(Deep Creek – Eleuthera)  A school is an important part of a community. In addition to teaching students their academic missions, a school also conveys and teaches the values of society. Many youth learn how to live and act in the world from their school, as well as from their families and other community organizations like churches. Students at Deep Creek Middle School have a particularly great opportunity to become leaders and responsible citizens in their community through a wide range of programs both in and out of the classroom. The individuals coming out of these programs make a new generation of service-minded youth and their efforts are contagious.

The Deep Creek Middle School partners with numerous local and international organizations to give students the chance to tackle real world problems as members in the community. While many of these issues are also addressed in the classroom with an academic focus, the school year is rich with extra-curricular opportunities for leadership and service. On Saturday, September 21, students in the Early Act group of DCMS joined with Rotary International for a day of service at Ocean Hole Park. “We started with just a van of 15 students,” says club advisor and Rotarian, Dr. Joanna Paul. “However, by midday, there were parents, younger siblings and many children from Preston H. Albury who had come by to lend a hand.”

September 21st also marked the 28th anniversary of International Costal Cleanup Day—a day where groups from across the world take action by cleaning their local beaches, while at the same time tallying debris in order to contribute to a world wide data set that determines the major pollutants in marine ecosystems. Last year, the International Coastal Cleanup Day recorded over 2,500 individual cleanup and tally efforts. Though Eleuthera had never taken part in this event before, 64 people gathered at Nort’side Beach to represent The Bahamas in this effort. Students from DCMS rallied parents, siblings, friends and students from The Island School to clean up the beach and catalog debris. On just ¼ mile of beach, the volunteers filled 15 trash bags with marine debris. The DCMS students determined that the major pollutant on Nort’side Beach was plastics. Plastic was more than 700 times as prevalent as other types of debris, with pieces of styrofoam coming in second.

Students from DCMS have also identified single-use plastic as their biggest waste stream at school and began the necessary steps to be “Plastics Free by 2014″.  The elimination plan that they rolled out this month includes a ban on single-use drink bottles and single-use plastic snack wrappers. The students are committed to learning more about the problem of plastics and are partnering with Kristal Ambrose, a researcher at the Cape Eleuthera Institute to gather hard data on the problem so they can better educate their friends and family members. “My Island School buddy goes to boarding school in Massachusetts, but she’s originally from China,” said Eco Club member Marinique Leary, grade 8. “She is going to make posters for beaches and spread the word about preventing plastics pollution back home.”

The global connections are a unique opportunity on an island where tourism and educational tourism brings frequent visitors from around the world. “Our students are lucky to learn new perspectives from visitors to South Eleuthera, but they are also inspired to make change globally and realize that one person on a small island can make a difference internationally,” said Dr. Paul. Recently, a group of 17 high school students from all over the world visited DCMS for a plastics seminar. The seminar was an opportunity for discussions on plastic pollution and how it is affecting the environment and our bodies all around the world. Both the visiting students and DCMS students spent the afternoon at Wemyss Bight beach conducting debris surveys and clean-ups. “It was great to have different ideas about how to handle plastic pollution. I think it was really fun to show the students a native beach and how clean it looks, but then show them how dirty it actually is,” said Eco Club president Zachary Carey, grade nine.
At a time when it seems the environment is spinning out of our control, it is nice to see that there is a younger generation acquiring the skills and knowledge to become leaders affecting change in their communities and beyond. With these well-educated and service-minded individuals, change is on the horizon.

 

About The Deep Creek Middle School

The Deep Creek Middle School (DCMS) is an independent school for Bahamian students in grades seven through nine. The mission of the school is “teaching the future leaders of The Bahamas.”  Deep Creek Middle School works collaboratively with The Island School and Cape Eleuthera Institute. 

For more information please contact:

Ms. Odette Pretty – Principal
Deep Creek Middle School
(242) 334-8414
odettepretty@dcmsbahamas.org