Meet Kristen Key!
Kristen grew up on the shores of sunny Florida. She received her B.S. in Science Education from Florida State University after completing her student teaching at Maritime and Science Technology Academy (MAST). During the summers of 2007 and 2008, she served as a Science Instructor, lifeguard, and SCUBA rescue diver at Seacamp in the Florida Keys. Most recently, Kristen worked at Harvard University in Cambridge, MA where she spent her weekends volunteering as a Naturalist with Ocean Alliance/Cape Ann Whale Watch. She has also volunteered with Boston’s New England Aquarium as a Science Instructor for Harbor Discoveries marine and environmental science camp. At The Island School, Kristen is teaching Science and is very excited about incorporating SCUBA into the Science curriculum. Outside of teaching, Kristen also enjoys diving, surfing, dancing, and boating with her water pup Reef.
Alumni Spotlight–Matt (S08) and Will (S06) McCalpin
Check out alumni brothers Matt and Will McCalpin, members of Princeton’s elite all-male a cappella group the Tigertones, singing the national anthem at the San Diego Chargers home game on October 31st. Their sister Haley will be joining us this spring as part of The Island School class of Spring 2011.
Cacique Update November 8, 2010
“Our Last Month Stretch”
by Caciques Garneisha Pinder and Will Overman
Today, it hit me like thunder: Remo reiterated that today November 8th 2010 marking our last month stretch at The Island School. We have four weeks here to get after it, and leave our mark here.
Our day started with Human Ecology final project selections. We broke off into groups: food, transportation, urban development, miscellaneous, humanities, bees etc. There, we discussed ideas, wrote questions about what we wanted to do, and formulated our plans of action. Once our groups had been permanently established, we set off to get the structure of our plans finalized. We were off to save the world. These projects focus on, not only helping The Island School, but the rest of our home communities, and even generations to come. Continue reading
Cacique Update November 7, 2010
“Lazy Sunday”
by Caciques Marianne Foss-Skiftesvik and C.J. Easton
After a night of hugs, salsa dancing, and a great sleep we woke up to a campus full of smiles and laughter. Today, it has been a tad chilly and extremely windy which makes it truly feel like fall. Since Sundays are our days off, everyone was in sweatpants and sweatshirts. Many people spent their day sleeping in, and watching movies. It was a perfect day to relax and reunite with the friends that we had not seen in what seemed like forever. All of us shared stories of Down Island Trip and Kayak Rotation, we even had pictures to go along with those stories. The K2 kayak group swam with dolphins and K4 had to sit in lightening position in a torrential downpour for their last night of solo. Continue reading
Alumni Spotlight–Katie Romanov F05!
During a visit up to Middlebury last month, we were thrilled to meet up with alumna Katie Romanov (F05) and to hear about her experience working on Middlebury’s Solar Decathlon team. Middlebury is competing in the 2011 Solar Decathlon competition, a biennial competition sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy that challenges collegiate teams to build solar-powered houses featuring cost-effective, energy-efficient construction and incorporating energy-saving appliances and renewable energy systems. Katie is serving the Middlebury team as the Communications and Outreach Lead. Check out this video about Middlebury’s participation, and see Katie at minute 1:35!
Cacique Update November 6, 2010
“A Saturday Reunited”
by Caciques Chris Pibl and Pheobe Fitz
Today was a day we’ve all worked very hard preparing for: Human Ecology elective presentations! We all anxiously awaited class so we could put some finishing touches on our presentations. The water elective went first, and educated us on the harsh reality of bottled water, tap water, and the global water crisis. Conscious consumerism came next, and we enlightened everyone on the true effects of the harmful chemicals that we put on our bodies every day without even realizing it. Compost then gave us a very interesting presentation during which we got to stick our hands deep into the compost pile- talk about hands-on! Biodiesel was last, and they showed us a video they made titled “Cash Cab: Biodiesel Edition.” We left Human Ecology class today excited to learn more about each others’ electives when we choose our final projects next week.
Upon the return of K3 and K4, Continue reading