Tag Archives: alumni
15 Year T-Shirts on Sale Now!
The Island School is celebrating its 15 year anniversary this year and a few weeks ago, we asked for your help in choosing the design for our commemorative 15 year celebration t-shirts. Thanks to your votes, and collaboration with Fall 1999 alumni Thatcher Spring and Barrett Summerlin, the t-shirts are now available for purchase online!
The t-shirts are being sold through Thatcher and Barrett’s startup, GearLaunch, which lets individuals and organizations design and sell custom apparel to their audiences with no upfront costs or distribution challenges. The shirts are from Recover Brands, the same company that prints and distributes our uniform t-shirts. All of their apparel is created from 100% recycled materials.
The shirts are only being sold for one month so act fast and help us celebrate 15 years of The Island School by rocking one of these limited edition t-shirts!
Alumni Spotlight: Charlotte Rand (F’01)!
Although it has been over 12 years since Charlotte Rand’s semester at The Island School, the Fall 2001 alumna’s current career path remains directly related to her experience on the Cape. After high school, Charlotte went to University of Colorado for her undergraduate degree and then got a Masters in Natural Resources from University of Connecticut. Afterwards, they hired her to start and run Natural Resources Conservation Academy, a program that gets young kids involved in environmental science, authentic research and land use planning in their own communities. NRCA is now in its third year of operation. The program is similar to The Island School in that their emphasis is on field-based experiential science learning. You can see some of the student projects here. Charlotte was recently accepted into an environmental law program so she will be leaving NRCA this coming summer. Congratulations, Charlotte!
Mitigating the Threats of Invasive Alien Species in the Insular Caribbean (MTIASIC) Project video competition
Island School communications assistant and IS alumnus Will Strathmann (F’08) created this video on the invasive species of lionfish for the Mitigating the Threats of Invasive Alien Species in the Insular Caribbean (MTIASIC) Project video competition. Please enjoy the video while we await results from the competition!
Alumni Newsletter
Every year we send out a newsletter to our Island School alumni, highlighting things happening on campus and alumni spotlights sent to us by our amazing Island School graduates. We sent out the winter 2014 edition of the annual Alumni Newsletter today–be sure to check it out!
Alumni Spotlight: Jean Fernando (Su’13)
Last summer, the African Leadership Academy (ALA) sent a student to The Island School Summer Term, Jean Fernando. ALA is a member of our City Bride Program, which connects inner city schools to The Island School and gives them the chance to step out into a whole new world. City Bridge was born out of The Island School’s dedication to expanding our program’s reach and making it available to anyone who wants to apply. Our partnership with the African Leadership Academy is particularly special because it is our first City Bridge connection outside of the US or Bahamas.
We recently received an update from Jean who is so inspired by his learnings and experiences at The Island School, that collaborated with four ALA peers to create a fully functioning organic farm that produces vegetables for the community. Check out the video on their project:
Fall 2009 Alumnae Reconnect in South Africa!
Despite living only 2 hours away from each other back home in Massachusetts, it took Liza Morse (F’09) and Maggie Schneider (F’09) four years and thousands of miles away from home to finally reunite for the first time since their Island School semester. Through Facebook, they realized that they both were spending their fall semester abroad in South Africa and arranged to meet up at a farmers market in Cape Town!
Have you reunited with any fellow Island Schoolers lately? If so, we want to know! Email alumni@islandschool.org with any photos or stories!
Alumni Spotlight: Hanna Koch (F’06)
Fall 2006 alumna, Hanna Koch recently launched a new business venture called Philanshopit, an online storefront committed to selling products from partners who “have a clear social impact statement in their mission.” This socially responsible idea was initially thought up by Hanna’s co-founder, Aubrey Cox, during their time at College of Charleston. After graduation, Aubrey pursued a career in international development, knowing that one day she would eventually bring the idea of Philanshopit to life. Aubrey shared her vision with Hanna a few months ago and it took off from there. With Hanna’s background in communications and Aubrey’s in business, it was a perfect match.
The two joined forces to create a business plan and bring to fruition what is now Philanshopit. The site launched only 3 months later in November and they have new sustainable and philanthropic partners joining Philanshopit everyday. Hanna attributes The Island School to helping cultivate her interest in environmental issues and international development that led to this project. You can read more about their story here. If you are looking to knock some friends or family off your Christmas shopping list, Philanshopit is a great place to start.
Congratulations, Hanna on the launch and good luck in the future!
Maxey With Alumni at GFA
Chris Maxey visited Greens Farms Academy this morning and met up with the 5 Island School alumni who attend the Westport, CT school. During his visit, Maxey challenged the IS alumni to participate in a fundraising effort to raise $500. If they achieve that goal, The Island School will match them $500, which is enough money to purchase a solar suitcase from We Care Solar. Together, the IS alumni at GFA will assemble the suitcase and send it to a hospital in an area of need in Africa. To learn more about We Care Solar and the challenge, click here.
Island School-Inspired Halloween Costume!
Shout out to Noelle Anderson (S’13) for her incredibly creative Halloween costume. She’s a conch shell! Thanks for sharing, Noelle! Did you wear an Island School-inspired Halloween costume this year? Send us your photos to alumni@islandschool.org
