RE Log Fall 2019

22 Ransom Everglades LOG FALL 2019 A vice president at Sunbeam Properties, Ansin sat down with the RE Log this summer. The STEM Center is going up fast! Tell us what to expect. We are on target to finish the building early in 2020. It’s going to raise the bar for all future academic facilities on campus and will drive the revitalization of the new Ludington Hall and all coming construction. STEM is the first step in executing the master plan envisioned by the board of directors and, in particular, Rudy Prio Touzet ’76 [immediate past-chair of the board] and Penny Townsend. Very directly, it will offer our students an incredible work space. Lab space won’t have to be shared as classroom space. Students can keep their experiments running. There will be a multipurpose room, which can serve as an auditorium for a class, or the seats can be retracted and the room can be used for a robotics competition or something completely different. There are outdoor stairs that can provide event seating because they overlook a courtyard where performances can be held. The building will be a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Silver certified structure. The roof will feature an outdoor classroom and solar panels. There will be a video monitor constantly updating the building’s use of solar power, which can be used for learning purposes. It will set the standard for STEM facilities around the nation. And after that? We have a great team at the Buildings & Grounds Committee lead by Randy Gumenick and Agustin “Konky” Arellano ’90, who is a new board member. It is supported by David Cerame, RE’s project manager, DSS Consultants (RE’s owner’s representatiive), and a great group of contractors, consultants and designers. We are under construction at the La Brisa house, remodeling it to provide staff and administrative office space. We are in the design stage for the rebuilding of Ludington and repurposing of the current dining hall. There is a fantastic design for the construction of a new dining hall on the La Brisa property. Also parking, of course, and improved access routes and green space that will connect the La Brisa property with the RE campus. What brought you to RE’s board a decade ago? In 2010, Jeff Roberts, Jeff Miller ’79 [board members] and Critt Butler [RE fundraising chief] approached our family about the aquatic center. During those conversations, Jeff Roberts asked me if I wanted to be on the board. He said it wasn’t going to be a very big time commitment. (Ansin laughs.) For some reason, I believed him. Why did you say yes? I felt passionate about the school. I’ve always felt a strong connection to Mr. Bowden. He taught me the sense of “good irreverence” that I talked about at commencement, as well as independence. He also demonstrated how to be sensitive and contemplative without taking yourself too seriously. Playing sports at RE opened up a whole facet in my life, and the swimming and water polo ultimately morphed into the spearfishing. To this day, I have so many friends from Ransom Everglades. On the board, in the community. The school was terrific preparation for college. Both of your parents were successful in business. What did you learn from them? My dad is very focused and thoughtful – I mean thoughtful in the sense of thinking things through. He looks at things skeptically. To this day, he tells me, “Do your own thinking. Do your own research. Ask “My dad is very focused and thoughtful ... He looks at things skeptically. To this day, he tells me, ‘Do your own thinking. Do your own research. Ask the right questions. Focus.’” Incorporating the La Brisa property into the upper school campus