News Detail
Seniors begin countdown to graduation with Senior Send-off
Seniors opened their final week as Ransom Everglades students on May 20 with the annual Senior Send-off at the Ransom Campus, an event that featured Head of School Penny Townsend's pronouncement of five seniors as "Keepers of the Wise Owl"; the salutatorian address from Daniel Freedline '18; the distribution of legacy frames to the Class of 2018 legacy students and parents; and the laying of senior bricks.
Despite gray and rainy conditions, students made their way from the Lewis Family Auditorium to the Quad and placed their personalized bricks. The celebration concluded with a lunch provided by the Ransom Everglades Parents' Association in the Anderson gymnasium.
Ryan Sears '18, Erin Bakes '18, Ben Rosenthal '18, Briana Pottinger '18 and Cassidy Cobb '18 received stuffed owls from Penny Townsend as part of her annual senior gift, a tradition that began in 2015 when she presented stuffed camels to a pair of seniors to commemorate their failed senior prank. (They had attempted unsuccessfully to bring live camels to the Upper School.) The owls recalled a campus sighting of the birds a few years ago, and Sears' crayon-colored picture of a wise owl, which he and a fellow student had presented to the head of school.
Penny Townsend instructed the seniors to hold on to the stuffed animals, share their activities on social media and bring them back for reunions.
"I look for little hints that lead me to select the correct stuffed animal for this honor," she said.
Head of the Upper School Ken Mills introduced Freedline, noting that he "never earned a grade that wasn't a vowel." Freedline reminded his classmates of how far they had come since surviving Outward Bound as freshmen and standardized testing as juniors. "We still," he said, "have emotional scars."
He thanked the RE faculty and senior class families for their wisdom and guidance, and offered his peers encouragement.
"We really were a united class," he said. "We always managed to turn our time together into the best memories ... This is not the end. High school is not the highlight of our lives, it is the end of the first chapter in the rest of our story."
Sammy Schechter '18 led the "Senior Singers" in a rendition of Queen's "We are the Champions."
Alumni Board President Agustin "Konky" Arellano '90 and Director of Alumni Relations Vicki Williamson '88 presented legacy plaques to the 12 seniors with parents who attended RE: Luca Gonzalez-Abreu '18 (Ana Alas Gonzalez Abreu '82); Ande Edmunds '18 (Cristina Edmunds '86); Ryan Schwartz '18 (Lisa Geller Boloix '87); Florence Hawkins '18 (Alicia Gerrits Hawkins '90); Jonas Janette '18 (Joely Kauffman-Janette '88); Zachary Meltzer '18 (Suzanne Richard Meltzer '89); Rudy Prio Touzet '18 (Rudy Prio Touzet '76); Sammy Schechter '18 (Rosa Schechter '85); Jordan Gould '18 (Brad Gould '85); Stephen Kaiser '18 (Mark Kaiser '80); Marc-Anton Ashi '18 (Marlene Kristoff-Ashi '83); and Paul Lobree '18 (Baird Lobree '81).
The event also included remarks from Senior Class Dean Greg Cooper, and the Senior Send-off video. Student Government Association advisor Jorge Guzman, who received a gift from SGA President Sears, introduced the video and acknowledged Ava Dimond '18 and Andrew Lorenzen '18 for their work assembling it.
Earlier in the event, Townsend thanked REPA President Bonnie Seipp and Senior Send-off Chairs Monica Schatz and Tracy Moret, who organized the luncheon.
Back
Ryan Sears '18, Erin Bakes '18, Ben Rosenthal '18, Briana Pottinger '18 and Cassidy Cobb '18 received stuffed owls from Penny Townsend as part of her annual senior gift, a tradition that began in 2015 when she presented stuffed camels to a pair of seniors to commemorate their failed senior prank. (They had attempted unsuccessfully to bring live camels to the Upper School.) The owls recalled a campus sighting of the birds a few years ago, and Sears' crayon-colored picture of a wise owl, which he and a fellow student had presented to the head of school.
Penny Townsend instructed the seniors to hold on to the stuffed animals, share their activities on social media and bring them back for reunions.
"I look for little hints that lead me to select the correct stuffed animal for this honor," she said.
Head of the Upper School Ken Mills introduced Freedline, noting that he "never earned a grade that wasn't a vowel." Freedline reminded his classmates of how far they had come since surviving Outward Bound as freshmen and standardized testing as juniors. "We still," he said, "have emotional scars."
He thanked the RE faculty and senior class families for their wisdom and guidance, and offered his peers encouragement.
"We really were a united class," he said. "We always managed to turn our time together into the best memories ... This is not the end. High school is not the highlight of our lives, it is the end of the first chapter in the rest of our story."
Sammy Schechter '18 led the "Senior Singers" in a rendition of Queen's "We are the Champions."
Alumni Board President Agustin "Konky" Arellano '90 and Director of Alumni Relations Vicki Williamson '88 presented legacy plaques to the 12 seniors with parents who attended RE: Luca Gonzalez-Abreu '18 (Ana Alas Gonzalez Abreu '82); Ande Edmunds '18 (Cristina Edmunds '86); Ryan Schwartz '18 (Lisa Geller Boloix '87); Florence Hawkins '18 (Alicia Gerrits Hawkins '90); Jonas Janette '18 (Joely Kauffman-Janette '88); Zachary Meltzer '18 (Suzanne Richard Meltzer '89); Rudy Prio Touzet '18 (Rudy Prio Touzet '76); Sammy Schechter '18 (Rosa Schechter '85); Jordan Gould '18 (Brad Gould '85); Stephen Kaiser '18 (Mark Kaiser '80); Marc-Anton Ashi '18 (Marlene Kristoff-Ashi '83); and Paul Lobree '18 (Baird Lobree '81).
The event also included remarks from Senior Class Dean Greg Cooper, and the Senior Send-off video. Student Government Association advisor Jorge Guzman, who received a gift from SGA President Sears, introduced the video and acknowledged Ava Dimond '18 and Andrew Lorenzen '18 for their work assembling it.
Earlier in the event, Townsend thanked REPA President Bonnie Seipp and Senior Send-off Chairs Monica Schatz and Tracy Moret, who organized the luncheon.
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.