Slightly over two weeks ago, one of Dr. Stavisky’s students, John Mistele '17, received a letter from the College Board. It said that his performance on the May 2016 AP Calculus BC exam, the highest level mathematics exam offered by the College Board, was “so superior it falls into a very select category.” The letter explained that he had received a perfect score on the test, and was one of just 11 in the world to do so. The first person John called was Henry Stavisky.

I was delighted to see that the local television reporters who filed onto our campus after this amazing news broke sought to interview both student and teacher. They immediately understood that the achievement honored John’s extraordinary gifts and admirable hard work, as well as Dr. Stavisky’s inspiration and motivation. Each time John stood in front of a camera and microphone, Dr. Stavisky stood at his side.

The symbolism in that posture was striking. Longtime educators call what Dr. Stavisky does instinctively in his classrooms “guide by the side” instruction. The best teachers are not “sages on the stage” who lecture in front of rows of desks, filling heads with facts and figures, hoping that students will regurgitate the information on the next assessment. Teachers like Dr. Stavisky – indeed, all our faculty members at Ransom Everglades – push students to become active participants in their learning. John Mistele explained to reporters that he was motivated to seek a perfect score because Dr. Stavisky had challenged his students to do so, and he wanted to make his teacher proud. John and his classmates tirelessly did practice exams, and they worked for hours after school. Dr. Stavisky was with them every step of the way.

Dr. Stavisky and other RE faculty often ask more questions than they provide answers. They guide students through projects of their own design, helping them to understand and find solutions to real-world problems. They teach them to hunt for solutions and unearth knowledge on their own. They understand that learning is about discovery and self-motivation – not just about rote memorization and recall.

John is far from RE’s only student to excel in the environment our teachers have created. Our students succeed in and out of the classroom. I am pleased that our student body raised more than $5,000 over the last two weeks to help hurricane-ravaged Haiti. RE athletics also raised $2600 to support breast cancer awareness and research during  October, Breast Cancer Awareness month. And, just today, Nikhil Kumar ’21 returned to the Middle School from Batumi, Georgia (the country), where he won a world championship in chess in the under-12 category at the World Cadets Chess Championship.

When students and teachers come together in a community in which the adults foster a growth mindset, excellence becomes part of the daily routine. It's no surprise that our students excel when they step outside our campus gates. I’m proud of them and the teachers who walk alongside.

Penny Townsend
Head of School