RE Log Fall 2019

FALL 2019 Ransom Everglades LOG 89 It all started with Everglades English teacher Carol Glasener. Ms. Glasener reached out to then- senior Leslie Wakefield Buchanan ’72 , recruiting her to write letters and make phone calls to Everglades alumnae. The goal: encourage alumnae to remain connected to their school. Little did Leslie know the strongest connection she would form would be her own. As a volunteer, RE parent ( Katie Reynolds ’01 and Tom Buchanan ’03 ) and former trustee, Leslie Wakefield Buchanan has been among the school’s most loyal alumni. Service to the school ran deep within her family – her father, Thomas Wakefield, was on the Board of the Everglades School for Girls before and during the merger with the Ransom School, and her husband, Joe Buchanan, also served on the board of Ransom Everglades. Her continuous record of support for the school is surpassed only by Harry Anderson ’38 and former board chair Eric Buermann ’69 . Wakefield Buchanan loves to recall the many skills and lessons imparted during her years at Everglades that have served her well in her career and life. There were morning assemblies at school that required public speaking – often extemporaneously – a skill that proved invaluable in her professional life. Everglades also required outstanding written communications, which she drew upon as a manager and supervisor. Best of all, she developed a network of friends she relies on to this day. Wakefield Buchanan also recalled the transformational relationships forged with teachers at Everglades – Ann Goesel and countless others – who changed lives through their inspirational teaching and mentoring of their students. She recalled visiting a number of early Everglades graduates at a mini-reunion in Vermont and marveling at their stories of how Everglades had prepared them for a diversity of life experiences. “Everglades girls developed the self-confidence, the smarts and the ability to go out into the world and have meaning- ful lives,” she said. Wakefield Buchanan has been determined to pass on the gifts that she received: in recent years, she joined with other Everglades graduates to create the Ann Goesel Mathematics Faculty Chair, honoring a remarkable teacher and the tradition of excel- lence in teaching she remembers as a student. As her children have left Miami, she remains committed to providing the same extraordi- nary experience that she and her children had to future generations. A long history of support Leslie Wakefield Buchanan ’72