RE Log Spring 2019

SPRING 2019 Ransom Everglades LOG 27 ‘Work hard, be fair and listen’ Child advocate, former publisher visits RE Student Wellness RE opens new Wellness Center Former RE board member and parent David Lawrence Jr. admonished Upper School students to lead lives of energetic purposefulness during a Jan. 29 as- sembly at the Lewis Family Auditorium. Lawrence retired as publisher of the Miami Herald at 56 to become one of the nation’s leading proponents of childhood welfare and education. Lawrence encouraged students to get out of their comfort zones, and to seek people and experiences to challenge them and help them grow. He took questions from a panel of RE students – Juanchi Roca-Paisley ’19, Alex Prio-Touzet ’21, Zoe San Martin ’20, Jessica Lee ’19, Isa Peña ’19  and Sofia Andrade ’19 . “You are going to get ahead,” he said. “Some of you are going to get spec- tacularly ahead ... You can do almost anything you want. I want you to lead a life of service, doing something bigger and beyond yourself.” Lawrence retired from the Herald in 1999 after helping the newspaper win five Pulitzer Prizes. He now chairs The Children’s Movement of Florida, whose goal is to make children the state’s top priority for investment. He served on Ransom Everglades’ Board of Trustees from 1990-2003 and with his wife Roberta had five children, including three who attended RE: Dana Lawrence ’03, John Lawrence ’98  and Amanda Wood ’94 . After the assembly, he engaged with students and signed cop- ies of his memoir, A Dedicated Life: Journalism, Justice and a Chance for Every Child. “I’m as optimistic and idealistic today as I was at age 16,” Lawrence said. “I always thought the best I could do would be to work hard, be fair and listen to other people.” Ransom Everglades converted a white Key West-style guest cottage surrounded by banyan trees on its new La Brisa property into a charming new Wellness Center for students. Counselor Isis Perez-Gonzalez and nurse Norma Torres are stationed in the inviting cottage, making the facility a campus hub for physical and mental- health care for students. The building includes a reception area, two medical treat- ment areas and counseling office.