On the way to the ruins	Cat at the ruins

The excitement this week started on Thursday with a history trip to an old plantation site. After piling into and shortly thereafter out of the vans we hiked, and sometimes jogged, from the west side of the island to the east. After having a simple breakfast of Cornflakes and a "leave no trace" inspection by Chris Maxey (which led to pushups for every dropped flake), we checked out the ruins. There were three major structures; one that seemed to be a kitchen, another that was most likely the main house, and the last may have been a barn or slave quarters. Within in these "super cool" structures we also found many pieces of pottery. Some were very simple white pieces, while others had intricate blue patterns. We are really excited about these because they may help us determine how old the sight is.

Sitting down for Thanksgiving dinner	Green Castle Junkanoo

The energy of the week went full steam ahead with Thanksgiving on Thursday. Shira, Kat Hiller, and various other students went all out and decorated the dinning hall with candles and palm fronds, making our Thanksgiving candlelight and completely unique to The Island School. No one will ever forget the way we all felt when Laura read out a list of all the things we were thankful for. We ended the night stuffed full of pie and very at peace.

The thrills went on with a trip to the Green Castle Homecoming and a surprise Junkanoo performance by us. We bedecked ourselves in colorful hats and skirts and danced, cowbelled, and drummed ourselves silly yet again. After our moment in the spotlight we wandered around the various booths and ate conch fritters and real ice cream.

Gretchen running into Deep Creek	Allison, Amanda and Molly

After the high of Friday night we settled down and began to prepare for the semi annual Island School 13 mile (yes that's half a marathon) Deep Creek run. On Sunday morning we were all at morning circle more or less bright eyed and bushy-tailed and rearing to go. We scrambled out of the driveway in one large mass soon to be spread apart along the long road. Each of us competed with personal preconceived limits and found that we could overcome them and coerce our bodies to do an amazing feat.

Soon after coming home, yet still while tendering sore legs, we began work on our final research papers. The entirety of Tuesday night and Wednesday afternoon was given to huddling around a computer screen, looking frantically through reference papers, and becoming extremely hyper. Miraculously enough at 6:00 PM (for the most part) on Wednesday evening, all research papers were turned in for the last time.

Overall this week had been filled with excitement and challenge. We have all overcome great obstacles and had a ton of fun.

Catherine Brayton
Andrea Loffler
Townsend Ambrecht
Gretchen Goodwrich
Gordan Gussenhoven
Chloe Islam