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Valedictorian, salutatorian named at Senior Awards Ceremony

During a senior award ceremony filled with applause, cheers and standing ovations, Ransom Everglades' upper school honored the entire Class of 2026 while distributing select awards on April 28 that recognized academic excellence and character. The most anticipated announcement came at the conclusion of the event at the Lewis Family Auditorium, when Charlotte Gould ’26 was named valedictorian and Chloe Dubose ’26, salutatorian.
That followed the presentation of major school and service awards, core value awards, athletic awards and awards for various academic disciplines – more than 50 in all. The event opened with a special alumni recognition as Head of School Rachel Rodriguez presented the annual Head of School’s Award for Distinguished Service to the School to RE Chair of the Board of Trustees Miguel Dueñas '95, whom she credited with living out the values of school founder Paul Ransom through his dedicated leadership.

“Serving Ransom Everglades has been an honor of lifetime,” said Dueñas, who has been a trustee for 10 years.

Honors abounded at the April 28 event. Lina Febres ’26 received the Arthur Moses Student Award (presented by Ashleigh (Moses) Lindenauer '94); Ana Gonzalez ’26, the Robert Segall ’82 Leadership Award (presented by Howard Srebnick ’82); Christopher Tsialas ’26, the Ronnie Weksler Bermont Service Award (presented by David Clark ’86); and P.J. Clingan ’26, the Elliot Kayton ’96 Award (presented by Pamela (Kayton) Posner ’92).

Other major awards: Alicia Medina ’26 earned the Support & Community Award; Tariq Maduro ’26, the Diversity & Inclusion Award; Dubose and Tino Pena ’26, jointly the Honor & Excellence Award; Patty Maxwell ’26, the Joy & Wellbeing Award; and Max Feldman ’26, the Service & Outreach Award.

Graduating Student Government Association President Luke Jaffee ’26 bestowed the SGA Faculty Award on history and social sciences teacher John Ermer, who received an enthusiastic ovation, and also shared a moving farewell address.

“I truly believe that each and every one of us could call up another member of our class in 10 years and pick up right where we left off,” Jaffee said. “In the end, the hardest part of high school is in the workload or the stress. It's saying goodbye.”

Rachel Rodriguez opened and closed the event with thoughtful remarks, lauding RE’s seniors for living out the school’s core values and serving as examples of strong leadership for their peers.

“You've challenged yourselves not just to do well, but to do good,” she said. “You've asked hard questions, you've pushed academic boundaries, and you have held yourselves to high standards – as your faculty have … You've done so with integrity, with kindness and with the kind, quiet leadership that speaks the loudest in our classrooms.”

School department chairs and leaders presented various awards.

Here’s the full list of recognized seniors:

Class of 2026 Awards & Honors
Major School Awards
Alumni Head of School Award – Miguel Duenas ’95
Valedictorian – Charlotte Gould ’26
Salutatorian – Chloe Dubose ’26
Support & Community Core Value Award – Alicia  Medina ’26
Diversity & Inclusion Core Value Award – Tariq Maduro ’26
Honor & Excellence Core Value Award – Chloe Dubose ’26 & Tino Pena ’26
Joy & Wellbeing Core Value Award – Patty Maxwell ’26
Service & Outreach Core Value Award – Max Feldman ’26
Elliot Kayton ’96 Service & Leadership Award – PJ Clingan ’26
Ronni Weksler Bermont Service Award – Christopher Tsialas ’26
Robert Segall ’82 Leadership Award – Ana Gonzalez ’26
Arthur Moses Student Award – Lina Febres ’26
Performing Arts
Outstanding Achievement in Dance – Austin Sayfie Aagaard ’26
Outstanding Achievement in Drama – Charlie Derick ’26
Jane Kleinman Technical Theater Award – Olivia Noblet ’26
Lewis Family Award – Morgan Williams ’26
Outstanding Achievement in Band – Emi Awad ’26
National School Orchestra Award – Gianna Carvalho ’26
Outstanding Achievement in Vocal Music Award – Miranda Silva ’26
Visual Arts
Outstanding Achievement in Ceramics – Helen Ansin ’26
Outstanding Achievement in Photography – Sophia Biss ’26
Outstanding Achievement in Studio Art – Charlotte Mark ’26
Outstanding Achievement in Architectural Design – Vale Capote ’26
English
Outstanding Achievement in Creative Writing – Lael Sanders ’26
Eleanor Crawford Backman English Award – Armin Stamate ’26
Sheila Natasha Simrod Friedman Award – Patrick Keedy Brown ’26
History and Social Sciences
Outstanding Achievement in History – Pierce Harris ’26
Outstanding Achievement in Social Sciences – Tyler Marcus ’26
Mike Stokes Award for Civic Engagement – Ella Crowley ’26
Outstanding Achievement in Speech and Debate – Paola Maynulet ’26
World Languages
Youming Che Outstanding Achievement in Chinese – Leyla Amjad ’26
AATF Outstanding Senior Award (French) – Alex Russoniello ’26
Outstanding Achievement in Portuguese – Matheus Dabus ’26
Outstanding Achievement in Spanish – Lucia Corrochano ’26
Outstanding Achievement in World Languages – Gustavo do Valle ’26
Platinum Seal of Biliteracy – Alex Russoniello ’26, Gustavo do Valle ’26, Eduardo de Sabrit ’26, Bea Rose Hernandez ’26, Veronica Luzine ’26, Lucas Schleifer ’26, Ana Gonzalez ’26
Mathematics and Computer Science
Outstanding Achievement in Applied Mathematics – Gabriel Karsenti ’26
Outstanding Achievement in Pure Mathematics – Minnie Zhou ’26
Outstanding Achievement in Computer Science – Jacob Aronow ’26
Science
Outstanding Achievement in Life Science Award – Aaliyah Asghar ’26
Barbara Lester Environmental Science Award – Chloe Jimenez ’26
Outstanding Achievement in Physics – Max Wolfensberger ’26
Outstanding Achievement in Engineering & Technology – Marcus Mustad ’26
Athletics
Penny Matthews Award – Lola Pegg ’26
Mike Stokes Award – Jack Merrick ’26
Comeback Player of the Year – Stella Colombo ’26
Sportsmanship Awards – Edwin Carr ’26 & Alicia Medina ’26
Team of the Year – Boys' water polo
Scholar-Athlete Awards – Ava McAliley ’26 & Ryan Alesandro ’26
Athletic Performance Awards – Enrique Macias ’26 & Abby Pollak ’26
Overall Outstanding Athletes – Olivia Geller ’26 & Juan Velazco ’26
Cum Laude Recognition
Matthew Hawkes ’26, Luke Jaffee ’26, Sophia Linfield ’26, Nelson Manstein ’26, Manav Saigal ’26 Sydney Schimel ’26, Eliana Silberwasser ’26, Brody Sundheim ’26, Erela Yashiv ’26, Austin Sayfie Aagaard ’26, Eduardo de Sabrit ’26, Pierce Harris ’26, Charlotte Mark ’26, Paola Maynulet ’26, Marcus Mustad ’26, Christopher Tsialas ’26, Max Wolfensberger ’26
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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. It is rated the top private school in Miami and among the 10 private schools in North America. 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.


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