We did it again and came back for round two–the Second Annual Nantucket Run-Swim! On July 12, 2014 The Island School with hosts, The Parizeau Family, rolled out a modified Run-Swim course to a group of excited IS alumni, parents, and friends of the school. With double the turnout as last year, it was a competitive field of recent alums all the way through to impressive parents who showed us that The Island School spirit lives strong.
Charlie Mounts (S’14) clinched the win with Doug Parizeau (S’06) in second and and Ernie Parizeau (P’F’03, S’06, S’10, S’14) not far behind in third. The weather was perfect and we could not have asked for a better day. After the race, all participants and cheerleaders were rewarded with an evening BBQ hosted by The Parizeau Family. For more photos from the day, click here.
With the Third Annual now less than a year away, we hope you are all training and we can’t wait to see you in Nantucket in July 2015!
We began the day with morning circle at 6:30am. The sun was shining brightly and the wind was blowing strong. When all 33 of us who weren’t on the tourism and development road trip were done singing the national anthem, we gathered together on the dock near the boat house to start our mile swim to the pole. One by one we all jumped in the warm water instantly we began freestyling to the pole. Some were slower than others. Me (Sahara), was one of the slow ones, while Abraham was in a swimming class because of his little experience with swimming. But he is getting better! When it hit around 7:15am, the teachers told us to swim back. This was pretty difficult because we had to swim against the current. Once again, some took longer than others but we all arrived back at the school at 7:35am. After the workout everyone began their daily chores. When all the chores where done at 8:00am all the students started their personal space in there dorms. At 8:15 am everyone lines up for breakfast but since our group, the Saber Tooth Blennies, was on dish crew we had to arrive at the dining hall at 8:00am to set up the dishes. When breakfast was over at 9:15am, the students split up into two groups; the marine ecology class and the food class.
Students learn about permaculture in the wet lab at the Cape Eleuthera Institute.
In the food class, we studied about permaculture, a self-sustaining farming system. Following our introduction to permaculture, we went to the farm where we observed and noted down the self-sustaining methods in the farm. We also got the chance to make a heap of compost. Each of us was assign to a site to analyze the plot and re-design it based on what we had learned within the week.
It seems like yesterday we all unpacked our bags to begin are journey here at the Island School but now it’s quickly coming to a close. Everyone including those who had no experience with swimming before coming to the Island school, is training and looking forward to the “monster run- swim”, where we will do a four mile run and one mile swim on Sunday the 27th.To those who are nervous- don’t be! We know you can do it!
Spring 2012 alumna, Shelby Ambargis sent us this photo after she found herself with two other Island School alumni from the spring semesters that came after her.
Scott Voigt (S’14), Cole Vanacore (S’13), and Shelby Ambargis (S’12)
We love hearing about your alumni gatherings! Send us your photos from Island School reunions or random run-ins to alumni@islandschool.org.
Yesterday marked our last day off before our parents arrive and our final academic rotation begins. For all of us still here on campus, we slept in as late as our bodies would allow us, which for most of us wasn’t past 7:30 AM. However, one group woke up in a bit of a different setting…on their 24-hour solo on the beach. Everyone returned happy and well in the morning from their solos and the rest of campus was very excited to welcome them back after their long-anticipated arrival. Even on our days off at the Island School, the whole student body is always busy, never wasting a minute of our time here. Some of us searched the exploration grounds for the famous “Banyan Tree,” others relaxed at the beach, and a group even went to the nearby town Deep Creek with Peter for a game of basketball. After dinner, we congregated for the usual 7:15 PM night class, but this was no ordinary class. Whit and Nick took us to the boathouse to teach us a few swing dancing moves! No matter how experienced we were, we all managed to learn some of the motions and have a laugh while doing so. We all got our energy out and slipped right back into the academic mindset for study hours to prepare for the busy week that lies ahead.
Students are all smiles on their Down Island Trip
Our campus is full of mixed emotions as we get underway with this week—we are all eagerly anticipating the arrival of our parents, but we are also sad to see our time here coming to a close. I think we are all surprised by how close we have become in just three weeks and the thought of leaving each other is unnerving. However, our fellow student Emily Jenkins reminded us this morning at Morning Circle to make the most out of it and recited a quote to us: “Don’t count the time, make the time count.” This quote encourages us enter this week with the best attitude possible, because we have so much more to look forward to. We still have another week of classes, the Monster Run-Swim, and Parents Weekend to take on with full force.
“Don’t do it because it’s easy, do it because it’s difficult”
As the sun rose yesterday morning, anxious kids climbed out of their beds and feared the morning ahead. What kids would be doing in twenty minutes time would be the longest morning exercise they have seen this summer. It consisted of a two- mile run to High Rock, a quarter mile swim to 4th Hole and a drenched mile and a half run back to the flagpole. This was a challenge even for the most athletic kids. Although everyone was exhausted from the course, people still cheered their classmates on with enthusiasm until everyone finished.
This group of students holds up deepwater Isopods (Bathynomus giganteus) during their afternoon research session.
The energy was high at breakfast, which set a positive tone for a full day of research. Seventeen kids were split up into three groups: Lemon Shark, Stingrays, and Deep Sea. The Lemon Shark group went out into the artificial mangrove and collected two tagged lemon sharks to study at CEI. In the afternoon they ran a swim tunnel test on the sharks to see how they respond to stress. The Stingray group spent the morning catching rays at the Saddle where we were able to catch five Yellow Stingrays. From there, we pumped saltwater into their stomachs to see the contents inside. They were able to find shrimp, worms, and crabs in the Stingrays stomach and digestive system. The Deep Sea group set out early to extract isopods from 1,500 meters. They extracted DNA to differentiate the species from one another. Yesterday was a prime example of all of the opportunities The Island School has to offer for their students. We have ten days left, let’s make the most of it and continue to push ourselves to the limit!
Waking to another gorgeous Bahamian sunrise, we gathered at the flagpole to prepare for… The pole swim. After tightening our goggles and stretching to loosen our muscles, we dove off the dock into the turquoise seas. The mile swim deemed quite challenging for many swimmers as we struggled to freestyle against the current. After everyone reached the docks, we were all rewarded with muscle soreness, salty skin, and a delicious breakfast. The down island trip was greatly missed at the swim.
In the marine ecology group, we designed a “video game” called Coral of Duty: Polyp Revenge. We discovered how Brad Polyp and Algaelina Jolie worked together to save the ocean reefs with their children, zoo zoos and nee nees. We also went on an extravagant dive to get a close look at the varieties of Bahamian coral on Tunnel Rock. We were all amazed at all of our unique patch reefs with abundance of cool biodiversity.
After reflecting on our time underwater, we were able to realize that we must protect the reefs, especially the corals that offer so much to the underwater ecosystem. We completed a long night of homework and quickly fell asleep after a tiring yet exciting day.
Students make a circle at the surface at tunnel rock
As the sun began to rise above the boathouse, we boarded Red Rising and set out for a free diving excursion at Tunnel Rock. Swimming down 40 feet beneath the surface, we explored the underwater world. There was so much to be seen on this reef, from schools of Bar Jacks, swimming to and fro, to Stoplight Parrotfish, munching on algae. We broke the surface of the water, leaving that world behind as we prepared for the long Island School day ahead of us.
Freedive down to the reef
For the third day in a row, campus felt empty without our friends on the down island trip, yet we powered through the exciting and packed day ahead of us. The Food Systems group spent the morning at Edrin’s farm, a 6oo acre two-man operation, and the Marine Ecology group spent the morning diligently working in class and preparing for their afternoon dive. In the afternoon, some explored the island by land, at Joseph’s slash-and-burn farm, while others explored the ecosystems in each of their patch reefs on ocean floor. As our second academic week comes to a close, we are shocked by the amount of time that we have passed together, and sad at the prospect of the dwindling days remaining, but excited to show our parents the island that we have come to call home.
For the Island School summer term, six students had the opportunity to work with Dr. Jocelyn Curtis-Quick researching invasive lionfish. In one day, the students became professionals at cast netting, dissecting lionfish, conducting behavior observations, and data analysis. They dissected fourteen lionfish, with body fat ranging from% 0.58- %2.1 and the discovered of various prey items in the stomach including crabs, grunts, and blue headed wrasse. Shockingly, there were twelve fish in one stomach; proving the voracious eating habits of the lionfish. The students are now knowledgeable invasive lionfish researchers. Of course, the students love to eat lionfish and recommend everyone do their part to stop the invasion by eating them.
Students help conduct lab observational experiments.Summer term Island School students dissect lionfish.
Peter Wege, former Chairman of Steelcase Furniture from West Michigan, was pushing the world to go green long before ideas about sustainability had gone mainstream. Peter believed strongly that economic development linked to ecological awareness was the path to a more livable future. His book entitled Economicology outlines a philosophy that mandates the need to think about how we treat our environment in everything that we do.
Cape Eleuthera Institute research team gathers at the Wege Center for Sustainable Fisheries to celebrate the life of Peter Wege and give thanks for his generous support.
Our Cape Eleuthera Foundation Grand Rapids board members led by Dan Devos, David Green and Dr. David Verdier helped make the introduction to Peter early on in the development of The Island School. Chris Maxey remembers that first opportunity to meet Mr. Wege. “He listened to me talk about our need to model smart, ecologically sound systems so that young people could learn through living in a place that was committed to respecting our environment; suddenly he pounded the table with his fist and he said, ‘This is what we need!’”
Peter Wege and Dan DeVos at a gathering of our board in Grand Rapids.
In those critical early years, Peter Wege through the Wege Foundation provided generous leadership gifts of over $1 MM that helped us invest in renewable energy and build the first solar powered hatchery and wet lab in the world. Through Steelcase Mr. Wege gifted green, recycled-material furniture that remains in use at Cape Eleuthera Institute.
Although Mr. Wege never visited our campus, we were honored to be able to participate in the annual Econimocology Conference at Aquinas College. It was good to be able to present our work along side the big universities and know that Mr. Wege was proud to be able to help us model a more sustainable way of living.
“Every time I look across our seascape and see the wind generator spinning above the casuarinas I think of Mr. Wege and his leadership and his generosity. He will never be forgotten at Cape Eleuthera.” -Chris Maxey
