A notable announcement during the welcoming remarks came from Minister Kenred Dorsett, Minister of the Environment. He explained that the newly amended Electricity Act now makes it legal for the public to connect their houses, schools, and businesses, to the grid for credit through alternative energy! We have been doing this for years on campus but the fact that it is now legal is a huge step in the right direction for energy use in the Bahamas.

The Preston H. Albury High School (PHAHS) Eco club, originally inspired by Kristal Ambrose, former plastic researcher and education coordinator at CSD, is working hard to become a green flag certified Eco School. Our continued support for this club gives DCMS alumni at PHAHS and former DCMS teacher, Will Simmons, much appreciated support in this endeavor.

The summit was a huge success for BREEF and our participation played a pivotal role in the event. We look forward to collaborating with BREEF, PHAHS, and future Eco Schools in Eleuthera for the next summit in 2017!

Sahara Lewis: Horizons

Sahara is a passionate break dancer from Connecticut. Her dedication and discipline to overcome challenges has lead Sahara to The Island School. The Tourism and Development course includes traveling around the island and several adventurous activities, such as jumping from a cliff into a Bahamian ocean hole and descending far into a limestone cave system. Her teachers have noted an amazing flash of emotions that passes over Sahara’s face – from a moment of stepping out of her comfort zone, to her grinning and bearing the challenge, and then to her enthusiastic “jumping in” – all in an instant. Sahara has been fearless at The Island School.

Abraham Martey: African Leadership Academy

Abraham joins us at The Island School from Ghana. This trilingual student is currently enrolled in the African Leadership Academy and was nationally recognized as the “Most Innovative Student in Ghana”. He has already established himself as a leader at home by founding and managing a self-sustaining student-run poultry and rabbit farm in Ghana. Abraham’s farm helps fund a NGO he founded, “Reach the Children”, which provides school infrastructure and supplies to underprivileged students near his home. At The Island School, Abraham hopes to gain more skills on how to establish environmental protection policies in his home country. His teachers have all noted his ability to step up as a leader on campus and have been impressed with his dedication to learn to swim while taking detailed his field notes in Marine Ecology class.

Adrian Gutierrez: College Track

Adrian’s first trip in an airplane was from his home in San Francisco to Eleuthera for our Summer Term program. In San Francisco, Adrian’s life is centered around basketball, school and church. He is strongly committed to community service and has helped build a prenatal center, works at his local food back, and even started a petition for Darfur. Adrian has carried his ability to care for others with him to Eleuthera. All of his teachers have expressed that he is perfect example of how to be a community member at The Island School.

Celeste Adderley: Long Island Scholar

Celeste is a native Bahamian from Long Island. As a role model in Long Island, she received the Governor General’s Youth Award for her outstanding talents in science and desire to understand the world around her. Her current teachers at The Island School describe Celeste as a future marine biologist who helps provide a strong local perspective in class. She is continuing to learn more about her world underwater as she dives for the first time ever!

Elijah Banks: Eagle Academy Foundation

Coming from New York City, Elijah was eager to jump right into things that were completely unknown to him. As an aspiring marine biologist, Elijah was especially excited to scuba dive and learn more about the world underwater. At home, Elijah is a dedicated community member. He tutors middle school students and provides entertainment and activities for residents at a senior home. At The Island School, Elijah redesigned a plot of land on campus to include edible plants and a Hibiscus arrangement spelling “Summer 14″.

Rebecca Stratchen: BREEF

Rebecca is an exemplary Bahamian student from Abaco who has earned a government sponsored academic scholarship to attend Acadia University in Canada. When in high school, Rebecca developed her passion for the science and hopes to contribute to current research on alternative energy sources. At The Island School, Rebecca brought a unique local perspective to discussions on fishing and marine conservation. She is especially excited to bring her permaculture site design back home to her mom. Rebecca left The Island School a few days early to compete in a Judo Championship in Florida. We wish her the best of luck!

Kaven Marte: Quest for Excellence NYC

Kaven’s journey to The Island School began when he left his small hometown in the Dominican Republic to pursue better educational opportunities in NYC. Kaven’s curiosity in his academics have led him to want to pursue a career in engineering.  At The Island School, Kaven is the most enthusiastic student during early morning circle and greets everyone with a warm welcoming each day.

Loth Oltukai: Hidden Hearts

Loth has made the long journey to The Island School from his home in Tanzania. In the wake of his father’s passing, Loth has stepped up to assume family responsibilities for his 8 siblings. While caring for his family, Loth also serves as an African Leadership Academy Global Scholar Ambassador with an avid passion for aviation engineering. At The Island School, he continues to push his curiosity and challenges himself to do things he has never done. His teachers use swimming as an example of his determination: having never been in clear water, Loth continues to push himself to learn to swim, snorkel, and enjoy the marine environment around him.

Marquis Rolle: BREEF

Marquis is a local student from the island of Inagua. He has grown up working on his grandfather’s farm and volunteering with the Bahamian National Trust. At The Island School, Marquis is learning more about these skills and how to care for the environment around him. He has been an invaluable voice in his class discussions with his personal knowledge of the Bahamian culture and local plants. His comfort with classroom materials and topics allows Marquis to take the lead and guide his peers to dive further into the local Bahamian environment.

Malik Simon: KIPP Houston

Malik is a student who is constantly pushing himself. As a young boy, he would steal his mom’s friend’s law school books which has giving him his own desire to become a lawyer. He has challenged himself to play basketball at a higher level, plays chess against himself, and is teaching himself guitar! He carries this dedication with him at The Island School. He was the first leader of the day to be chosen by his classmates. He has been noted to be one of the most welcoming students and makes an effort to explore every person within community.

If you are interested to learn more about the City Bridge program, please contact Mary Assini at maryassini@islandschool.org. If you would like to support our City Bridge program, please visit our giving page here.

To mark their continued relationship of support, AML Foods, through their Solomon’s Fresh Market Brand presented the Bahamas Environmental Steward Scholar program (BESS) with a $5,000 donation. Renea Knowles, Vice President of Marketing and Communications for AML Foods, presented the check to a grateful group of scholarship award recipients and partners, which included Franchesca Bethell and Cristina Roberts 2012 BESS students Trueranda Cox, (BESS alumnae 2010), Garneisha Pinder (BESS alumnae 2010), Charlene Carey, Environmental Educator at BREEF, and Kalin Griffin, Chief of Staff at The Island School.

Solomon’s Fresh Market demonstrates its dedication to fostering environmentally friendly practices and community service through its second year of charitable support of the BESS program. Donations that support BESS scholarship opportunities connect conservation organizations throughout The Bahamas by bridging education and service of young Bahamians in support of a national conservation movement.

“At Solomon’s Fresh Market our mission is to support healthy living and contribute to the community that we live in, while helping to preserve our environment for future generations. The Island School has a similar pledge and we are proud to be able to once again partner with them and assist the school in their efforts of educating our youth in this most important field” said Renea Knowles.

High School graduates, awarded BESS scholarships, spend a GAP year attending the Cape Eleuthera Island School’s semester program. Island School students engage in academic and personal growth while learning critical concepts of environmental research, leadership, community service and global citizenship. BESS students spend the other half of their year in the field serving one of a partnership of Bahamian conservation organizations including the Bahamas Reef Environmental Education Foundation (BREEF), the Bahamas National Trust, The Nature Conservancy, and Friends of the Environment.

“BESS has provided tremendous opportunities for Bahamian students to engage in real life conservation work. Many of our BESS students are engaged in field studies and research of national significance with the Department of Marine Resources, Cape Eleuthera Institute and The Bahamas National Trust which will help us achieve our national conservation goals,” said Charlene Carey, Environmental Educator at BREEF.

On my return from a semester of studying Buddhism and Plant Taxonomy at the College of Charleston I received an email offering me an opportunity to go to China and study Biogas production at the BIOMA institute. At first I was filled with disbelief and then excitement took its place. This course that the Chinese Government offered for two Bahamian students would include people from other developing countries like Dominica, Columbia, Ghana, Niger, Venezuela, Nepal, Tanzania, and others. The last time I heard about biogas production was at the Island School while I was mentoring students during its first summer semester as the first stages of their bio digestion project began. The first time I was exposed to the concept of producing methane gas from organic wastes like sewage and agricultural by-products must have been in some documentary or reading that is now only a foggy memory. I had no idea that I would get a chance to gain a technical understanding of how these systems work from such seasoned practitioners as the professors of the BIOMA Institute who had taught 47 of these courses previously. With my goal of improving the sustainability of the Bahamian lifestyle in mind I could hardly imagine all the benefits of two young scientists being exposed to such a program, and for 56 days!

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One of the benefits I could imagine was an improved waste treatment system to reduce eutrophication of our reef ecosystems due to the “soak away” systems conventionally used on our islands. Another was the ability to produce methane gas on family islands reducing their dependence on and importation of propane gas for cooking fuel. The course would be worthwhile even if a bio-digester simply provided a use for all the food “waste” that would be discarded otherwise, even though it was originally imported at a high economic and environmental cost when it was considered useful food. The immense responsibility of implementing such systems made this opportunity a great honor, and one I could not turn down no matter how much anxiety I felt.

Now here I am in China after having my eyes opened to the practicality, beauty, and necessity of economically, socially and environmentally sustainable systems at the Island School. Although I am intimidated by the qualifications of my classmates my experiences as an intern at the Cape Eleuthera Institute (CEI) add to my confidence in this research oriented setting. After working with the Bahamas Reef Environment Educational Foundation (BREEF) I am excited about the challenge of encouraging the implementation of small scale bio-digestion systems in any practical application in the Bahamas. I just hope I can live up to the expectations of my fellow Bahamians, and the others who have invested their time and resources in my education and the development of sustainable systems our country as I act as an ambassador of my government on this course and when I return to our shores.

Thinking of Home,

Bradley Watson

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Here is a detailed account from Alannah of her experience at the Youth Leaders Luncheon:

“Along with his buzzing entourage of assistants and photographers, Prince Harry made his way around the room, visiting each table that represented various clubs and organizations, shook hands with each member and had a short but sweet conversation. Finally he approached our table, I’m certain that both Tru and I held our breaths. From left to right he shook our hands, asking our name and what we were about. When he got to Tru, it was almost like he had dialed an automated answering machine! Tru spat out the textbook version of the BREEF mission and the work we have done in the community. After about 30 seconds of large words moving at 100mph, the baffled Prince politely interrupted Tru and said, “I’m sorry, I’m not a very clever lad, could you please start over, but go a little slower…Uhh, what is BREEF?” The table laughed at Prince Harry’s modest remark as Tru collected herself and recited a more relaxed version of what BREEF is about. Prince Harry was quite impressed and encouraged us to continue our advocacy.”

We are so proud (and jealous!) of you all.

Yesterday The Bahamas Reef Environment Educational Foundation (BREEF) and The Ministry of Tourism organized a ceremony to recognize Deep Creek Middle School’s achievement of Green Flag certification.  Green Flag Certification is an international recognition, which is awarded to eco-friendly schools committed to environmental education and performance.

During the ceremony, Hyacinth Winder Pratt, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Tourism and Aviation, congratulated the students for being a game changer as the first school in The Bahamas and the region to receive such an honor. She also recognized their commitment as an important contribution to preserving The Bahamas’ number one draw for tourism, the beautiful beaches, clean water, and environment. She went on to encourage the students to promise that they would get their parents, neighbors, and friends involved with promoting sustainability.

Also in attendance for the ceremony was Director of Sustainable Tourism, Earlston McPhee. “It is a great milestone that you’ve achieved. A small school of this size is setting the pace for the rest of the English speaking Caribbean,” said McPhee.

The DCMS Eco-Club led the school on its journey to receive the Green Flag with pilot projects like the creation of a recycling center where students recycled Capri Sun pouches, plastic bottles, and aluminum cans. The Eco-club also imposed a fine of 50 cent to those students who use styrofoam containers in an effort to eliminate their use and installed fan and light timers to reduce electricity consumption.

“I feel good about what we’ve done. We did a lot of hard work and it paid off,” said Hershal Knowles, president of DCMS Eco-Club. Additional members of the club include Treshae Clark, vice president; Moesha Leary, secretary; Nickeva Griffin, Brittany Gibson, and Jovanna Sands.

On behalf of the PTA of DCMS, Danielle Gibson offered her support to the school and their efforts. “The PTA of DCMS is extremely proud of the accomplishments of the Eco-Club. Their success today is a testament to the leadership and responsible citizenship that is inspired by motto of DCMS. We are excited to see our youth blaze this new trail in sustainability and we commit to encouraging them as they learn and become teachers inspiring this generation to take the helm in preserving our natural environments.”

In her address to the students and guests, DCMS Principal, Dr. Joanna Paul, outlined three key areas that DCMS will build upon to continue their conservation and academic success. Specifically, DCMS is committed to increasing student leadership, sharing knowledge with other schools and teachers throughout The Bahamas, and making their campus a model for sustainability. She also acknowledged Charlene Carey from BREEF for her support in partnering with DCMS to accomplish their Green Flag status.

“It’s monumentous. We want the program to grow and get more schools to sign-up,” said Charlene Carey.