RE Log Fall 2019

FALL 2019 Ransom Everglades LOG 41 Alissa Hirschl joined RE’s Humanities Department from Evanston (Ill.) Township High School, where she taught world history and AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) classes and was actively involved in the life of the school. She served as a mentor for new teachers, junior board sponsor and member of the school improvement team and sum- mer humanities curriculum committee. For four years, Mrs. Hirschl served as Assistant Superintendent Special Project Assistant for Evanston Township, focus- ing on improving the four-year and post- secondary trajectory for striving stu- dents, and empowering and connecting diverse groups of students to decrease the marginalization of some youth. She earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and MSEd from Northwestern University. Clinton Hough works in the History and Social Sciences Department and as an assistant coach with the sailing team. Prior to arriving to RE, he taught AP U.S. History at the University School at Nova Southeastern University, and he has also taught government, economics, AP Human Geography and holocaust studies. He is pursuing his doctor- ate in history at Florida International University, focusing on business history and Latin American history with a dis- sertation on trade in colonial Florida. To advance this work, Mr. Hough has been awarded grants and fellowships to support research in Seville, Valladolid, Madrid, Spain, and Gainesville, Fla. He is an AP U.S. History reader and previ- ously served as accreditation chair. He earned his bachelor’s degree in political science from The Citadel, and master’s with a focus on Florida history from the University of South Florida, and he is a U.S. Sailing Association-certified sailing instructor. Xiu Huang joined RE’s World Languages & Global Studies Department from the Chinese Learning Center of Miami where she taught elementary school children, college students and business professionals. She previously served as a translator at Beijing Normal University, providing translations in spoken and written formats for a visit- ing professor from the United States. She worked as an administrative assistant at Yiduoyun Science and Technology, LTD., in Beijing and as a school principal and English teacher at Wenxin Education in Beijing, where she taught English. She earned her bachelor’s degree in English at Hankou University. Franz Huggins serves as RE’s Assistant Aquatics Director and head coach for boys’ and girls’ middle school swimming, and also teaches physical education classes. Mr. Huggins arrived to Ransom Everglades from Trinidad and Tobago, where he was founder and head coach of the Areios Aquatechs in Port of Spain. He coached a number of swimmers to the Olympics, Pan American Games, South American championships and Carifta swim cham- pionships. An American Swim Coaches Association (ASCA)-certified Level 3 coach, Mr. Huggins has also served as a national governing body executive, paralympic swimming technical direc- tor and compliance officer at Guardian General Insurance. He was a Ministry of Sport Spirit of Sport Award nominee for Coach of the Year in 2013. He earned his bachelor of arts from Florida Atlantic University and attended Plantation High, and was honored as “Swimmer of the Year” at both schools. Raheem Jackson teaches World Civilizations and U.S. History at Ransom Everglades, and also serves as an assis- tant varsity football coach. He most recently worked as an of the Southern Association of College Admission Counselors and served as a reader for national and regional college scholarship programs. Ms. Garcia earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Florida International University and Nova Southeastern University, respectively. Patrick Hession came to RE’s World Languages Department from Poly Prep Country Day School in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he taught French for four years. An ac- complished sailor, Mr. Hession will teach sailing in the freshman physical educa- tion curriculum and serve as an assistant sailing team coach. An all-conference and all-American competitive sailor who holds a U.S. Sailing Level 1 Certification, he served as senior sailing instructor and coach at the Devon Yacht Club, West Dennis Yacht Club and Manhattan Yacht Club. Mr. Hession earned his bachelor’s degree from Boston College and his mas- ter’s at the Middlebury College Graduate Language School in Paris. Carla Hill, RE’s new Director of Inclusion and Community Engagement, will work with all mem- bers of the community on diversity, equity and inclusion and be especially focused on work in the admis- sion office this year. She arrived from the Department of Mental Health Services at the Miami-Dade County Public Schools district office, where she supervised a team of mental health coordinators and provided district-wide support for students and school staff. She previ- ously worked at the South Miami-Dade Cultural Arts Center as Education and Outreach Manager; the National Young Arts Foundation as Director of National Programs; and Family Counseling Services of Greater Miami as Program Manager. She also worked as a language arts teacher at New World School of the Arts and Hammocks Middle School. She attended New World School of the Arts and then obtained her bachelor’s degree at Florida State University and master of sci- ence in mental health counseling at Barry University.