A Once in a Lifetime Chance By S. Lucas

Last Saturday, March 4, my fellow students and I encountered a once in a lifetime chance to save a whale. We were on our first field trip up the island of Eleuthera and heard that there was a beached whale about an hour north of where we were. Being the helpful, environmentally conscious adolescents we are, we hopped in our trusty Island School vans and putt-putted up to a small beach on the leeward side of the island. By the time we had arrived the sun had already set but, luckily, there was still enough light to see. We ran down the beach full of about forty natives and curious onlookers eager to see what had happened. Tony, one of our rough and tough science teachers, who had previously arrived and had been scheming as to the best course of action, halted us. Chris Maxey, the esteemed founder of this wonderful school, splashed in beside Tony and together they approached the whale. To us on the beach it was a dark shape in about 3 feet of water, about 25 feet offshore. Supposedly the whale had been there since 10:00 that morning. There had been some progress made by some locals pulling it out from shore a little on a tarp. We were all very anxious to help and expressed our desire to do so. Much to our chagrin Tony and Chris declined at first. This was perhaps because they did not want the responsibility of 31 confused, excited adolescents floundering about in addition to the great problem they faced. Eventually, after attempts to move the whale using a tarp that had been placed under its belly, they gave in and decided to take several volunteers. When Chris asked for a few of the strongest to help, all seven of the students currently in the water went into a frenzy of shouting and demanded to be allowed to help. Finally, seeing the impossibility of only a few volunteers Chris gave the OK to whosoever desired to help. This was an amazing invitation for me because I had my right arm in a cast and was terrified that my assistance might have been declined. We ran out, followed by a few other students on shore and attempted to turn the whale 180 degrees so that it was facing out to sea. The 50 ft. Fin back whale proved to be a challenge. But as more students joined our strained efforts, progress was slowly made. I scanned the water and cheered on my comrades for the twenty minutes we struggled with the whale. Eventually every one of us was out there and pulling with all their might. Miraculously the whale turned and little by little (with several contributions made on my part towards the end) we rotated it a complete 180 degrees. It was by this time completely dark and time to call the quits. We all realized that this was the most we could do. Hopefully, as the tide came in the whale would be enabled to swim out, into deeper water, and eventually away. W e regrouped at the vans surrounded by the retiring spectators and changed out of our soaked clothing. We hopped back in and drove back to the school, with a stop at one of the few pizza places on the island. We arrived back with a communal sense of pride . We had accomplished something few ever could, and were all the better for it.

The Launching of Our New boat In God We Troust

On March 8 we launched our "new" dive boat (its actually about 7 years old), christened In God We Troust. No I didn't forget to spellcheck- it is supposed to be Troust. We were trying to recreate an important scene from the book we are currently reading, the epic poem Omeros by Derek Walcott, in which the main character's boat is blessed by a priest and named by the character himself. We had a local Bahamian preacher, Farmer Brown, come to bless the boat and see it off into the water. He told us it was an old Abaco boat, and that he had memories of working with them when he was a boy. Farmer Brown is an old, white haired man who runs the Baptist church in Weymss Bight. He has done many things in his lifetime, and, after the launching of the boat, he sat with us for about an hour telling of some of the things he had done. He told us of his grandparents who were slaves on a plantation here, and of working in the tomato fields, of being asked to be a deacon at age fifteen, and of his twenty children. We began the launching of the boat by painting In God We Troust on the bow of the boat, and the Island School logo on the stern. With a group effort, we pushed the boat to the water's edge and stood around it and Farmer Brown as he recited a prayer he had written for the occasion. Standing there, under the pine trees, among the conch middens, we were able to envision the scene from Omeros. It was a very meaningful and spiritual experience for me, and for everyone else I am sure. After the blessing, and another group push, In God We Troust was in the water. Chris Maxey and Daryl started up the outboard engine and took a victory lap. We all cheered for our new boat and hoped that it would be "seaworthy and trustworthy" as Farmer Brown deemed it.

The christening of In God We Troust	Tami adds her expertise

Island School Challenges Windermere

On Saturday, the 4th of March, Island School traveled to Windermere High School for their annual carnival. While there, we challenged the highest ranked team on the island (Windermere) to a game of basketball. A great effort was put out by all of the Island School. Very few members of our team had previous basketball experience (see picture of confused girls for evidence). Fellow student Dan Cambria coached our team; he made it possible for every student who wished to play to have playing time. The final score of the game is not known for sure, we do know that we were severely defeated. Despite this huge upset, we all had a very good time during the game. We had not set out to win this game, for we had been informed of the other schools reputation. We were all prepared to go out there and give it our best, and just have a good time. It was a good experience for the whole school to get out in to the community and be exposed to other people our age. The whole day was one full of fun and excitement, when we returned to campus exhausted and ready for bed.

Every Wednesday approximately thirty-seventh grade students from the surrounding middle schools come to The Island School to learn about conservation and other skills. Each Island School student is matched up with one or two seventh graders and is given a topic. The different subjects we are teaching are Nearshore Environment, Mangroves, Beach Pollution, and Computers. In the Nearshore environment groups, we bring the kids into the water and teach them snorkeling as well as helping them to identify a variety of types of coral, algae, sea creatures, and fish. In the Mangroves rotation, the kids learn about the importance of mangroves as a prevention of erosion, and an important habitat for organisms. In the Beach Pollution class, kids learn to clean up the trash on the beaches; they are also taught that littering is harmful to their environment. While studying computers, the kids learn the basic skills, such as turning the computers on and off, opening a Word document, and typing a letter or a paper. Each student meets with the same Bahamian kids every week, and by the end of the semester, our goal is to have created bonds with the Bahamian children as well as to have been a positive role models and teachers so the future of Eleuthera will be in good hands.