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On a day more than 60 awards were presented to members of the senior class, three recognitions stood out. Andrew Gedde ’25 was named valedictorian and Sirja Jõeveer ’25, salutatorian, and Roxi Vadia Morgenstern ’75 – who celebrated her 50th reunion at RE this past weekend – received the Head of School’s Award for Distinguished Service to the School.

The mystique surrounding college admissions committees is legendary. The behind-closed-doors deliberations are frequently described as secretive by the media. RE’s College Counseling Office had the opportunity on April 14 to draw back the curtain and shed some light on what admissions committees do during these months and months of application review.

Financial reporter and bestselling author David Faber addressed upper school students on the topic of ethics in business and journalism as part of the Holzman Center of Applied Ethics Speaker Series on April 7. Holzman Center Director John A. King Jr. interviewed Faber from the Lewis Family Auditorium stage before turning the questions over to students. Faber's visit to RE took place at the height of tariff anxiety and market volatility, providing fodder for pointed questions and follow ups.

From the performers' range and polish, to the creative and perfectly timed choreography, to the true-to-Broadway staging, sound, costumes and set, RE's exceedingly talented upper school drama and orchestra students outdid themselves with Hadestown: Teen Edition. Performing in two casts from April 8-11 at the Lewis Auditorium, the students drew nearly full houses all four nights and inspired ovations in proportion to the quality of the production. The leads on Wednesday and Friday were Armando Segrera ’25, Isabella Sayfie Ranawat ’26, Jaerla Sajous ’25, Gustavo Do Valle ’26, Julia Jaci ’27, Sofie Delic ’28, Morgan Williams ’26 and Miranda Silva ’26.

On Tuesday and Thursday the leads were: Austin Sayfie Aagaard ’26, Erela Yashiv ’26, Victoria Pasos ’28, Alejandro Andrade ’25, Elena Castrillon ’26, Lilah Murphy ’27, Sasha Zack ’25 and Halo Tucker ’27.

RE student-poets swept the top three awards presented at the second annual Poetry Night at The Barnacle on April 9: Miguel Kumar '25 earned first place; Alexa Charouhis '27, second; and Patrick Keedy Brown '26, scored third place as Sofie Delic '28 and Arhan Shah '27 earned finalist recognition (top 15). All read their poems aloud on the lawn of The Barnacle Historic State Park with 10 other finalists from five South Florida Schools. Nearly 600 poems were submitted in recognition of National Poetry Month.

Ransom Everglades girls' water polo earned its 18th district title in 19 years with a resounding 20-2 defeat of Coral Gables High at the Ansin Aquatic Center on April 10. Eleanor Kriplen '28 led with five goals; Sydney Gould '25 and Ellie Stokes '26 scored three each; and Casey Manno '25 tallied seven assists and three steals. Ten Raiders scored at least once to help the Raiders get back on the district title track after a narrow defeat to MAST Academy in 2024 ended their 17-year streak.

Lily Knoll '29, Liv Brantley '29 and Porter Sanderson '29 received "Star Awards" from the Independent Schools of South Florida (ISSF) in recognition of their effort, dedication and good character as well as their excellence in academics, community service, citizenship, fine arts or sports. Assistant Head of the Middle School Jess Merrick and Dean of the Eighth Grade Shaida Escoffery Whitley accompanied the students to the April 9 luncheon that drew some 800 guests. 

Sixth and seventh graders traveled to Washington, D.C., and eighth graders to Puerto Rico for exciting and immersive class trips from April 2-5. Students visited national monuments, memorials and museums in Washington and they traveled to the rainforest, historic landmarks, beaches and the bay in Puerto Rico, and also found time to volunteer at a local elementary school. Assistant Head of the Middle School Jess Merrick described the trips as "action-packed and enriching."

Ransom Everglades launched the first annual Cooper Cultural Experience with an arts immersion in Chicago for 10 sophomores – Diego Lopez-Ona '27, Gabriela Barreto '27, Felix Kulkarni '27, Alejandra De Lorenzi '27, Garoe del Coso Pena '27, Samuel Bussel-Alonso '27, Simone Carrasco '27, Olivia Karp '27, Lillian Liu '27 and Pippa Yeo '27. The fully funded cultural trip during the March spring break was guided by members of RE's art department.

Connor Alfonso '26 and Patrick Keedy Brown '26 earned national medals in the 2025 Scholastic Writing Awards competition. Alfonso received a national gold medal in the humor category for "A Day at McSub King," as well as the prestigious American Voices Award, a special recognition for a small number of gold-medal winners. Keedy Brown won two national silver medals in the highly competitive poetry category for "This is Not a New Story" and "Chéad Cháisc, Ansin Earrach."

RE's upper school Model UN club traveled to New York City March 11-15 for the National High School Model United Nations (NHSMUN) Conference, which attracted more than 2,000 student delegates from schools from across the world. RE fielded a team of 14 delegates that represented two Caribbean countries and lobbied their proposals to UNESCO, the World Health Assembly and several other committees. They collaborated with students from several countries to craft solutions to international issues relying on dialogue, consensus-building and simulated diplomacy.

Ransom Everglades announced the ninth class of Dan Leslie Bowden Fellows in the Humanities, introducing seven students who will undertake novel humanities research projects in the United States and at destinations across the globe. Ana Gonzalez '26, Sophia Linfield '26, Alicia Medina '26, Bridget Mestepey '26, Alexandra Russoniello '26, Christopher Tsialas '26 and Jacob Zide '26 will explore a range of topics from the relationship between llamas and farmers in Peru to the emotional journeys of conflict survivors in Colombia and Croatia.

More than 20 Ransom Everglades students capitalized on the opportunity to present their research at a global physics conference for college and graduate students and working scientists. Five RE students gave talks, five teams presented research posters and one team of RE students came home from the conference in Anaheim, Calif., with something extraordinary: one of 20 undergraduate poster prizes awarded to the best of the hundreds of research posters.

Gemma Bucci ’25, Dominique Cederberg ’26, Alexandra Russoniello ’26, Ginger Seabrook ‘26 and Leah Vela ’25 – and fellow authors and RE faculty members Dr. Heather Marshall, Dr. Kristine Stump and Dr. Emily Grace – earned the poster award for their poster Unveiling Toxic Heavy Metals in South Florida Ecosystems Using LIBS.

A team of RE students taking RE's Advanced Machine Learning and Data Structures & Algorithms courses earned the top award at the "Codemania! III" competition sponsored by the City of Coral Gables and the University of Miami. Jacob Aronow '26, Jaral Arroyo-Jefferson '25, Mia Escoto Cordova '25, Eduardo Michelsen '25 and Max Wolfensberger '26 earned the High School Award as well as the Sebastian Technology Award. They attended the event with faculty advisor David Nuñez Garcia.

The Beaux Arts Student Artist Showcase 2025 featured select artwork from a dozen RE students at an exhibition that ran from March 11-15 at the Lowe Art Museum at the University of Miami. All of the students earned finalist recognition, and Vale Valerio '31 won a Myrna Palley Award of Excellence in photography. She was joined at the showcase by peers Zarah Broome-Webster '30, Gillian Carvalho '29, Cecile Etzbach '29, Noa Garcia '27, Tang Li '30, Lillian Liu '27, Sloane Mason '27, Natalia Saverin '30, Marlo Sohn '30, Taylor Smith '25 and Catalina Varela-Nunez '25.

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Max Wolfensberger '26 designed a bridge that obliterated the school record for efficiency in RE’s annual bridge competition, giving him an impressive – and thrilling – victory in the highly anticipated annual event that drew a record 217 entries. Marcus Mustad '26 also topped the previous RE record for efficiency with his second-place finish in the bridge-breaking finale at the Lewis Family Auditorium, which featured 16 finalist bridges.

Lucas Lafosse-Marin ’27 finished third at the March 11 event; Connor Gumbs ’25 finished fourth and seventh with two different bridges; and Sirja Joeveer ’25 finished fifth.

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The RE Jazz Combo and Blue Note Combo qualified for the Florida state competition at a district event on February 7 in Key Largo. RE Director of Instrumental Music Jon Hamm led both teams of student-musicians, the RE Jazz Combo: Simone Carrasco '27, Tenor Sax; Carlos Horcasitas '25, Baritone Sax; Sofia Rakhimi '25, Piano; Morgan Williams '26, Bass; Griffin Nelson-Montet '25, Drums; Paloma Lopes '25, Vibes; Noah Martin '25, Guitar; and the Blue Note Combo: Vicky Pinilla '25, Flute; Hudson Kaplan '25, Trombone; Auguste Houlle '27, Piano; Antonio de Andrade '27, Bass; Lily Poses '26, Drums; Andrew Gedde '25, Vibes; Patricio de Lope '25, Guitar.

A robotics team from the Ransom Everglades middle school – Dylan Kantesaria '29, Porter Sanderson '29, James Sardina '29 and Sidney Schwartz '29 – won the Excellence Award and the Robot Skills Champion award at the STEAM In The Gardens VEX IQ Robotics Competition on February 9. At the same event, a team of sixth graders, Neel Gowda '31, Jack Milota '31 and Ryan Kantesaria '31, won the Judges Award and finished in third place in the robot skills competition. The students competed under club advisor Gustavo Palacios.

Lily Kingdon '29 finished in third place in the 85th Miami Herald Spelling Bee for Miami-Dade and Monroe Counties on February 26, the best result for Ransom Everglades in six years. Kingdon, who won RE's middle school bee last fall to advance to the competition, received a medal and plaque for her performance at the Charles F. Dodge City Center in Pembroke Pines. She was among 25 champion spellers who competed in a live competition after excelling on a written exam. In 2019, Liv Steinhardt '23 finished second in the Miami Herald bee and, in 2017, Kyler Pace '23 earned second place.

RE's speech and debate team won three state titles – Claudia Colina '25 in Dramatic Interpretation, Eduardo Michelsen '25 in Impromptu Speaking, and Nora Brue '25, Mia Bouyoucef '25 and T.J. Malone '25 in World Schools Debate – and earned seven podium finishes at the 2025 Florida Forensic League Varsity State tournament at the University of Central Florida March 1-2.

Rounding out the top-three finishes for RE: Miranda Silva '26 and Daniela Garcia '26 scored second place in Duo Interpretation; Andrew Gedde '25 earned second in Informative Speaking; Silva won third place in Humorous Interpretation; and Lucas Sanchez '27 claimed third in Dramatic Interpretation.

Seventeen upper school students traveled to China for a winter break adventure that included cultural and language immersion experiences in a variety of contexts. Among the highlights from the Feb. 12-22 trip: students hiked in the area of Huangshan (Yellow Mountain), where they experienced a beautiful snowfall. Later, they visited a prestigious high school in Taizhou, where they met new friends and discovered differences in their high school experiences. Finally, they enjoyed Shanghai and toured the Bund. Students applied their Mandarin language skills throughout the trip and they were cared for by Chinese teachers Xiaohong Teng and Xiuying Huang, and world languages department chair James Monk.

Andrew Gedde '25, Vicky Pinilla '25 and Solon Sun '25 were selected as candidates for the U.S. Presidential Scholars Program, earning one of the most significant honors bestowed on graduating high school seniors. The U.S. Department of Education invited Gedde, Pinilla, Sun and some 5,000 other U.S. students to contend for 161 U.S. Presidential Scholar recognitions that will be awarded this spring.

An all-girls middle school math team from Ransom Everglades won the 2025 Miami Mathcounts competition hosted by the Florida Engineering Society on February 15, advancing to the state championship in Daytona Beach. Ivy Chen '30, Esha Nagalla '29, Sofiya Dewan '29 and Maya Lee-Schonfeld '30 came in first place in the overall competition and ciphering round. The team will head to the 2025 Florida Mathcounts State Competition on March 14 (Pi Day), hoping to match or improve upon RE's two straight second-place finishes there.

The Middle School Band & Strings Concert on February 11 showed steady and exciting progress and a deep commitment to learning under band director Cathi Leibinger and strings director Scott O'Donnell. Leibinger and O'Donnell acted as both directors and narrators at the event at Swenson Hall, pausing to share extensive insights into the teaching approach for all levels of the middle school band and strings classes.

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Three Ransom Everglades teams swept the gold medals at the South Florida Regional History Bowl competition that brought 11 schools and 28 teams to the upper school on February 8. RE teams went undefeated as they earned championships at every level: varsity (Jacob Aronow '26, Parker Jelke '27, Jaz Puri '28 and Zach Corbin Cheah '27), junior varsity (Jack Gonzalez '28, Harlan Hoenig '28 and Iker Fierro '28) and middle school (Noah Veras '29, Julian Jelke '29 and Evan Powe '29).

Five Ransom Everglades students – Taylor Smith '25 (photography), Patrick Keedy Brown '26 (poetry), Connor Alfonso '26 (humor), Misha Gowda '28 (poetry) and Vinay Rajadhyaksha '30 (digital) – won Gold Keys in the 2025 Regional Scholastic Art and Writing Awards contest, headlining a huge contingent of RE student-writers and student-artists on both campuses that won recognition. Sixteen students earned Silver Keys and 22 won Honorable Mention in the southern region.

Ransom Everglades celebrated Black History Month in February on both campuses with student reflections, special dance performances and traditional music. At the middle school, Faith Simmons ’29, Sydney Forrester ’29, Liv Brantley ’29 and Gillian Carvalho ’29 served as emcees for an event in the gymnasium that featured RE dance team members and the University of Miami Steppers. At the upper school, Black Students Association officers Mia Campbell '25 and Tariq Maduro '26 introduced a special dance performance – "Roots & Rhythms" by the Zest Collective and local choreographer Gentry Isaiah George – which followed a performance by the RE Jazz Band in the Lewis Family Auditorium.

Ransom Everglades celebrated the Lunar New Year and Year of the Snake with a vibrant showcase of music and dance at the upper school and various cultural activities at the middle school. Members of the Chinese Culture Club, several Chinese classes and the Chinese Parents Association worked together on the Feb. 5 centerpiece event at the upper school, which offered colorful costumes, captivating entertainment, historical background and delicious cuisine. Among the many highlights: performances by the Dragon Dance Team and traditional fan and ribbon dances. Photo Gallery

Dieter Manstein '25, Connor Alfonso '26 and Nelson Manstein '26 earned "superior" awards and the Science Champion Award at the South Florida Regional Science and Engineering Fair February 1, and the trio also advanced to the 70th Florida State Science & Engineering Fair March 25-27 in Lakeland, Fla. The students were mentored by RE STEM faculty member Dr. Yuria Sharp.

Math teacher Jessica Merrick received the Edyth May Sliffe Award, a national award annually presented by the Mathematical Association of America to middle and high school mathematics teachers who have done outstanding work to motivate students. It was the second straight year a Ransom Everglades teacher received the prestigious award; in 2024, upper school math teacher Karen Key was recognized.

The Ransom Everglades varsity sailing team finished in first place in a major sailing competition that drew 18 schools from around the southeastern U.S. and Caribbean to the Anderson Watersports Center on February 1. Griggs Diemar '25 and Amelia Lazarus '25 led from start to finish in the A division of the South Atlantic Interscholastic Sailing Association South Points #3, and Sebastian van de Kreeke '25 and Sofia Rhone-Fernandez '26 dominated the B division.

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RE's Model United Nations club participated in The Hague International Model United Nations (THIMUN) Conference January 27-31 in the Netherlands. With over 3,500 student delegates from schools from across the world in attendance, RE's 19 student participants represented a number of delegations: Namibia, UN Women to the General Assembly, Security Council, the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and several other committees. Ransom Everglades students lobbied proposals and networked with students from several countries to craft solutions to the world's issues through dialogue, consensus building and simulated diplomacy.

RE ninth graders extended a decades-long tradition by participating in the annual four-day, three-night trek through the Ten Thousand Islands. The Everglades Experience with North Carolina Outward Bound School was the culminating event of their fall and winter physical education curriculum, which included bay studies, navigation and canoeing. The students traveled to Everglades City in three waves, with the first group departing in early January and the final group returning at the end of the month. 
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With the district title on the line, Johanna James '26 broke a scoreless tie in overtime and fellow junior Stella Colombo '26 added another goal to give the Raiders a thrilling 2-0 victory over True North Classical Academy at Robert E. Walker Field to claim the Class 2A District 15 championship. Goalkeeper Addison Pollock '25 set the stage for the victory with a shutout performance.

Holocaust survivor Allan J. Hall visited Ransom Everglades Middle School on International Holocaust Remembrance Day on January 27, sharing the history of the Holocaust and his heart-wrenching story of survival with eighth-grade students. Introduced by his great niece, Emma Hall '30, he was one of three featured speakers on the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp whose aim was to ensure that RE students never forget the atrocities of that period.

Nine Ransom Everglades students – Andrew Gedde '25, Robert Li '26, Daniel Li '28, Solon Sun '25, Gabriel Karsenti '26, Minnie Zhou '26, Joshie Khohayting '28, Alex Tevelow '28 and Aarav Jindal '26 – were among the top-performing students in the nation on a recent set of math exams. The students excelled on the American Mathematics Competitions 10 or 12 (depending on their grade level), qualifying for the American Invitation Mathematics Examination (AIME) – a rare distinction earned by less than 5 percent of test takers.

Admissions deans and directors from Middlebury College, University of Chicago, University of Toronto, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Washington University in St Louis shared insights on the college admissions process with members of the RE Class of 2026 and their parents during the College Admission Symposium on January 11 at the Lewis Family Auditorium. Co-Executive Director of College Counseling Jordan Shapiro welcomed juniors to the launch of the college admissions process and Ann Parks, Director of College Counseling Communications, addressed the importance of “expanding the universe of colleges and universities” when building an initial college list.

The six Ransom Everglades students who attended the 2024 Student Diversity Leadership Conference addressed middle school students during an assembly on Jan. 13, sharing personal highlights and meaningful moments from the national conference in Denver in December. Sofia Rhone-Fernandez '26, Carlos Horcasitas '25, Edwin Carr '26, Pierce Harris '26, Mia Campbell '25 and Jaerla Sajous '25 talked about their experiences engaging with many of the 2,000 conference attendees from independent schools across the nation.

A Ransom Everglades academic team that included a mix of junior varsity and middle school competitors defeated all-varsity squads from across South Florida to win the championship at the 2025 South Florida Regional History Bowl at American Heritage Schools in Delray Beach on Jan. 11. Upper school academic team president Jacob Aronow '26 led the Raider team that finished undefeated and included Parker Jelke '27, Jaz Puri '28, Noah Veras '29 and Julian Jelke '29.

Ethan Thomas '25 was named one of the top 300 scholars in the Regeneron Science Talent Search 2025, the nation’s oldest science and math competition for high school seniors. Thomas, who submitted a project entitled "ConFormer: A Novel Collection of Deep Learning Models To Assist Cardiologists in the Assessment of Cardiac Function," was recognized in a January 8 announcement for outstanding research, leadership skills, community involvement, commitment to academics, creativity in asking scientific questions and exceptional promise as a STEM leader. The 300 selected students hail from some 200 American and international high schools and homeschools in 33 states, Washington D.C., Hong Kong, Malaysia and Switzerland.

Ransom Everglades started the new year with a discussion of ethical leadership featuring three students – Sophia Linfield '26, Ana Gonzalez '26 and Alexandra Russoniello '26 – who are pursuing Applied Ethical Leadership certificates from Students Shoulder-to-Shoulder, a partner organization to RE and RE's Holzman Center of Applied Ethics. During the January 7 assembly, the students told their upper school peers that the foundation of ethical leadership consisted of trust, empathy and justice. They also shared insights from their respective independent research projects on restorative justice (Linfield), gentrification in west Coconut Grove (Gonzalez), and leadership during the Haitian revolution (Russoniello).

The artwork of two dozen RE middle school students will be published in an art anthology of the top submissions to a national fall 2024 art competition sponsored by Celebrating Art and Blick Art Materials. Students of Elsa Munoz, Ellen Grant and Connie Hyde, the RE winners are: Amelia Gonzales '29, Bella Mustad '29, Jaaz Brooks '29, Natalia Saverin '29, Gillian Carvalho '29, Mayer Levin-Munoz '29, Aislin Moul '29, Charlie Gershman '29, Adriana Coello de Portugal '29, Sophie Wang '29, Samuel Geronemus '29, Isabella Sachar '29, Alejandro Gonzalez '30, Maya Lee-Schonfeld '30, Marlo Sohn '30, Noah Lopes '30, Abby Krawl '31, Maya Mercadal '31, Aria Rivera Flores '31, Ryder Frankel '31, Chika Adele '31, Brady Goldberg '31, Samuel Alexander '31 and Yahvi Raj '31.