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Forty Years and Counting
History and social sciences teacher Joe Mauro extends his legacy at the middle school
The year was 1985. President Ronald Reagan was in his second term of office. Madonna reigned as the Queen of Pop on MTV. Teenagers showed off their latest piece of technology, the Sony Discman, while roller-skating down Miracle Mile. That same year, an enthusiastic and eager teacher, Joe Mauro, walked onto the Ransom Everglades campus for the first time.
The year was 1985. President Ronald Reagan was in his second term of office. Madonna reigned as the Queen of Pop on MTV. Teenagers showed off their latest piece of technology, the Sony Discman, while roller-skating down Miracle Mile. That same year, an enthusiastic and eager teacher, Joe Mauro, walked onto the Ransom Everglades campus for the first time.
Regardless of all that was happening around him, it is the students whom he remembers most. “My first impression was how grown up and mature the kids were,” he recalls. “I was also impressed by their intelligence.” That student-centered, student-focused mindset that guided him during his first years of teaching remains the foundation of his classroom in his 41st year at RE.
Mauro’s fingerprints are all over the Ransom Everglades middle school experience. He doesn’t just attend events; he plans them. He doesn’t just coach teams; he builds cultures of teamwork, sportsmanship and pride. New faculty seek him not just for guidance, but also to learn from his actions. During his time as a Raider, Joe Mauro has become synonymous with Ransom Everglades, serving in roles that have shaped the school.
Throughout his career, he’s served as teacher, coach, athletic director, field trip coordinator, history and geography team sponsor, mentor for new faculty and assistant head of the middle school. Mauro hasn’t been just involved; he has been essential. And he’s been essential for multiple generations of students. At middle school open houses in recent years, he has been routinely reunited with former students who are now parents of current students.
Mauro’s fingerprints are all over the Ransom Everglades middle school experience. He doesn’t just attend events; he plans them. He doesn’t just coach teams; he builds cultures of teamwork, sportsmanship and pride. New faculty seek him not just for guidance, but also to learn from his actions. During his time as a Raider, Joe Mauro has become synonymous with Ransom Everglades, serving in roles that have shaped the school.
Throughout his career, he’s served as teacher, coach, athletic director, field trip coordinator, history and geography team sponsor, mentor for new faculty and assistant head of the middle school. Mauro hasn’t been just involved; he has been essential. And he’s been essential for multiple generations of students. At middle school open houses in recent years, he has been routinely reunited with former students who are now parents of current students.
Amy Sayfie Zichella ’93, RE Director of Admission and Enrollment Management, has experienced Joe Mauro from multiple vantage points: as a student, a fellow teacher (she served as an English teacher early in her career) and, most recently, as an RE parent. When she learned that her daughter, Abby Zichella ’29, would have a class with the man she still refers to as “Mr. Mauro,” she was ecstatic.
“Having Mr. Mauro as my teacher in middle school was one of the most special parts of my Ransom Everglades experience,” Sayfie Zichella said. “However, nothing compares to the full-circle moment when my daughter also had the privilege of being his student. Sharing ‘Mr. Mauro stories’ with her and seeing her experience the same joy I once did is something I’ll treasure forever. He is truly one of a kind, and our community is so lucky to have had his influence for four decades.”
One of the earliest, and most unexpected, hats he wore was as the school’s summer camp director only two years into his time at RE. “That was the summer of ’87,” he says. “I was pretty new to the school, and it was a lot of responsibility – but it was a lot of fun.” Mauro just didn’t keep the camp running. He turned it into a memorable, meaningful experience for campers and staff alike. RE’s Camp by the Bay remains one of the most popular summer camps in South Florida today.
“I try to teach respect – respect for self, respect for others – in everything they do. Always give 100 percent and always treat your classmates with kindness.”
Joe Mauro
That early challenge was the first of many times Mauro would say “yes” to opportunities, no matter how big. No task was too intimidating for Mauro, including presenting a revolutionary program to the school’s board of directors. Without him, RE’s Breakthrough Miami Scholars may not be enriching the student body today. He says one of his greatest accomplishments was “being able to present the concept of Summerbridge, now known as Breakthrough Miami, to our board of directors and having it be accepted.” That idea, brought to life by co-founders John Flickinger ’74 and Doug Weiser ’74, has since grown into a life-changing opportunity for thousands of students across South Florida. This is the kind of impact few teachers can claim, and it all started with a conversation a young teacher had the courage to bring forward. “When I think of the number of lives [that] have been impacted by Breakthrough, it’s pretty humbling,” he said. Breakthrough Miami has since become a model of educational equity and opportunity, serving students at RE’s middle school and seven other locations across South Florida.
Reflecting on his legendary time at Ransom Everglades, Mauro can’t help but think about how much things have changed … and how much they’ve stayed the same. Although he wasn’t around for the historic merger between the Ransom School for boys and the Everglades School for Girls in 1974, he sometimes wishes he had been. “That was a year that really changed the direction of the school,” he says. “Those students and faculty were trailblazers for the future.” It’s not surprising that Mauro sees himself in those trailblazers.
Mauro’s own creative ideas and hard work have helped Ransom Everglades become one of the top 10 schools in North America according to prominent ratings organizations. Mauro was witness to the inaugural year of the sixth grade at the middle school in 1992. Mauro remembers, “That was a very special group of students and faculty. We were laser-focused on being successful.”
Mauro’s dedication is evident through the countless hours of preparation, weekend competitions and study sessions. Although winning is wonderful, he doesn’t coach his students for the trophies. He coaches them to think, to collaborate, and to fall in love with learning. “Mr. Mauro has the patience of a saint,” said Jack Gonzalez ’28, recalling how Mauro always put the interests of everyone on the team first, making sure all competitors were informed and prepared. “Undisputedly the G.O.A.T. of history teachers.” Spoken like a true young historian.
Yet as the decades changed the buildings, the surrounding Coconut Grove community and the world, Mauro believes one thing remains the same: middle schoolers. “I’d say two things have never changed – their genuineness and their enthusiasm. They let you know what they are thinking and how you are doing all the time.” That openness creates an opportunity to create a classroom environment where students feel safe to challenge ideas, explore perspectives and even laugh. Mauro embraces it all with humility and humor. And it is Mauro’s ability to connect and relate with these growing minds that has allowed him to create meaningful relationships with them. “Mutual respect between students and the teacher will always be a key to a successful classroom,” he said. “I genuinely want to hear what the students have to say, and I think they realize and appreciate that.” Mauro recalls many laugh-out-loud interactions with students, but one in particular came with a roundabout compliment. He remembers one day he was proctoring a final exam, and a student kept getting his name wrong. After the student called him Mr. Kappelman and Mr. Siegler in the same conversation, Mauro couldn’t help but smile. “I took that as a compliment. Mr. Kappelman, Mr. Siegler and I worked together at the middle school for 37 years – how many schools can say that?” And although Mauro continues to give credit to those around him, he is correct in stating that not many schools have teachers like these.
Mauro’s own creative ideas and hard work have helped Ransom Everglades become one of the top 10 schools in North America according to prominent ratings organizations. Mauro was witness to the inaugural year of the sixth grade at the middle school in 1992. Mauro remembers, “That was a very special group of students and faculty. We were laser-focused on being successful.”
“Undisputedly the G.O.A.T. of history teachers.”
Jack Gonzalez ’28
Since then, Mauro has been behind some of RE students’ most impressive accomplishments as coach of RE’s middle school academic team. In 2019, Daniel Figueroa ’24 won the National History Bee for seventh graders in Chicago. That was followed by back-to-back grade-level national titles by Parker Jelke ’27 in Arlington, Va., in 2021 and Orlando in 2022. Two years ago, Mauro’s middle school team won the National History Bowl in Washington, D.C. “Not many schools can say that; I really think we have the most successful middle school history team program in the country.” Again, Mauro credits the team. But without his own hard work, sacrifice and enthusiasm, there would be no history team. “That’s the point about Joe Mauro: It all starts there,” said Lucas Miner ’20, who was introduced to the academic team by Mauro and went on to success at the upper school and on the quiz show Jeopardy! “He’s the one who finds the talent, incubates the talent, trains them on competition, helps them win and then sends them up to the high school to keep on doing what they are doing … if you have a culture like that, the team only gets better and better.”
Mauro’s dedication is evident through the countless hours of preparation, weekend competitions and study sessions. Although winning is wonderful, he doesn’t coach his students for the trophies. He coaches them to think, to collaborate, and to fall in love with learning. “Mr. Mauro has the patience of a saint,” said Jack Gonzalez ’28, recalling how Mauro always put the interests of everyone on the team first, making sure all competitors were informed and prepared. “Undisputedly the G.O.A.T. of history teachers.” Spoken like a true young historian.
Yet as the decades changed the buildings, the surrounding Coconut Grove community and the world, Mauro believes one thing remains the same: middle schoolers. “I’d say two things have never changed – their genuineness and their enthusiasm. They let you know what they are thinking and how you are doing all the time.” That openness creates an opportunity to create a classroom environment where students feel safe to challenge ideas, explore perspectives and even laugh. Mauro embraces it all with humility and humor. And it is Mauro’s ability to connect and relate with these growing minds that has allowed him to create meaningful relationships with them. “Mutual respect between students and the teacher will always be a key to a successful classroom,” he said. “I genuinely want to hear what the students have to say, and I think they realize and appreciate that.” Mauro recalls many laugh-out-loud interactions with students, but one in particular came with a roundabout compliment. He remembers one day he was proctoring a final exam, and a student kept getting his name wrong. After the student called him Mr. Kappelman and Mr. Siegler in the same conversation, Mauro couldn’t help but smile. “I took that as a compliment. Mr. Kappelman, Mr. Siegler and I worked together at the middle school for 37 years – how many schools can say that?” And although Mauro continues to give credit to those around him, he is correct in stating that not many schools have teachers like these.
Although many of his students will remember Mauro as a coach, a teacher, a mentor and a lifelong advocate, he hopes that they will remember more than just dates and facts. He hopes they walk away with values and empathy. “I try to teach respect – respect for self, respect for others – in everything they do. Always give 100 percent and always treat your classmates with kindness.” This message has echoed through generations of Raiders, and it continues to shape our school culture and community today. Joe Mauro’s story isn’t just a timeline of service or a laundry list of accomplishments. It is a living legacy of community, leadership, learning and laughter.
“Joe is generous with his time and available to listen,” says Ali Fisher, who has worked with Mauro for 17 years. Mauro served as Fisher’s department coordinator until he recently passed the role on to her. Through that transition, Fisher appreciated his humble mentoring. “He always asks if I want advice before giving it,” she says. “What I appreciate most is his respect, even when we disagree. I am lucky to have him as my mentor, and privileged to call him my friend.”
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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.
Ransom Everglades School®, The RE Way™, RE Pathways™ and Bowden Fellowships in the Humanities™ are trademarks of Ransom Everglades School.
Ransom Everglades School®, The RE Way™, RE Pathways™ and Bowden Fellowships in the Humanities™ are trademarks of Ransom Everglades School.