From the Head of School

From the Desk of the Head of School: An Essential Tradition, the Everglades Experience for ninth graders

For five decades, the Everglades Experience with Outward Bound, currently a four-day, three-night journey through the Ten Thousand Islands, has served as a definitive rite of passage for RE ninth graders. This meaningful, back-to-nature trek into the Everglades was the brainchild of legendary history and social sciences teacher Mike Stokes, who understood that the most profound lessons are often taught outside the walls of a classroom. 
It’s why this tradition lives on, virtually unchanged, a component of the authentic outdoor education Paul Ransom considered fundamental when he started RE’s predecessor, the Adirondack-Florida School. Many students approach the trip feeling anxious and uncertain about what lies ahead. By the time they are reunited with their parents on campus, their apprehension has been replaced by a joyful exhaustion and something close to triumph. Outward Bound is an example of what great experiential learning looks like in action.

Three waves of ninth graders traveled to the Everglades in January. Their preparation began months ago. During their PE classes, students paddled in the bay, jumped in the Ansin Pool to practice capsize drills and gathered near the dock to learn how to use maps and compasses. Once they arrived at Everglades City, they were divided into small groups. Although they are with classmates, many students are separated from their traditional friend groups, allowing new friendships to emerge and leadership to ensue while being phone-free.

Groups start at different points throughout the Ten Thousand Islands, all tasked with making their way back to base camp. Some nights are spent camping on sandy beaches; others are spent "boarding up;” which is when canoes are tied together.

At times, the trip serves as a masterclass in collaboration and grit. Students cook their own meals – eggs, vegetables, canned chicken, hot dogs – over fires. They see spider webs intricately installed and designed as they navigate through mangrove tunnels. They work through Florida weather and use the navigational skills they have learned. And they also confront something that does not cross their mind as they worry and fret in advance of their departure: The extraordinary beauty of this special part of Florida. 

They witness spectacular sunrises and sunsets, and a kind of silence and depth of darkness they have never experienced close to the city lights of Miami. They catch sight of dolphins and flying fish, and run across raccoons and other critters on the islands they visit. They enjoy moments of uncommon and peaceful solitude and poignant camaraderie. Each documents these experiences in a journal that serves as a constant companion.

For our alumni, this trip is often the first thing they mention when they return to campus. They talk about it for years, and even decades, later. They remember the hair braids, the campfires, the serenity, the exhaustion and the laughter. They realize that the trip wasn't just about learning to paddle canoes through a maze of islands; it was about learning who they were when the world was just a world. 

Whether our students are in the heart of the Everglades or on the bay in the backyard of our upper school, we remain steadfast in our belief that our outdoor classroom provides an opportunity for independence and growth that we cannot teach within the confines of our walls. As our curriculum evolves and our academic opportunities multiply, the Everglades trip remains our promise to our ninth graders: no matter how much the world changes, they will always have the opportunity for a transformative visit to the quiet, wild heart of Florida.
 
Rachel Rodriguez
Head of School
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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

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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.


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