RE Log Spring 2019

28 Ransom Everglades LOG SPRING 2019 Student News Great Debate Kate Hamm helps elevate speech and debate at RE Ransom Everglades’ speech and debate program has grown in size and stature under the direction of coach and faculty member Kate Hamm, who has been routinely celebrated while leading RE’s students to unprecedented recognition and accomplishment. In 2017, she earned a lifetime achieve- ment award from the Florida Blue Key Speech and Debate Tournament. This year, Hamm was named the regional coach of the year for the second straight year, and is slated to receive the presti- gious Four Diamond Key Award at the National Speech and Debate Association (NSDA) national championships this June.  Six RE students – team president Ilija Wan-Simm ’19, Megan Houchin ’19, Math Masters Two students earn top-5 in math event Two Ransom Everglades students finished in the top five of the 38th-annual David Essner Mathematics Competition at the University of Miami Oct. 20, the fifth time in the history of the event that RE achieved that distinc- tion. Dylan Tie-Shue ’20 finished second and Anna Mistele ’19 , fourth – breaking a seven-year streak of boys only in the event’s top five. Donna Zheng ’19 and Jen Lin ’20 tied for 12th place. RE has achieved excellent results in the competition in recent years under math team coach Karen Key. John Mistele ’17 won the competition for three straight years from 2014-16. Eric Cai ’17 (2015) and Joon Kim ’17 (2016) each claimed fifth-place finishes. Nearly 100 students from 21 schools took part in this year’s event. The competi- tion was established as a memorial to David Essner and is sponsored by the Essner family and the University of Miami Department of Mathematics. Marley Rywell ’19, Brianna Kerr ’19, Oliver Stern ’19  and Dori Schurr ’20 – earned early bids to the prestigious Tournament of Champions national event in April in Lexington, Ky. Those students, along with Alex Dray ’21 and Thomas Murphy ’19, helped the team win the 2018 NSDA District Sweepstakes awards for speech and debate and achieve consistently top results at local, regional and national events. More than 40 RE students quali- fied for the 2019 state championships.