RE Log Fall 2019

10 Ransom Everglades LOG FALL 2019 proved a perfect fit for an imaginative yet introverted youth who hit puberty late and suffered through an extended stage of adolescent awkwardness. There are about a half dozen self-portraits documenting Phil’s school years hanging throughout his family’s home, and most depict him in some kind of distress, mouth agape, a frenzied expression on his face. Dan Bowden, Phil’s AP English teacher, described Phil as “one of the most original and creative members of the senior class” in a grade report, but also noted that he “must learn occasional restraint.” Phil’s time at RE also provided a vantage point from which to process his growing understanding of wealth and privilege. At Coconut Grove Elementary School, he had befriended children who were descendants of Bahamian immigrants who built Henry Flagler’s railroad. At RE’s upper school, after suffering an injury to his knee that forced him to quit cross country, he started teaching elementary school kids at The Barnyard, a community center in Coconut Grove that still attracts Ransom Everglades student volunteers. As a child, he had learned Spanish from his Cuban mother, which provided him a connection to a wider world. Yet it became increasingly clear that access didn’t always go both ways. Phil’s sister, Annie, who earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Harvard University, serves as executive director of Miami Homes For All, a nonprofit dedicated to finding affordable housing solutions in Miami-Dade County. During Phil’s stay in Miami, the siblings stood in the family’s backyard, going back and forth on the issue of homelessness, comparing notes from Florida and California. Phil peppered her with questions and, at one point, turned to a visitor and said admiringly: “Look at that Ransom Everglades education at work.” “Phil,” Annie responded, “has the same values.” Indeed, amid the silliness, that Ransom Everglades education budded in Phil, too. On a shelf near the entry of the Lords’ home sits a handful of student awards and trophies, including the Ransom Everglades middle school and upper school founders’ cups that Annie and Phil claimed in the same year – Phil, the Paul C. Ransom Cup as a senior in high school and Annie, the Marie B. Swenson Cup as an eighth grader. “We gave him 10 years of piano lessons, and all he wanted to do was draw.” – Wally Lord said about son, Phil Lord ’93