RE Log - Fall 2023

FALL 2023 Ransom Everglades LOG 31 ‘A Source of Hope’ Some 400 students’ projects featured at RE Climate Symposium The seventh annual Ransom Everglades Climate Symposium showcased the best thing going for our climate-in-crisis: smart, motivated, activated youth. Hundreds of Ransom Everglades middle schoolers and many upper schoolers displayed and discussed their solution-oriented projects during “a sustainable, eco-friendly celebration” – in the words of Director of Environmental Sustainability Kelly Jackson – on April 26 at the Fernandez STEM Center. “I see today’s projects as a source of hope and show of the power that young people have to change the world,” said Mia Bouyoucef ’25 , a member of RE’s Green Team and co-president of the Miami Youth Climate Summit, during the opening assembly at the Lewis Family Auditorium. The symposium featured more than 400 student projects, most of which had interdisciplinary aspects, combining elements of science, the social sciences, arts and world languages. It also featured a zero-waste, climate friendly meal of meatless delights with compostable plates and utensils. Hundreds of parents attended with their children, whose projects were featured in classrooms on all three floors of the STEM center. Several students besides Bouyoucef addressed the sixth-grade class and their parents, sharing their particular passions and ideas for climate solutions: Tula Thompson ’29, Lilly Knoll ’29, Dottie Spencer-Funchion ’29, Chloe Jimenez ’26, Tomas Jimenez ’28, James Sardina ’29, Beatrice Hill ’29, Esha Nagalla ’29, Benjamin Brandrick-Morris ’29, Lily Kingdon ’29 and Ciaran Clingarn ’29 . The assembly also featured a short film by environmental activist Will Charouhis ’24 on his “A Million Mangroves” project. “As you can see,” Jackson said, “students on the upper and middle school campuses have put in a tremendous amount of work learning how to make a positive difference for our planet.”