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Senior Send-Off kicks off Senior Week

Members of RE’s Class of 2019 kicked off a week of revelry at the annual Senior Send-Off on May 19, gathering with their families, hearing from salutatorian Valeria Vela '19 and placing their personalized bricks on a path in the Quad. They then returned to campus the next day for the Senior Party on Walker Field, a water-soaked splash fest designed to celebrate the seniors’ last day of classes on May 17.

Senior Send-Off photo gallery
Senior Party photo gallery
The two events marked the beginning of the Class of 2019’s last week as students at Ransom Everglades, which will conclude on May 24 with the school’s 116th commencement. The seniors will be on campus for a pair of graduation rehearsals, a photo shoot with their college T-shirts and the unveiling of the 2018-19 yearbook.

At the Senior Send-off, students and parents assembled in the Lewis Family Auditorium and received a welcome from Head of School Penny Townsend. “I’m so happy to be up here and see so much joy and so much relief,” she said. “You’ve made it – almost.” They also heard from Head of the Upper School Ken Mills, Alumni Board President Konky Arellano ’90, Senior Class President Sarah Rahman ’19 and Vela, who reminded her peers that Ransom Everglades will stay with them.

“There are so many good things to return to,” she said. “Too many to count. The friends we’ve met… the concerts and the jam sessions and the sports games, and most importantly, the teachers who have shaped us into who we are today.”

Penny Townsend reprised her traditional senior awards, this time naming a dozen students “Keepers of the Compass” and presenting them with RE compasses. Those seniors – Wesley Cusack ’19, Greg Estime ’19, Aliya Hollub ’19, Lily Karson ’19, Maggie McDowell ’19, Alex Mendelson ’19, Anderson ’19, Sarah Rahman ’19, Abigail Roberts ’19, Henry Schermerhorn ’19, Jake Schwartz ’19, Calliste Skouras ’19 – were also named Class Agents for the Class of 2019, tasked with keeping connected to their peers in the coming years.

The group heard from Arellano on the importance of class agents and the power of RE’s alumni association. The send-off also featured a first-time recognition of a trio of “longevity families,” families who are sending off their last of several RE graduates. That special group included the Irigoyen family (Bert and Christine and Claire ’19, Bert ’12 and Alexander ’07); the Karson family (Jack and Arden ’80 and Lily ’19, Micah ’12 and Jared ’09); and the Roberts family (Jeff and Laura, Abigail ’19, Sarah ’15, Amanda ’12 and Andrew ’10).

Mills also thanked departing Ransom Everglades Parents' Association President Melissa Buckner, and Ransom Everglades honored its alumni legacy seniors, those members of the senior class who have a parent or parents who have attended RE. Each received a commemorative plaque; that group included: Emma Broad ’19 (Melissa Sheppard-Broad ’89); Reese Dan ’19 (Steven Dan ’82), Susana Diez ’19 (Ricardo Diez ’81), Luke Elegant ’19 (Justin Elegant ’88), Carter Freeland ’19 (Jorge Freeland ’79); David Fryd ’19 (Michael Fryd ’76 and Alison Lehr Fryd ’75); Gwendolyn Howland ’19 (Lisa Landy ’81); Lily Karson ’19 (Arden Magoon Karson ’80); Sunna Martinsdottier ’19 (Martin Hernandez ’87); Maia Mora ’19 (Jorge Mora ’84); Leo Ratzan ’19 (Stuart Ratzan ’83); Jake Schwartz ’19 (Lisa Geller Boloix ’87); Holly Steinberg ’19 (Vanessa Greene Steinberg ’87), Margo Squire ’19 (Edward Squire ’83), Elizabeth Villano ’19 (David Villano ’79 and Kathryn Lotspeich Villano ’83); and Mackenzie White ’19 (Jessica Meyeringh White ’91).

After the auditorium event, which also included words from Dean of the Senior Class Greg Cooper, music from senior singers and the RE jazz band, seniors made their way to the Quad where they claimed their bricks and laid them in the designated 2019 area near the dining hall.The send-off concluded with a brunch in the gymnasium courtesy of REPA.
 
On May 20, seniors celebrated the end of classes with a party on Walker Field, where they enjoyed an array of water slides and a cookout. The party took place three days after the conclusion of classes on May 17 because the seniors wanted everyone to enjoy the celebration. More than a dozen seniors had AP exams until late in the day on May 17, so they couldn't participate then.

Senior Send-Off photo gallery
Senior Party photo gallery
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Middle School

2045 South Bayshore Drive, Coconut Grove, FL 33133
Phone: 305 250 6850

Upper School

3575 Main Highway, Coconut Grove, FL 33133
Phone: 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.