Home

Professional community members recognized for awards, years of service

Ransom Everglades honored members of its professional community with awards for excellence and recognition for years of service during a ceremony filled with gratitude and graciousness. Faculty members Cathi Leibinger (middle school) and Karen Key (upper school) each received the Arthur Moses Faculty Award by a vote of their peers, and Evelyng Dulanto, Director of Facilities and Project Operations Manager, received the award for staff.
Leibinger, who served as Interim Arts Department Chair this past year, was described by Head of the Middle School Pete Di Pace as the epitome of a Ransom Everglades faculty member for her support, commitment, patience and belief in her students. Key, the mathematics and computer science department chair at upper school, was described by Head of the Upper School Donald Cramp as genuinely concerned about her students, dedicated to colleagues, thoughtful, curious, joyful and visionary – and more.

Chief Operating Officer David Clark ’86 lauded Dulanto for her excellence, effort and leadership in managing her team and maintaining the school’s property.

Head of School Rachel Rodriguez and Clark jointly recognized middle school faculty member Joe Mauro for 40 years of service ("Joe never ceases to amaze me," Rodriguez said); Astrid Dalins and Michelle Mondell for 30 years; and Leibinger, Laura Miller, Diana Morales, Sussy Norcini, Tito Soutuyo and Ramon Vargas for 25 years of service.

Mike Becker, Kate Bloomfield, Greg Noblet and Monique Regis were honored for 20 years at RE, and Melissa Bonafonte, Cecilia Gonzalez and Jody Salzinger for 15 years. Achieving 10 years of service: Jenny Carson ’03, Florencia Gonzalez, Kate Hamm, Shellie Perdigon, Kenny Perez, Eryn Anderson, Adriana Sanchez and Amy Shipley.  

Departing faculty Dominique McKenna, Assistant Upper School Athletic Director Joe Supple and science faculty member Alexandra Gunner were also recognized for impactful tenures at Ransom Everglades as each prepared to depart. Rodriguez also thanked departing faculty member Preston Edmunds ’20, whom she called a “born teacher,” Nathan West and Brittney Ellzey Mujica.

McKenna, who taught French at Ransom Everglades for 16 years, was lauded by fellow French teacher Maria Eugenia Abrante and World Languages Department Chair James Monk, who called her “elegant and eloquent, witty, wise, authoritative and accomplished … and caring compassionate and completely dedicated to her students’ success.”

Supple, who arrived at RE in 2019, was recognized by Upper School Athletics Director Scott Berman, who has known Supple since each was four years old. “The job Joe has done is incredibly impressive, the impact he’s had on young people … He’s a program changer. He’s a hard worker. He’s all in with everything that he does.”

Science faculty member Brooke Gintert shared a poem in which she channeled her inner Dr. Seuss; it was filled with equal parts humor and sentiment to describe her peer and friend. “Alex is a science teacher, I know this to be true,” she stated. “She is kind, and impactful, and sometimes covered in glue … She plants seeds of wonder that quietly grow, the kind that change lives forever, more than they know … Alex, remember, no matter how far you roam, we love you, we’ll miss you, and this is always your home.”
Back

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

Accreditations and Memberships

FCIS | SAIS | NAIS | NACAC | SACAC | ACCIS |
College Board | CSEE | INDEX | One Schoolhouse
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.