Page 4 - May 2014 Dell & Cannon

2 May 2014 I Ransom Everglades School I Dell + Cannon
Ellen Moceri + Head of School
An Incredible Day for Ransom Everglades,
continued.
MESSAGE
from the
Head
OF SCHOOL
impossible to develop. I further added that almost every night our Performing Arts Center is used
for the Alhambra Orchestra, the Community Youth Orchestra, several ballet companies and a variety
of civic organizations. And our classrooms are used once a week by the Children’s Bereavement
Center. Ransom Everglades and our parents partnered with the Boys & Girls Club to improve their
baseball field and to use it as well for our own baseball team. Last, but not least, we have partnered
with Coral Gables High School to refurbish their track to be used by their own team as well as
ours. And at the end of my presentation I thanked Commissioner Sarnoff for his letter recognizing
the incredible benefit to the community of our hosting the Paralympics for 280 students from 15
different countries. I finished with a very familiar mantra: Private schools have a public purpose.
After we finished our presentation and it was time for the commissioners to comment, I was
astounded at the effusiveness of their praise of our commitment to the community. Commissioner
Sarnoff noted that Ransom Everglades is responsible for bringing talent to the City of Miami. As he
put it, “Ransom Everglades’ name is on the lips of every hedge-fund manager who is considering a
move to Miami.” Commissioner Sarnoff was followed by Commissioner Hardemon who recounted a
most serendipitous story. As a senior at Northwestern High School, Commissioner Hardemon was
a member of the exchange program that we founded with them in my first year at the school. He
noted that he was overwhelmed by how welcoming our community was and by our willingness to
share our resources. He recounted the story of calling me one afternoon, during his week at Ransom
Everglades, to tell me he had left his backpack at the school and was concerned about the safety
of its contents. He remembered that I told him not to fear because students don’t steal things from
each other’s backpacks. Commissioner Hardemon ended by saying that many institutions talk the
talk of community service, but few institutions walk the talk the way that Ransom Everglades does.
In the final vote, all four commissioners present voted for our proposal. It was wonderful for all of
us there not only to receive this approval, but to hear from the city commissioners their heartfelt
gratitude and recognition of our service to our community.
As if that weren’t enough for one day, I went from the commission meeting, which ended by about
4:45 pm, to our Board of Trustees meeting which began at 5:00 pm. After a wonderful celebration of
the highlights of a very successful year, Jeffrey Miller ’79 invited the trustees and the administrators
present to come to the foyer of the Middle School and there they dedicated the building as the
Ellen Y. Moceri Community Center. I cannot tell you how honored and appreciated I felt, but most
importantly I felt that my thirteen year mission at Ransom Everglades had been fully understood
as the original mission of our founder, Paul C. Ransom. What a wonderful way to end one’s career!
Cheers,
Ellen Moceri