RE LOG - Spring 2017

SPRING 2017 Ransom Everglades LOG 63 Three Ransom Everglades teachers presented at the National Council of Teachers of English Conference in Atlanta, Ga., in November 2016. Kristin Castle, James McCrink and Jody Salzinger joined former RE teacher, Charlie Housiaux, to present a project that they had done with the seventh graders during the 2015-16 school year. The “Voice and Empathy” curriculum unit develops students’ descriptive and narrative writing voices and expands their capacities for empathy. The project culminated with each student creating an audiovisual piece based on his or her narrative. Several of these videos were shared at the conference, which attracts English teachers from all over the country. Faculty/Staff Nicola and Pete DiPace welcomed Luca Argyle DiPace, 8 lbs. 3 oz. and 21 inches long, on January 5, 2017, at 12:04 a.m. Rose Shumow and her husband welcomed Ruben Emanuel Shumow on Jan. 29, 2017, at 12:39 a.m., weighing in at 8 lb. 1 oz. and 20 inches long. Faculty member Matt Stock won an honor- able mention in the “Nature: Professional Category” in the prestigious International Black and White Spider Awards. This year the contest received 7,556 entries from 71 countries with 627 title awards in 31 categories. Karen Thompson and husband Jay Calkins, a retired RE AP Environmental Science teacher, paddled the Wilderness Waterway in Everglades National Park for eight days over the February 2017 winter break. They put in at Everglades City, north- ern access to the park, and after more than 100 miles, took out at Flamingo, southern ac- cess. The pair camped six of the seven nights on chickees, which are platforms in the national park used for camping. There isn’t a lot of dry land (mostly mangroves, rivers and inland bays), so there’s nowhere to put up a tent except for the chickees. Karen and Jay saw three other paddlers during their trip. Highlights included sighting 16 roseate spoonbills flying overhead, many dolphins hunting and trapping fish, beautiful sunsets, a baby manatee and mom, many sightings of alligators. The couple used navigational charts, a compass and tide charts to plan their route and find the chickees every night.