Hello everyone! This is Zoe and Aadam, the second round of caciques for the summer term, signing on. As mentioned in the last blog post, our large family was split into two smaller communities: Tigers and Hammers. Conveniently, we are each in separate groups. The Tigers are first spending their time this week learning more about Eleuthera and how to explore, while the hammers are spending their time in the water learning to assemble their kits and start their first dives, safely.
An advisory checking out “The Loop”
On June 24th the Tiger 2s went on a “learn to explore” trip around the cape of South Eleuthera. We all took our bikes out and rode through the run-down mazes of the abandoned resort. We took a pit stop in a shrubby clearing, after seeing the only live mahogany tree on the island, to write in our place books. While looking around the jungle we listened while Anne, a teacher, read poetry. A rainstorm began and Jane, Alex, Mirelle, Roxy, Tilly, Teja and I(Zoe) played out in the raindrops. After the rain, we headed to the beach and snorkeled. We ate sandwiches and cassava chips (yum) by the ocean. We floated down the current cut (a kind of lazy river) two times and had an amazing time watching the sharks at the marina. The funniest moment was when Trewin, Alex, Roxy, Jane and I made a chain along the current. The current was too strong and pulled some of us past the bridge into the lagoon. After Nathan saved us, we all headed back to our bikes and rode on to the Island School campus. It was an amazing day and I hear all the other students raving about how the days seem so long and full. I love how active and motivated this place makes us feel. The rush and speed of each day is definitely life changing.
Learning to Explore!
On the 24th of June the Hammers went scuba diving. In the morning we learned how to set up our BCDs and our regulators. Later on, in the afternoon, some of us went on our first dives, while others, who already knew how to dive, helped the beginners. We went to the saddle for our first confined dives. My group got through all five of our confined water dives, so that we would be able to go on our first open water dives the following day. One of my favorite funny moments of the day was when my bike broke before even making it out of the shed. It was nice to see how other students would help each other when their bikes broke down on their way to the saddle by fixing their chains. It was also nice to see how other fellow students would offer to carry other people’s gear because some bikes don’t have baskets. On our exploration time, some students discovered their candy limits at the marina store, while others stayed on campus and listened to music or went to the current cut to watch nurse sharks and other aquatic life.
Students Silvie and Shelton feeling the SCUBA love
We are both very thankful for receiving this opportunity and responsibility. Thank you Shelton and Mireille for choosing us as caciques. Best wishes to the future leaders of the Island School Summer Term 2016. Adam and Zoe, signing off.
Hello everybody! This is Mireille and Shelton. Yesterday we were chosen as the first caciques of the term which is such an honor for us. Hearing the word cacique may first bring up an image of quiche as it did for some of us, but a cacique is actually another word for leader. Many centuries ago, before Columbus arrived in the Americas, there were the Lucayans who migrated from South America. Their communities functioned well under the wings of their cacique, a wise and humble tribe member who put others before themself.
Summer Term 2016 group shot!
We have all arrived safe and happy at the Island School. We can’t begin to tell you the amount of joy and anticipation that was felt when we learned of all the things we would do on the first days. Orientation was filled with amazing adventure: we woke up at 6:30 AM and went snorkeling at a wreck site where we learned of Cat’s (one of our teachers) fondness for donkey dungs AKA Sea Cucumbers. On the second day we got a taste of Bahamian weather with awesome thunderstorms and rain. Following the storm we went to a sand bar where we learned about oodic sand, how it is formed, and how exfoliating it can be. another highlight was defiantly doing dishes while rocking out to great music.
Rockin’ out on dishcrew
Now we have split up into two groups, Tigers and Hammers, and we’ll be working on getting our Scuba certification as well as exploring more of the island on South Eleuthera road trips. Tigers, who are doing the South Eleuthera road trip, started their morning with the first run swim, a great experience in which everyone cheered on their buddies. Hammers started their morning today with going to the boat house to get ready for their scuba learning. Everyone is ready to start this week with a bang and we are all so excited to be here.
Summer Term 2016 Teachers
We are Mireille and Shelton, your caciques, signing off.
Maddie Hawk from the Spring 2010 Island School recently graduated from DePauw University with a double major in English (literature) and film studies. She was a member of Phi Beta Kappa, the Moarter Board and spent a semester abroad in Copenhagen, Denmark followed by a summer at Yonsei University in Seoul, South Korea as a research intern. She has also taught English and American culture skills to refugee immigrants in the Indianapolis area as an intern for Exodus Refugee Immigration.
Most notably however, Maddie has received word that she is the recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship and will spend the 2016-2017 academic year in South Korea teaching English. Sponsored by the U.S. Department of State and established in 1946, the Fulbright U.S. Student Program competition aims to increase mutual understanding nations through educational and cultural exchange while serving as a catalyst for long-term leadership development.
When asked to reflect on her time at The Island School, Maddie responded with:
“The Island School prepared me to immerse in any culture I might find myself in, which is imperative to being a cultural ambassador. Through community outreach programs, I knew how to engage with younger children and work with them in an extracurricular setting. I remember Island School and my time there fondly. Just the other day, I was talking to my friends about SCUBA diving and reflecting on night diving and how amazing it was. I think that Island School prepared me for Fulbright in a number of ways. I’ve studied abroad three times, and Island School was the catalyst for it all. I never would have gone to South Korea or Denmark on my own without believing in myself. I can’t put into words how my time at Island School affected me, changed me. It prepared me to be an adult, taught me independence, self-sustainability, and gave me the confidence to tackle everything that is thrown at me. I don’t think I would have applied for a Fulbright without the Island School behind me. I approach the world differently, more openly. I remember one time, walking through the Eleuthera community, being completely un-phased by the many men carrying machetes. One family stopped a group of friends and me, offering to let us watch them skin a dead pig. I didn’t hesitate to say yes. I approached the situation openly, watching with rapt curiosity at a way of life so contrasting my own. The Island School granted me a confidence and security in myself, something that developed my comfort at approaching the world differently and seeing things through different perspectives. This mentality aligns perfectly with the mentality of a Fulbright scholar, someone who believes in the exchange of cultures and ideals with an open demeanor. Thank you always, Island School.”
After her Fulbright experience, Maddie plans to continue her studies and pursue a Ph.D. in Film and Cultural Criticism. “My goal is to study how film interacts with culture, but also to explore the Korean film industry deeper as it is something that fascinates me. After my studies, I aspire to be a professor of film, and to begin a Korean cinema studies program at the university I teach.”
Congratulations Maddie! The Island School cannot wait to hear about your adventures in Seoul and beyond!
Last week, Chris and Pam Maxey visited the African Leadership Academy (ALA) in South Africa. They met with founder Chris Bradford and faculty leaders to share ideas for how The Island School can work together with ALA in the future to help define great school leadership. ALA and The Island School are excited to model creative assessments that celebrate mastery and community work that makes a difference.
Narina, Ben and Chris Maxey with the ALA crest
Pam and Chris also reunited with Nirina, Summer Term ’15 and Ben who arrives this week to join Summer Term ’16. Nirina is graduating and taking a GAP year to build a commercial scale aquaponics system back in his home country of Madagascar. Ben is motivated to learn more about our waste to energy systems this summer and how he can bring similar ideas to fruition back home in Gabon.
After a great tour of campus, Nirina shared his senior thesis presentation. During the presentation he asked the audience to practice yoga with him in order to explain his journey at ALA in a unique way. He discussed the importance of balance and learning how to lean on one another and how this was especially true at The Island School.
Nirina and Chris lean on one another in a yoga pose
The Island School aims to be a truly global base camp where young leaders can lean on one another, where they can learn to better understand the opportunities and challenges faced by their generation. Our work with ALA is a strong step forward towards achieving this goal.
DCMS Students watching the live-stream of the Sea Youth Rise Up call-to-action campaign!
DCMS ninth grader, Simeon Bethel, represented The Bahamas today at the Sea Youth Rise Up campaign. This campaign brought seven youth leaders to New York City and Washington, D.C. to present a call-to-action for ocean conservation. Thousands of students across the world, including DCMS seventh, eighth and ninth graders, watched Simeon and his peers streamed live.
This spring, Island School alumna Paityn Wedder (F’15) produced a video project for her high school’s Diversity Week. It focuses on tenants of Positive Psychology, gratitude and its impact on happiness. Watch her classmates’ reactions when she tells them they have had a positive impact on her life.
The project was also covered in an article by a local news source, check it out here! Great work, Paityn.
The Literature Department is proud to announce the latest edition of TIDES, The Island School’s online literary and art magazine with submissions from members from every corner of our community. Check it out here!
As an alum from the most recently completed Island School semester, Fall 2015, Ginny Laurita has already begun to make her mark in the wider world through service. For Ginny and others from her semester, the transition home is in many ways still ongoing. For many, the solution to transitioning back home is to keep busy. This is what Ginny has done and is continuing to do. When Ginny returned home, she “got my license, and threw myself into a school club I joined last year called Interact. Interact is the high school level of the Rotary Club, in which we do community service projects in the community. I began going to meetings, and volunteering for as many events I could participate in as possible.” In February, Ginny began to contemplate her future beyond high school. She “went on a college trip with my friend where we visited six different schools. The process of starting to look at colleges is exciting but also nerve wracking. Lately I have been going back and forth on the idea of doing a gap year. If I were to do one, I know that I would like to go with a purpose.” To fit her goal of working with a purpose, Ginny discovered an opportunity to go to Guatemala with her Interact group to work in Guatemala City for 10 days with a group called Safe Passage.
From the moment that Ginny discovered this opportunity with her club, she was hooked. She knew she had to go. Of course, there was a catch: “When I got back from Island School, the trip to Safe Passage was actually full. The sign up process had already happened, and the group had already begun to fundraise for their trip.” This meant that technically, Ginny was closed out from the opportunity for the year. However, after expressing her interest and dedication to the supervisor and other students on the trip, the group managed to open up a spot for her and she was set to go! The trip really resonated with Ginny because “after living on Eleuthera, I was able to experience the difference that education can bring to a place of poverty, and is part of the reason that going to Guatemala and participating in the efforts of Safe Passage spoke to me so strongly.” Safe Passage, the organization that Ginny’s Interact group would be working with, is located directly near the “Guatemala City dump, which is the largest dump in the area. A huge quarry that is filled with mounds and mounds of garbage, is the source of work for many Guatemalans. This dump used to also be where many lived, and found food, and clothes, until the law was put in place that no one was allowed in the dump during the night.” Naturally, the conditions of such a place are hazardous and unhealthy. Safe Passage serves to provide education, a safe place, and better opportunities for children and families who had formerly worked in the dump.
The Guatemala City dump
While working at Safe Passage, the main goal for Ginny’s Interact group was to be integrated into the daily routine. A lot of time was spent in their “English classes, helping the teachers with activities and games as they learned their numbers, colors, and basic phrases. We worked with children in grades 2 and 3, as well as in middle school.” Ginny was blown away by the “excitement in each child to learn, as well as the energy from each teacher as they made every activity fun and enjoyable for the children. When we came to the school for the first time, and then every time after that, we were all immediately welcomed with hugs, smiles, and laughter. When we would spend recess with them, the amount of energy that each of those tiny children had was both refreshing and exhausting. It was so incredible to see the joy on the faces of these children who have been through so much in their lives.” Ginny firmly believes that she and the other members of the trip had a mutual exchange of knowledge with the children they were working with and that she was absolutely “amazed by was the amount of resilience (Editor’s note: Italics in original)that each of these children had.” The Interact club brought a project of their own which was to make puppets and decorate them with the children. The puppets were well received and Ginny was happy to see that “the kids all loved them, and it brought us all so much joy to be able to bring this light into their lives that have so much dark.”
Ginny making puppets with two Guatemalan children
In addition to working with the children, Safe Passage also works with the adults in the community. The program is called Creamos (creation) and culminates with the adults receiving a high school diploma. They are taught how to do accounting and learn English. One program for the mothers in particular, focuses on teaching them accounting alongside making jewelry that then goes into a store that these women are taught how to run. It was clear to Ginny how “hard working they all are, and how much they care for their families. These mothers were able to go to school, for the first time for some, and get an education that will open up a whole world of opportunities for both themselves and their children.” For all the good that Ginny and her Interact group were doing, they could not possibly help everyone who was living near that dump in Guatemala City. This was overwhelming at times because they were aware of the scale of help that was truly needed to benefit everyone, but, Ginny was greatly impressed by the resiliency demonstrated by everyone that she met in the city and thinks that, of all the people she met there, that they are “some of the strongest, most kind-hearted people I have ever met, and I believe that having the chance to meet them, and experience their lives, widened my worldview in a way I am still realizing even now.”
Looking ahead to the future, Ginny has quite a few plans and aspirations in mind. She has begun to tour colleges on the East Coast and plans to continue doing just that so she can get her bearings when it comes to what she wants in a school. She is thinking of doing a gap year and using that process to travel and get to know herself better. As a direct result of her travels to Guatemala, she has begun the process of partially sponsoring a child named Cristina in order to continue her connection with the program. Ginny has been bitten by the travel bug this year with her time at The Island School and in Guatemala and is looking forward to many more adventures in the future.
In closing, Ginny had a series of shout outs and thank yous that she wanted to send out to everyone:
I would like to thank everyone at The Island School who I met, and who made those the best 100 days of my life. I truly believe that each and every one there made my experience what it was, and I cannot thank The Island School enough for creating such a magical, challenging, environment where students can come to learn and thrive in the most amazing and supportive place. I’d especially like to make a shout out to S4 for one of my favorite experiences at The Island School, I think our group, and memories on that trip are ones I will remember my whole life. Also girl’s dorm, for being so supportive when I was going through all the medical challenges I faced, and for becoming a family that we will all have forever. I’d like to thank my advisory, for awesome advisory outings, and a big shout out to Kat for getting me through the challenges I faced over those 100 days. I want to thank everyone who makes The Island School possible, and for giving me and all other students an experience to try new things, to meet new people that both have pushed and excited me for what might come next.
Ginny, from all of us at The Island School, we wish you the best of luck and hope that one day your adventures might lead you back on our campus!
During eight-day expedition rotations this spring, students Emily Bhatt, Annika Goldman and Josie Cummings put together this whimsical tour of campus. Enjoy!
An advisory checking out “The Loop”
Learning to Explore!
Students Silvie and Shelton feeling the SCUBA love
