When we unveiled our updated Island School logo last fall, we also got to work on updating the Island School uniform to match. In fact, it was two Island School alumni who really got the ball rolling. During their Fall 2012 semester, Ryan Schendel and Jake Varsano decided to take on this daunting task as their Human Ecology final project. Determined to not only live, but also wear, The Island School’s mission to live well in a place, they began to contact vendors and test products. By the end of the Fall 2012 semester, they finally found their match in Recover Brands, a small eco-clothing start-up based out of Asheville, North Carolina that shares our same devotion to conserving the environment. We are excited to announce our partnership with Recover Brands, and introduce their products, made from 100% recycled apparel. We also continue to be proud of our students’ efforts to be leaders effecting change, especially once they leave The Island School.

“Jake and I saw an opportunity to apply the sustainability factor of The Island School campus to the clothing we wear – this was a chance to take responsibility of the origins of our uniforms and campus clothes and recognize the impact our clothes had on the environment. I think the project was and will continue to be successful because now Island School students can be proud of the clothes they wear every day because they know the story, know their environmental footprint, and see a continuation of the campus sustainability from the moment they put their shirt on.

As for me, I know after I got my Recover IS shirt, it reminded me of our sustainable campus. Every time I put it on at home, I remember how it’s different from my other shirts, and it reminds me of Island School’s sustainability. I think it’s important in the future for IS students to learn about Recover and their clothing, just like when we got a campus tour of our sustainable systems. This way, their IS clothing can have an impact, just like it does for me.” –Ryan Schendel F’12

“I am proud to say this new clothing brings The Island School another step closer to its mission of sustainability. I hope our project inspires future students to aim their projects towards something they feel passionate about and are confident will help improve our campus, allowing it to be the best model of sustainability possible. I would also like to note the efforts that were put in on campus by all who helped once Ryan and I went home. To quote Maxey, ‘It is not about the guy with the idea, it is about the guy who recognizes the idea and helps run with it.’ Well, something like that. It is time that we started wearing our mission!” –Jake Varsano F’12

If your wardrobe needs updating, or your old Island School t-shirt needs replacing, visit the new online store: http://www.recoverbrands.com/store/category/the-island-school.

]]> http://blog.islandschool.org/2012/12/17/fall-2012-lunch-in-boston/feed/ 0 http://blog.islandschool.org/2012/11/06/zombie-morning-exercise/ http://blog.islandschool.org/2012/11/06/zombie-morning-exercise/#comments Tue, 06 Nov 2012 20:58:48 +0000 http://islandschool.wordpress.com/?p=7723 The students were in for quite a surprise during morning exercise the day after Halloween. Instead of a normal run-swim, they were greeted by ZOMBIES all along the way…

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Hello! We are team Patch! On this research project we are looking at the spatial and temporal abundance of fish species in Eleuthera, here in the Bahamas. Patch reefs are transitional juvenile habitats for fish after their early life in mangroves. One of the main reasons we are conducting this research, is to see if it is necessary that an MPA be established near Cape Eleuthera, based upon the fish population and habitat trends in the area. We hypothesize that patch reefs will have a higher fish biomass the closer they are to mangroves, there will be an increase in lionfish (an invasive species), and that in general the fish populations will be similar to past years because there has been little change in fishing regulations. Over the past month or so we have been learning all about patch reefs and their inhabitants. When we go out in the field we count the number of different fish species. Nathaniel and Maggie are in charge of parrotfish, wrasse, stingrays, and sharks and Sam, Lanti, and Korinna are in charge of angelfish, butterfly fish, surgeonfish, squirrelfish, groupers, and lionfish. We count and size the fish in our specific group as well as taking other measurements of the reef. We photograph the algae vs. coral coverage and measure length, width, depth, and rugosity (which is a measure of how complex the coral structure is).

We all have been having a great time out snorkeling in the sea, and are all experts at identifying fish. We can’t wait to see the results of our study and present our information at Parents’ Weekend and the Research Symposium later in the year!

Sea turtles are on the endangered species Red List. The most common species of turtle found in the Bahamas is the green turtle, which we are studying. Previous studies in the Bahamas have included nutrition, grazing, growth rates, and abundance, but none have been conducted on Eleuthera. Our study is currently being conducted just north of Rock Sound in Half Sound, on the Atlantic side of the island. The purpose of our study is to investigate the abundance, size, and distribution of green sea turtles in Half Sound and our hypothesis is that areas with an abundance of sea grass will have dense turtle populations. We have two main methods that we’ve used so far in order to catch these turtles. The first is by boat, in which we take a small skiff to Half Sound. We ride with a spotter at the bow, two swimmers sitting ready at with fins, mask and a snorkel on either side of the boat behind the spotter. When a turtle is spotted, we follow the turtle in the boat until it comes up three times for air. After its third breath we send a swimmer after the turtle until they can scoop it up under its flippers. We then bring the turtle back to the boat where we measure, weigh, tag, and release it. The second method we have used is netting. We place a net in shallow water, and then try to herd the turtles to the net where we can again measure, weigh, tag, and release them. By dividing Half Sound into six zones, we will be able to answer some of our questions through capture-mark-recapture. We are looking forward to answering some of our study’s questions and gaining more knowledge about sea turtles in the Bahamas and how we can protect them. Go team turtle!

In our math classes this past week, we have been learning about the cisterns around campus that store our water. We learned about the five cisterns underneath buildings that we are currently using as well as a cistern underneath a building under construction on campus that will shortly be put into use. Water is a resource that we use everyday at The Island School, and it is really interesting to learn how the cisterns work, and how our individual water use affects the entire water supply.

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At first, the idea of measuring our useable water based on the amount of rain, capacity of cisterns, and surface areas of roofs was a whole new concept to me, something that I had never thought of before. In our math classes, we talked about how daily rainfall multiplied by the surface area of the roofs that drain into the cisterns is the total volume of the cistern, but not the total useable water in the cisterns because we aren’t actually able to use all of the water in a cistern. The amount of useable water being different from the amount of total waster was really confusing to me at first, but last Friday, we went to the new building and in small groups, went into and measured the dimensions of the new cisterns and were able to see all of the pipes going into and out of the cisterns. Although I understood that there is a pipe that pumps water out of the cisterns, and we can’t use water underneath this pipe, it wasn’t until I was inside the new cistern and able to see the water level compared to the height of the outlet pipe that I understood what we were talking about in class.

The opportunity to go inside the cistern changed my perspective on water usage on campus. When we were inside the cistern, we were able to picture what it means when they say we have 60 percent water remaining. I was able to visualize what it means when there is 70 inches of water in the cistern. Now that I have been inside the cisterns and understand more about the way water works on campus, I am more conscious of the water that I am using, and hope that my classmates are as well.