RE Log Spring 2023

8 Ransom Everglades LOG SPRING 2023 Under the guidance of then-Interim Head of the Middle School Karen Thompson and Dean of Students Jimmy Oxsalida, these three teachers were given the green light to design the house system. They began researching benchmark schools and seeking help and advice from faculty members and students. The class deans, Cameron Ferguson, Joe Supple and Maria Elena Soto, became pivotal to the development of the program. Together, the team realized that in order to move into a new and exciting future, they would have to travel into the past.  A look into the past  The magical halls of Hogwarts are decorated with the seals and colors of the four houses that are at the center of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series. In the books, each house is named after an important part of the school’s history. The middle school team wanted the same for their iteration. The history of Ransom Everglades needed to play a prominent role in the implementation of the middle school house system.  Soto, the Dean of the Eighth Grade, took on this challenge. She sought out the assistance of Katrina Patchett, RE’s archivist and resident historian. Their research took them to the early years of the Adirondack-Florida School, the Everglades School for Girls and the Ransom School. The past came to life as they dove into yearbooks, historical documents and literary magazines. It was during this research that Soto discovered that the idea of mini- communities within the school was nothing new; both the Everglades School for Girls and the Ransom School had their own versions of houses.  The Everglades School for Girls divided girls into Ibis and Egret teams. “It seemed appropriate for Everglades to pick the names of the indigenous birds,” recalled Katherine “Kaki” Swenson Kahan ’61 , daughter of Everglades School for Girls founder Marie Swenson. “Academically and personally we identified with one team or another when we were playing sports.” To keep this tradition alive, the ibis and egret were adopted as the house birds for two of the new houses.  Similarly, the Ransom School split its boys into two teams: the Green and the White. Edward “Ted” Seward ’61 recalls the positive culture these teams created among the students. “It caused a camaraderie among students across grade lines and across clique group lines which would never cross otherwise,” Seward recalled. “Imagine a sixth former ‘cheering on’ an unknown individual to him … at a spelling bee. How cool was it to create that bond?”  The middle school houses took inspiration from the Ibis and Egret teams and the Green and White, and they took shape as Soto and Patchett unearthed more pieces of history that would later be preserved in the house names and identities.  “We found it important that the house names meant something,” Soto said. “We wanted our students to appreciate the building blocks that helped construct the amazing school we attend today. You cannot appreciate the present without recognizing the past.”  Adirondack House gets its name from the campus in New York where students from the Adirondack-Florida School, the predecessor to the Ransom and Everglades schools, spent the first part of their academic year. The school was intended to give boys the best advantages attainable in the way of individual attention and natural surroundings. The fact that the boys received the loyal attention of the faculty and staff led to the Adirondack House being nicknamed the House of Loyalty. The Banyan House is named after the grandiose banyan trees that have provided shade and protection to the Everglades Campus for almost a century. As the House of Ingenuity, members of Banyan are asked to find the beauty and creativity in everything around them. Echo House is named after the Everglades School newspaper, The Echo . The Echo evolved during a time when the school was becoming more modern and progressive, embracing the changing times. Therefore, members of Echo House are in the House of the Bold, students who are ready and willing to stand up for what they believe.    Named after the Everglades School for Girls yearbook, the Excelon House was designated as the House of Legends. The Courtesy of RE Archives