Speech and Debate Team
The Ransom Everglades Speech and Debate (RESD) Team strives to bring out the best in students, making them confident public speakers, educating them on how to develop an argument, and providing them with the opportunity to give their voices a platform and purpose, and to use their words for action. The team also fosters a well-spoken, well-informed environment in which people are not afraid to speak up for themselves, and RESD's mission is to help students find "strength in words."
Team News
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More than 20 qualify for speech and debate championships
More than 20 RE speech and debate students qualified for the 2024 National Speech and Debate Association National Championship with stellar performances at the March 15-18 district qualifying tournament at Ransom Everglades. The national tournament will be held June 16-21 in Des Moines, Iowa.Read More
Under Coach Kate Hamm, 15 Raiders earned first-place finishes: Claudia Colina '25, Carlos Del Cañal Fernandez '25, the team of Francesca Lopez '24 and Hannah Risin '25, Bridget Mestepey '26, Eduardo Michelsen '25, Lilah Murphy '27, the team of Varun Raju '24 and Thomas Crowley '24, and the team of Mia Bouyoucef '25, Luciana Pardo '25, Anya Bhandari '25, Minnie Zhou '26, Jillian Demos-Brown '25. -
Speech and debate earns four titles at states
Read MoreThe RE speech and debate team could barely fit the massive trophy haul from the 2024 Florida Forensic League Varsity State Championships on the bus ride home from Wellington, Fla. RE students won four state titles as coach Kate Hamm earned Region 5 Coach of the Year honors at the March 2-3 event. Claudia Colina '25 finished first in Dramatic Interpretation; Eduardo Michelsen '25 finished first in Domestic Extemporaneous; Danny Mendelson '25 and Max Salomon '25 captured the Public Forum Debate title; and Sindhu Talluri '25, Nora Brue '25, Lauren Page '24, Ian Fox '24 and T.J. Malone '25 won the championship in World Schools Debate. -
Coach Hamm honored as RE Speech and Debate thrives in 2024 events
Ransom Everglades' speech and debate team began 2024 with a host of top performances at local and national events. The highlights: more than 70 qualifications to the Florida Forensic League Varsity State Championship during an event at RE on Feb. 2, and a notable showing at the Barkley Forum at Emory University in Atlanta on Jan. 27-28. There, coach Kate Hamm was inducted into the prestigious national Golden Key Society for excellence in coaching.Read More -
Raiders excel at two speech and debate tournaments
Read MoreTen Ransom Everglades speech and debate students posted top-10 finishes at an international debate tournament in Weston in December and nearly two dozen earned finalist recognition at a local tournament in Fort Lauderdale in November. The Raiders were led by Claudia Colina ’25 (first place, dramatic interpretation), Gustavo Do Valle ’26 (first place, humorous interpretation), Danny Mendelson ’25 and Max Salomon ’25 (second place, public forum), Isabella Copetti ’27 (third place, original oratory), Jack McCarron ’26 (third, humorous interpretation) at the 8th Annual International Tradition Tournament at Cypress Bay High Dec. 2-3; all also earned prestigious bids to the end-of-season Tournament of Champions event. -
RE Speech and Debate excels at fall tournaments
Claudia Colina '25 finished in first place in dramatic interpretation at the 2023 Yale Invitational, leading an impressive performance for RE Speech and Debate at the prestigious national event Sept. 29-Oct. 1 in New Haven, Conn. Daniela Garcia '26 and Miranda Silva '26 earned fifth place in Duo Interpretation as Andrew Gedde '25 finished sixth in Informative Speaking. The students competed against hundreds of students from around the nation under RE faculty member and coach Kate Hamm.Read More -
RE students score at speech and debate states
Four Ransom Everglades students posted top finishes at the Florida Forensic League Varsity State Championships in Orlando on March 4-5. Eduardo Michelsen '25 earned fifth place in Domestic Extemporaneous Speaking, Daniela Garcia '26 and Miranda Silva '26 scored sixth place in Duo Interpretation and Andrew Gedde '25 claimed sixth in Informative Speaking.Read More -
Speech and debate scores in Philadelphia
RE's speech and debate team excelled at a national tournament in Philadelphia Feb. 10-12, as Liv Steinhardt '23 finished third in Congressional Debate; Claudia Colina '23 finished third in Program of Oral Interpretation; and Julia Cuy '25 earned sixth place in Informative Speaking. The top finishes at the 48th Annual Liberty Bell Tournament at the University of Pennsylvania were RE's best national results of the 2022-23 season.Read More -
RE speech and debate team on to states
More than three dozen RE speech and debate students advanced to the Florida state championship by finishing in the top six in their events at the Region 5 Varsity State Qualifier at North Miami High School Feb. 3-5. Ryan Berkshire '23 (Original Oratory), Eva Bricker '23 (Dramatic Interpretation of Literature), Daniela Garcia '26 and Miranda Silva '26 (Duo Interpretation of Literature), Eduardo Michelsen '25 (Extemporaneous Speaking) and Hannah Risin '25 (Improvisational Speaking) – led the great day for Ransom Everglades, finishing in first place in their events.Read More -
RESD among the top 20 programs in the nation
Ransom Everglades' speech and debate team was named one of the top 20 programs in the nation at the 2022 National Speech & Debate Tournament in Louisville, Ky., June 12-17 as five just-graduated students earned top-10 finishes in their events: Noah Gold '22 and Zach Marcus '22 finished eighth in Public Forum; Ceci Granda-Scott '22 and Nicole Rodriguez '22 claimed 10th in Public Forum; and Andre Joseph '22 earned 10th speaker of the tournament honors in World Schools Debate.Read More -
RE speech and debate wins two state titles
Ransom Everglades’ speech and debate team claimed two state titles and a host of top finishes at the Florida Forensic League Varsity State Championships in Orlando on March 5. Noah Gold ’22 and Zach Marcus ’22 topped the field in Public Forum debate as five RE students combined to win the state title in World School Debate: Anya Dua ’22, Dina Kaplan ’22, Luca Campiani ’22, Mather Davidson ’22 and Varun Raju ’24.Read More
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Student Leaders
President: Max Salomon '25
Vice-President: Kayra Serpenguzel '25
Scribe: Hannah Risin '25
Vice-President: Kayra Serpenguzel '25
Scribe: Hannah Risin '25
Coaches
List of 3 members.
Roster
Abboud, Noa '24
Alfonso, Connor '26
Almazan, Avery '26
Alves de Lima, Beatriz '26
Balson, Vanessa '26
Barlick, Armando '26
Bhandari, Anya '25
Blanco, Lucas '24
Blanco, Matias '25
Bouyoucef, Mia '25
Brue, Nora '25
Chopp, Dana '26
Cobas, Natalia '25
Colina, Claudia '25
Cooper, Sara '26
Crowley, Thomas '24
de Sabrit, Eduardo '26
del Cañal Fernandez, Carlos '25
Ferrer, Rebecca '24
Fox, Ian '24
Friedman, Matthew '26
Gallagher, Julianne '26
Garcia, Daniela '26
Gedde, Andrew '25
Gershman, Reed '26
Goff, Michael '26
Gomez, Nohan '25
Gonzalez, Ana Lourdes '26
Gould, Charlotte '26
Griffin, Wes '26
Harris, Pierce '26
He, Jack '25
Adler, Ella '27
Adler, Isa '27
Alesandro, Ryan '26 Alfonso, Connor '26
Almazan, Avery '26
Alves de Lima, Beatriz '26
Balson, Vanessa '26
Barlick, Armando '26
Barrack, Matilda '27
Barreto, Gabriela '27
Baudin de la Valette, Edmond '27
Bautista, Sienna '27
Berkowitz, Dylan '26
Berlin, Jackson '27
Bhagwan, Kamran '25Bhandari, Anya '25
Blanco, Lucas '24
Blanco, Matias '25
Bouyoucef, Mia '25
Brue, Nora '25
Bussel-Alonso, Samuel '27
Carrillo, Marley '25
Carvalho, Gianna '26Chopp, Dana '26
Cobas, Natalia '25
Colina, Claudia '25
Cooper, Sara '26
Copetti, Isa '27
Corbin-Cheah, Zachary '27
Coulter, Evan '27
Crowley, Ella '26Crowley, Thomas '24
Cunningham, Eva '27
Cuy, Julia '25
Davis, Torin '26de Sabrit, Eduardo '26
del Cañal Fernandez, Carlos '25
Delgado, Mateo '27
Demos-Brown, Jillian '25
Djerejian, Sebastian '27
Djerejian, Sebastian '27
do Valle, Gustavo '26
Escoto Cordova, Mia '25 Duarte, Luisa '27
Elgarresta, Katy '27
Feingold, Trulie '27
Feldman, Ellie '27
Feldman, Max '26 Ferrer, Rebecca '24
Fox, Ian '24
Friedman, Matthew '26
Gallagher, Julianne '26
Garcia, Daniela '26
Gedde, Andrew '25
Gershman, Reed '26
Goff, Michael '26
Gomez, Nohan '25
Gonzalez, Ana Lourdes '26
Gould, Charlotte '26
Griffin, Wes '26
Harris, Pierce '26
He, Jack '25
Heisel, Leo '26
Hosford, Winston '27
Jacir, Julia '27
Jackson, Tyira '24Jereissati, Pedro '26
Jolivert, Emma '27
Kaplan, Kenzie '25Karsenti, Gabriel '26
Kaye, Juliana '27
Kaye, Riley '27
Keedy-Brown, Patrick '26 Khvorostiana, Kateryna '25
Kulkarni, Felix '27
Langer, Blake '26Lavernia, Anna Sofia '25
Linfante, Carolina '26
Linfield, Sophia '26
Liu, Lillian '27
Lopez, Francesca '24
Luchsinger, Carlos '26
Luzine, Veronica '26
Macias, Enrique '26
Malone, TJ '25
Malvezzi, Sylvie '27
Marcus, Tyler '26
Martinez, David '25
Mason, Sloane '27
Maynulet, Paola '26
McCarron, Jack '26
Mederos, Michael '25Medina, Alicia '26
Mena, Sofia '27
Mendelson, Daniel '25
Mestepey, Bridget '26
Michelsen, Eduardo '25
Michelsen, Olivia '26
Mosse, Lila '27
Murphy, Lilah '27
Napoleon, Hilton '26
Page, Lauren '24Pardo Munoz Ledo, Luciana '25
Parisi, Bella '27
Pena, Constantino '26 Pfleger, James '27
Pombo, Valentina '27
Porcelli, Leonardo '27
Raju, Varun '24Ranadive, Sarek '27
Risin, Hannah '25
Rizvi, Zarah '27
Rojas-Cueva, Isa '26
Russoniello, Alexandra '26Salomon, Max '25
Sanchez, Lucas '27
Serpenguzel, Kayra '25
Shah, Arhan '27
Silberwasser, Eliana '26
Silva, Miranda '26
Sotero, Elisa '24
Talluri, Sindhu '25
Tomassetti, Eli '27
Torres, Nick '27
Tsialas, Christopher '26
Valles, Theo '25Vengoechea Schiff, Cianna '25
Wang, Ella '27
Yang, Adaya '25
Yavagal, Reisha '27
Zaldivar, Chloe '26
Zaldivar, Chloe '26
Zhou, Minnie '26
Zuckerman, Myla '27
Middle School
2045 South Bayshore Drive, Coconut Grove, FL 33133Phone: 305 250 6850
Upper School
3575 Main Highway, Coconut Grove, FL 33133Phone: 305 460 8800
Founded in 1903, Ransom Everglades School is a coeducational, college preparatory day school for grades 6 - 12 located on two campuses in Coconut Grove, Florida. Ransom Everglades School produces graduates who "believe that they are in the world not so much for what they can get out of it as for what they can put into it." The school provides rigorous college preparation that promotes the student's sense of identity, community, personal integrity and values for a productive and satisfying life, and prepares the student to lead and to contribute to society.