An all-girls middle school math team from Ransom Everglades won the 2025 Miami Mathcounts competition hosted by the Florida Engineering Society on February 15, advancing to the state championship event in Daytona Beach. Ivy Chen '30, Esha Nagalla '29, Sofiya Dewan '29 and Maya Lee Shonfeld '30 came in first place in the overall competition and the ciphering round. The girls will head to the 2025 Florida Mathcounts State Competition on March 14 (Pi Day), hoping to match or improve upon RE's two straight second-place finishes there.
The Middle School Band & Strings Concert on February 11 showed steady and exciting progress and a deep commitment to a thoughtful learning process under band director Cathi Leibinger and strings director Scott O'Donnell. Leibinger and O'Donnell acted as both directors and narrators at the event at Swenson Hall, pausing to share deep insights into the teaching approach between performances by all levels of the middle school band and strings classes.
Three Ransom Everglades teams swept the gold medals at the South Florida Regional History Bowl competition that brought 11 schools and 28 teams to the upper school on February 8. RE teams went undefeated as they earned championships at every level: varsity (Jacob Aronow '26, Parker Jelke '27, Jaz Puri '28 and Zach Corbin Cheah '27), junior varsity (Jack Gonzalez '28, Harlan Hoenig '28 and Iker Fierro '28) and middle school (Noah Veras '29, Julian Jelke '29 and Evan Powe '29).
Five Ransom Everglades students – Taylor Smith '25 (photography), Patrick Keedy Brown '26 (poetry), Connor Alfonso '26 (humor), Misha Gowda '28 (poetry) and Vinay Rajadhyaksha '30 (digital) – won Gold Keys in the 2025 Regional Scholastic Art and Writing Awards contest, headlining a huge contingent of RE student-writers and student-artists on both campuses that won recognition. Sixteen students earned Silver Keys and 22 won Honorable Mention in the southern region.
Ransom Everglades celebrated Black History Month in February on both campuses with student reflections, special dance performances and traditional music. At the middle school, Faith Simmons ’29, Sydney Forrester ’29, Liv Brantley ’29 and Gillian Carvalho ’29 served as emcees for an event in the gymnasium that featured RE dance team members and the University of Miami Steppers. At the upper school, Black Students Association officers Mia Campbell '25 and Tariq Maduro '26 introduced a special dance performance, "Roots & Rhythms," by the Zest Collective and local choreographer Gentry Isaiah George, which followed a performance by the RE Jazz Band in the Lewis Family Auditorium.
Ransom Everglades celebrated the Lunar New Year and Year of the Snake with a vibrant showcase of music and dance at the upper school and various cultural activities at the middle school. Members of the Chinese Culture Club, several Chinese classes and the Chinese Parents Association worked together on the Feb. 5 centerpiece event at the upper school, which offered a colorful costumes, captivating entertainment, historical background and delicious cuisine. Among the many highlights: performances by the Dragon Dance Team and traditional fan and ribbon dances. Photo Gallery
Dieter Manstein '25, Connor Alfonso '26 and Nelson Manstein '26 earned "superior" awards and the Science Champion Award at the South Florida Regional Science and Engineering Fair February 1, and the trio also advanced to the 70th Florida State Science & Engineering Fair March 25-27 in Lakeland, Fla. The students were mentored by RE STEM faculty member Dr. Yuria Sharp.
Math teacher Jessica Merrick received the Edyth May Sliffe Award, a national award annually presented by the Mathematical Association of America to middle and high school mathematics teachers who have done outstanding work to motivate students. It was the second straight year a Ransom Everglades teacher received the prestigious award; in 2024, upper school math teacher Karen Key was recognized.
The Ransom Everglades varsity sailing team finished in first place in a major sailing competition that drew 18 schools from around the southeastern U.S. and Caribbean to the Anderson Watersports Center on February 1. Griggs Diemar '25 and Amelia Lazarus '25 led from start to finish in the A division of the South Atlantic Interscholastic Sailing Association South Points #3, and Sebastian van de Kreeke '25 and Sofia Rhone-Fernandez '26 dominated the B division.
RE's Model United Nations club participated in The Hague International Model United Nations (THIMUN) Conference January 27-31 in the Netherlands. With over 3,500 student delegates from schools from across the world in attendance, RE's 19 student participants represented a number of delegations: Namibia, UN Women to the General Assembly, Security Council, the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and several other committees. Ransom Everglades students lobbied proposals and networked with students from several countries to craft solutions to the world's issues through dialogue, consensus building and simulated diplomacy.
RE ninth graders extended a decades-long tradition by participating in the annual four-day, three-night trek through the Ten Thousand Islands. The Everglades Experience with North Carolina Outward Bound School was the culminating event of their fall and winter physical education curriculum, which included bay studies, navigation and canoeing. The students traveled to Everglades City in three waves, with the first group departing in early January and the final group returning at the end of the month. Photo Gallery Video
With the district title on the line, Johanna James '26 broke a scoreless tie in overtime and fellow junior Stella Colombo '26 added another goal to give the Raiders a thrilling 2-0 victory over True North Classical Academy at Robert E. Walker Field to claim the Class 2A District 15 championship. Goalkeeper Addison Pollock '25 set the stage for the victory with a shutout performance.
Two middle school student-athletes were among the Ransom Everglades fall sports athletes who earned first-team all-county recognition from the Miami Herald. Cole Durham '29 and Axel Monssoh '30 helped the boys' golf team win a district title and finish 11th at the state championship under coach Dave Ragan, who was named the Miami-Dade Boys’ Golf Coach of the Year. Volleyball star Addison Pollock '25 and swimmer Kiera Rampersad '25 also won first-team honors in the Herald rankings.
Holocaust survivor Allan J. Hall visited Ransom Everglades Middle School on International Holocaust Remembrance Day on January 27, sharing the history of the Holocaust and his heart-wrenching story of survival with eighth-grade students. Introduced by his great niece, Emma Hall '30, he was one of three featured speakers on the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp whose aim was to ensure that RE students never forget the atrocities of that period.
Nearly 100 members of the Ransom Everglades community – including 50 middle school students – participated in a Martin Luther King Day of Service food distribution on January 25 that provided nearly 400 families in Miami with a week's worth of food and supplies. The RE students, parents, siblings, faculty and administration members manned tables on a chilly and rainy morning, sorting and passing out fresh vegetables, fruit, various food stuffs and home supplies in partnership with the Joshua's Heart Foundation.
Nine Ransom Everglades students – Andrew Gedde '25, Robert Li '26, Daniel Li '28, Solon Sun '25, Gabriel Karsenti '26, Minnie Zhou '26, Joshie Khohayting '28, Alex Tevelow '28 and Aarav Jindal '26 – were among the top-performing students in the nation on a recent set of math exams. The students excelled on the American Mathematics Competitions 10 or 12 (depending on their grade level), qualifying for the American Invitation Mathematics Examination (AIME) – a rare distinction earned by less than 5 percent of test takers.
Admissions deans and directors from Middlebury College, University of Chicago, University of Toronto, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Washington University in St Louis shared insights on the college admissions process with members of the RE Class of 2026 and their parents during the College Admission Symposium on January 11 at the Lewis Family Auditorium. Co-Executive Director of College Counseling Jordan Shapiro welcomed juniors to the launch of the college admissions process and Ann Parks, Director of College Counseling Communications, addressed the importance of “expanding the universe of colleges and universities” when building an initial college list.
Ransom Everglades showcased the work of upper school art students enrolled in digital art, ceramics, photography, architecture and studio art at Visual Arts Gallery Night on Jan. 15. The exhibition took place at the Solomon Art Gallery, the Bowden library, the Cameron Hall foyer and the Lewis Family Auditorium. Photo Gallery
The six Ransom Everglades students who attended the 2024 Student Diversity Leadership Conference addressed middle school students during an assembly on Jan. 13, sharing personal highlights and meaningful moments from the national conference in Denver in December. Sofia Rhone-Fernandez '26, Carlos Horcasitas '25, Edwin Carr '26, Pierce Harris '26, Mia Campbell '25 and Jaerla Sajous '25 talked about their experiences engaging with many of the 2,000 conference attendees from independent schools across the nation.
A Ransom Everglades academic team that included a mix of junior varsity and middle school competitors defeated all-varsity squads from across South Florida to win the championship at the 2025 South Florida Regional History Bowl at American Heritage Schools in Delray Beach on Jan. 11. Upper school academic team president Jacob Aronow '26 led the Raider team that finished undefeated and included Parker Jelke '27, Jaz Puri '28, Noah Veras '29 and Julian Jelke '29.
If you are a passionate and talented educator – or you know one – who is looking for an exciting career opportunity, please mark your calendar for the Ransom Everglades Prospective Faculty Open House.
Date: Saturday,February 1, 2025 Time: 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Location: 3575 Main Highway, Miami, FL 33133
RSVP: Please confirm your attendance by January 28, 2025, by completing this registration form.
Ethan Thomas '25 was named one of the top 300 scholars in the Regeneron Science Talent Search 2025, the nation’s oldest science and math competition for high school seniors. Thomas, who submitted a project entitled "ConFormer: A Novel Collection of Deep Learning Models To Assist Cardiologists in the Assessment of Cardiac Function," was recognized in a January 8 announcement for outstanding research, leadership skills, community involvement, commitment to academics, creativity in asking scientific questions and exceptional promise as a STEM leader. The 300 selected students hail from some 200 American and international high schools and homeschools in 33 states, Washington D.C., Hong Kong, Malaysia and Switzerland.
Ransom Everglades started the new year with a discussion of ethical leadership featuring three students – Sophia Linfield '26, Ana Gonzalez '26 and Alexandra Russoniello '26 – who are pursuing Applied Ethical Leadership certificates from Students Shoulder-to-Shoulder, a partner organization to RE and RE's Holzman Center of Applied Ethics. During the January 7 assembly, the students told their upper school peers that the foundation of ethical leadership consisted of trust, empathy and justice. They also shared insights from their respective independent research projects on restorative justice (Linfield), gentrification in west Coconut Grove (Gonzalez), and leadership during the Haitian revolution (Russoniello).
The artwork of two dozen RE middle school students will be published in an art anthology of the top submissions to a national fall 2024 art competition sponsored by Celebrating Art and Blick Art Materials. Students of Elsa Munoz, Ellen Grant and Connie Hyde, the RE winners are: Amelia Gonzales '29, Bella Mustad '29, Jaaz Brooks '29, Natalia Saverin '29, Gillian Carvalho '29, Mayer Levin-Munoz '29, Aislin Moul '29, Charlie Gershman '29, Adriana Coello de Portugal '29, Sophie Wang '29, Samuel Geronemus '29, Isabella Sachar '29, Alejandro Gonzalez '30, Maya Lee-Schonfeld '30, Marlo Sohn '30, Noah Lopes '30, Abby Krawl '31, Maya Mercadal '31, Aria Rivera Flores '31, Ryder Frankel '31, Chika Adele '31, Brady Goldberg '31, Samuel Alexander '31 and Yahvi Raj '31.
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.