RE Log Spring 2022

Back to the Everglades Outward Bound returns in 2022 Student ews Top Notch Ransom Everglades’ speech and debate team qualified eight students to the National Speech and Debate Association national championship this spring and nearly four dozen students to the Florida Forensic League Varsity State Championship in Orlando in March. The strong results continued a superb season under RE coach Kate Hamm. Liv Steinhardt ’23, David Dubovy ’22 and Dashiell DeStefano ’22 qualified for nationals in Congressional Debate. Lauren Page ’24 advanced in International Extemporaneous; and Alexandra Henriquez ’22 and Francesca Lopez ’24 advanced in Program of Oral Interpretation. Noah Gold ’22 and Zach Marcus ’22 advanced in Public Forum debate. Gold and Marcus have highlighted the team’s spectacular season, winning the state title in their event, earning first-place finishes in two national events and ending 2021 as the top-ranked public forum team by the National Debate Coaches Association. Anya Dua ’22 , Dina Kaplan ’22, Luca Campiani ’22, Mather Davidson ’22 and Varun Raju ’24 won the state championship in World Schools Debate; and Sophia Rubinstein ’22 and Eva Tariko ’22 earned a first-place finish in a national event. After a one-year pause because of the pandemic, freshmen returned to the Ten Thousand Islands in the Everglades in 2021-22, resuming the experiential learning tradition at Ransom Everglades that dates more than 30 years. In deference to COVID-19, freshmen traveled in four waves instead of two and each student was required to submit to a rapid COVID-19 test the morning of departure. During their five-day, four-night Outward Bound adventures, freshmen broke into small groups, departing from different locations and paddling canoes back to base Speech and debate students earn titles and bids camp. During their journeys, they set up and broke down camp, cooked and managed other elements of the excursions. The students prepared for the trip in the fall during their ninth-grade physical education classes under the direction of Erica Bartos, RE’s Maritime Curriculum Director and Dockmaster. They learned to use a compass, navigate and “board up” their canoes for nights on the water. Sophomores who missed out on the annual trek last year because of COVID-19 will be participating in a special outdoor excursion in North Carolina in May. To support the Michael Stokes Outward Bound Endowment Fund, contact Director of Advancement Melanie Hoffmann at mhoffmann@ransomeverglades.org or 305 460 8820. 28 Ransom Everglades LOG SPRING 2022 Zach Marcus ’22 and Noah Gold ’22