Alumni celebrated during Virtual Alumni Day
More than 250 alumni gathered remotely on April 24 for Ransom Everglades’ 2021 Virtual Alumni Day, a first-time event that offered a slate of alumni activities, including a livestreamed opening program emceed by Alumni Board Co-Presidents Enrique Conde ’97 and James G. Weaver, Jr. ’90 that recognized the 2020 and 2021 Head of School’s Award winners.
You can watch the full program here. Find photo galleries here.
You can watch the full program here. Find photo galleries here.
Viewers to the opening program went on a virtual tour of the upper school with Conde and Head of School Penny Townsend, who announced 2020 Head of School's Award recipients Vanessa Chartouni-de la Serna ’90 and Andrew L. Ansin ’81, and 2021 Head of School's Award recipient Susan Matson Lampen ’71.
STEM Department teacher Bob DuBard provided viewers with an inside look at the Constance & Miguel Fernandez STEM Center. Alumni tuning in also learned about RE sports in 2020-21 during a conversation with Corey Goff, Director of Athletics and Physical Education.
Student body president Georgia Crosby ’21 shared fun facts about campus life, and she participated in two RE traditions, one longstanding – painting the cannon (with a welcome for alumni) – and the other, new: she rang the bell that is part of the recently installed sculpture (The Ringing Rock) in the Touzet Quadrangle.
Following the opening program, alumni gathered for smaller, special events throughout the day, including master classes with DuBard (“Toys to Tesla: How the Fundamentals of Green Technology Grew Up”) and Humanities Department faculty Greg Cooper (“The Supreme Court in a Divided Nation”). There was also a poetry competition in honor of Dan Leslie Bowden, an interactive event led by Associate Head of School Dr. John A. King. You can watch it here.
Thomas Bowden, Bowden’s grandnephew, read one of his grand-uncle’s original poems, entitled “Finale,” and faculty emeriti Jane Dolkart, Kitty Proenza and Marian Turk read the winning entries: “Someday I’ll Love Kareena Rudra” by Kareena Rudra ’20; “Snowflake” by Sarah Nims-Seaman ’70 (Everglades); and “The English Teacher” (dedicated to Mr. Bowden) by Kit Pancoast Nagamura ’77. Submissions came from the Class of 1961 to the Class of 2020, with one poem submitted from Japan – you can read all of them here.
Alumni from the classes of Ransom 1961, RE 1976 and RE 1981 held individual class reunions and enjoyed reminiscing and reconnecting virtually. The head of school and Director of Advancement Melanie Hoffmann shared their gratitude with reunion chairs Ted Seward ’61 Ransom, Charles Sands ’61 Ransom, Lisa Cole ’76, Beth Kaiser ’76, and Debbie Turner ’76 and Lisa Landy ’81.
Conde and Weaver thanked all Raiders who participated in REunion giving. A couple highlights:
- The Everglades Class of 1970 led all classes in participation with 39 percent.
- The RE Class of 1990 raised the most; that class is the first in school history to name an endowment (the RE Class of 1990 Equitable Experience Endowment).
Alumni won bags of RE swag via live competitions: Evert Henkes ’61 earned a bag for tuning in from London, England – the farthest locale from Miami. Alumni who shared their favorite spots on campus were entered into a lottery; Lola Arellano Pegg ’93, whose favorite spot was the Pagoda, and Everglades graduate Gail Beckham ’70, whose favorite spot was the Dell, each won a gift bag.
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.