RE Log - Spring 2020

SPRING 2020 Ransom Everglades LOG 35 Bahamas RElief Ransom Everglades supports The Bahamas with donations The RE community came together quickly in September 2019 to try to help those suf- fering from the devastation caused by Hurricane Dorian, engaging in a two-day relief drive for The Bahamas that filled up the art gallery at the upper school and atrium at the middle school with tarps, bottled water, bleach, first aid supplies, toiletries, towels and other items. Students, faculty, staff and alumni dropped off supplies; RE students sorted the items and packed them into dozens of boxes; and RE faculty and alumni delivered the donations to a designated City of Miami drop-off location. The school also collected more than $13,000 in donations, which were directed to the Bonefish Tarpon Trust and the Church of St. Christopher in Nassau. Head of School Penny Townsend and faculty member Astrid Dalins organized the drive in partnership with Christ Episcopal Church, which is located in a historically Bahamian neighborhood in Coconut Grove. Faculty members Jenny Carson ’03 and Kristine Stump at the upper school and Pete DiPace, Alexandra Gunner and J.P. Arrastia at the middle school engineered the efforts on each campus. RE staff helped deliver the goods with alumni Ryan Holtzman ’00, Emerson Fales ’86 and Carson, and RE faculty Flavia Araripe, Gus Palacios, Kelly Jackson and Frances Alexander. Founders’ Award RE honors pioneer in field of suicide prevention Ransom Everglades bestowed its most prestigious alumni award for public service on Kelly Posner Gerstenhaber ’85 , who has established herself as a pioneer, global leader and outspoken ad- vocate in the field of suicide prevention. Gerstenhaber accepted the 2019 Founders’ Award for Distinguished Service to the Community from Head of School Penny Townsend, who said that Posner Gerstenhaber’s work “exemplified the spirit of stewardship and leadership that Paul Ransom envisioned when he sought students who would leave the world better than they found it.” The founder and director of The Columbia Lighthouse Project at Columbia University, Posner Gerstenhaber de- veloped a scientific approach to sui- cide deterrence that has inspired local, national and international policy changes and helped achieve reductions in suicides across all sectors of society and on six continents. She received the Secretary of Defense Medal for Exceptional Public Service in 2018. “It’s with great humility and honor that I accept this award for work that truly em- bodies Paul Ransom’s founding words,” she said. “Among the recognitions that I have received, this one is particularly meaningful.” She dedicated the award to her late parents, Susan and Steven Posner. Posner Gerstenhaber was honored during a Nov. 6, 2019, event that celebrated RE’s most generous supporters at the home of RE trustee Constance Fernandez and husband Mike Fernandez. A graduate of Brown University, Posner Gerstenhaber was recognized in 2007, as the Most Distinguished Alumna of her graduate school, Yeshiva University, over the last 50 years. Her work has been cited at the White House, congressional hearings and by the Supreme Court. She also helped found the Speyer Legacy School in New York. “The impact I’ve been able to have in saving lives would not have happened without the education that I received at Ransom Everglades,” she said, “the high school that nourished who I was meant to be, and put me on a path that has felt like an epic dream.” Head of School Penny Townsend, Kelly Posner Gerstenhaber ’85 , Board Chair Andy Ansin ’81 , Trustee Constance Fernandez