Island School Alumna Krissy Truesdale (pictured right) from the F’13 Island School semester has been working tirelessly to bring solar power to the East Coast since before her time on campus. She is the founder and CEO of a novel charity called Solar for Our Superheroes or S4OS for short. The mission of S4OS, as can be found on their Facebook page, reads as follows: “Solar for Our Superheroes is a nonprofit organization  thanking local leaders such as veterans, teachers, firefighters, and police officers with solar energy for their homes. In doing so, we are able to thank our heroes, bring together communities, and educate about renewable energy options in our MA neighborhoods”. Krissy’s inspiration for her project goes back to her childhood. She has always “been passionate about wildlife and nature. My childhood consisted of me running around in the New England forests with my best friends, making up adventures with magic and dragons, adventures in which I would always be the hero coming in to save the day”. Krissy was hooked on the concept of heroes but also of the environment. She joined her high school’s Environmental Action Committee which encouraged her to believe that she could make a positive difference. At one of the meetings with her school’s program, Krissy met a girl from Arizona who was “chatting up about solar energy in her state. I made a comment about it was too bad that solar didn’t work in New England and she was taken aback; we have sunlight, why wouldn’t it work? We did some research and turns out it would work, and very well, but since no one had seen it around to prove that it worked here, most people assumed otherwise. It was a cycle of inaction.” Krissy set out to break that “cycle of inaction” and struck upon inspiration for her charity in her grandfather who was a firefighter, plumber, electrician and firehouse cook all at the same time simply to pay the bills. Other members of her family have served in the Navy, ROTC or as teachers in schools so Krissy always had a profound appreciation for her family and how they had found ways of dedicating themselves to service on behalf of the community.  To Krissy, “giving solar panels to these people seemed to be a perfect solution to thank them and save them money, while also creating the good examples of renewable energy that we need.”

Krissy credits The Island School for teaching her how to manage a team, how to take criticism and most importantly how to move on from a failure. She learned not to give up when an idea or a presentation turned out poorly and instead how to adapt. For Krissy, attending The Island School “solidified my passion and direction for a life of activism”. She still keeps her letters from her kayak group taped to her mirror in her college dorm and uses them to motivate herself. She also has the guiding hand of our own Christian Henry on the Board of Directors for S4OS where he provides feedback and support.

Recently, S4OS achieved official 501c3 status meaning it is a recognized charity. This, along with the fact that Krissy has found the first hero she will be giving solar panels to, a partnership with The Boston Solar Company and the hiring of her first five interns means that she is well on her way to success. Krissy is now looking to provide solar panels to as many heroes as she can find with the eventual goal of spreading the transition to renewable energy throughout all of New England. Best of luck to you Krissy! All of us here at The Island School are rooting for you!

Island School alum Drew Ginsberg (pictured left) of the recently graduated Summer 2015 semester has been working to make a difference in extraordinary ways in his community. Through his family’s involvement with a rehabilitation hospital, he found out that there were specialty tricycles being custom built for children who couldn’t otherwise ride bikes or trykes on their own. For these kids, normally restricted to motorized equipment to be mobile, having their own way of getting around is an important symbol of freedom and independence. One catch: each tryke was unusually expensive, and there was a waiting list of over 2 dozen young people in need. Drew stepped in, undeterred by the challenge, and got his friends, family, and community organized around this effort. Drew first formalized his efforts to help young people when he was 13 and decided to use his Bar Mitzvah project as his platform to raise the money for the first tryke he ever donated.

Island School founder Chris Maxey recently attended the presentation of the very last tryke that Drew’s fundraising efforts were able to secure for the final family on his waiting list.  The ceremony took place in Salem New Hampshire at the Northeast Rehabilitation Hospital. Drew is now reaching out to other families in need – and The Island School is proud to celebrate his dedication to making a real difference for his community. More information about Drew’s project can be found here including a list of his awards and recognitions relating to the project. Most recently on that list is a letter from the US House of Representatives recognizing his efforts! Congratulations Drew! We at The Island School look forward to seeing the progress you make in the future.

Margaux Burnham, an alumna from the Fall 2010 semester is currently a junior at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She has recently completed a semester abroad with the SEA Semester program. Margaux’s program included five weeks spent on the Woods Hole campus in Cape Cod. She then spent the rest of her term sailing from Barcelona to Majorca, the Straits of Gibraltar, Madeira the Canary Islands and Cadiz, Spain. Participants in her program included herself and 13 other college students. Every student on the program takes three core classes plus two electives. One of Margaux’s classes was focused on the concept of sense of place, very similar to some of the learning conducted at The Island School.

The actual sailing aspect of SEA Semester turned out to be very similar to The Island School’s new sailing program. Margaux and the other students were expected to take turns manning watches at night as well as various duties during the day doing everything up to and including navigating and steering. The program constantly pushed Margaux outside of her mental and physical comfort zones, especially while at sea and battling the effects of seasickness while still needing to be a productive and effective member of the team. Margaux wants to give a shoutout to her Fall 2010 semester and encourages anyone in college who is interested in a non-traditional semester abroad program to consider taking a look at SEA semester