RE Log Spring 2023

SPRING 2023 Ransom Everglades LOG 31 Ringing in the Lunar New Year More than 200 gather to celebrate the Chinese holiday Astronaut launches Black History Month at RE Ransom Everglades rang in the Lunar New Year with educational and memorable celebrations on both campuses that were organized and executed by members of RE’s Chinese community. The Chinese Parent Committee, the Chinese Culture Club and RE’s Chinese language students joined forces to organize fun festivals of food, dance, acrobatics and music that brought RE students and families together on both campuses, with the centerpiece event on the Touzet Patio of La Brisa after school on Jan. 25. Among the highlights: a Dragon Dance performance by students in the Chinese 4 Honors class; a violin and viola performance of “The Butterfly Lovers” by Evelyn Yu ’24 and Christine Keedy Brown ’24 ; an acrobatics demonstration; the singing “GongXi GongXi” by Sander Joeveer ’24 and Henry Berler ’25 and a martial arts performance; and the playing of the Gu Zheng by Eve Zhou ’24 . A guest Beijing Opera performer shared the traditional opera piece: “Farewell My Concubine.” Former NASA astronaut and Coconut Grove native Winston Scott launched Ransom Everglades’ celebration of Black History Month with out-of-this-world talks to Ransom Everglades students on both campuses, telling stories about his days as an astronaut – specifically a space walker – on two space shuttle missions. Scott’s tales enraptured upper schoolers at the Lewis Family Auditorium in the morning of February 1 and middle schoolers in the gymnasium in the afternoon. He explained what riding on a space shuttle felt like, traveling from 0 to 17,500 miles per hour in eight-and-a- half minutes, and shared memories from his three space walks and two shuttle missions – nine days on the Endeavor in 1996, and 16 days on the Columbia in 1997. “It is a life-changing event to travel in space,” said Scott, a faculty emeritus at Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne, “there is nothing like it … But I’m not here to recruit astronauts. I’m here to tell you if you pursue your dream and accomplish it, it will be life-changing for you.” Scott shared details of his rise from segregated Miami – where his father was one of the county’s two Black mail carriers – through Coral Gables High School and Florida State University, where he studied music and engineering. He received his master’s degree in aeronautical engineering from the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School and worked as an officer and aviator before being accepted into NASA’s astronaut program. As a child, Scott said, he dreamed of space travel – he recalled selecting the book Project Mercury as a third grader on his first trip to the Coconut Grove Public Library on a class field trip. “I used to follow the space program … I was always fascinated by it,” he said to upper schoolers. “I didn’t think I could do it. It was so far-fetched, like watching Batman on TV.” Chinese Parent Committee Chair Shanjie Li, Interim Head of School Rachel Rodriguez and Chinese Culture Club President Kyle Ng ’23 opened the event with words of welcome and thanks to the many who contributed, including Director of Advancement Melanie Hoffmann, Chinese teacher Xiaohong Teng and parent committee members Abby Kellett, Abe Ng, Ming Zhao and Yun Zhou. “The purpose of this gathering is to celebrate the beginning of the Lunar New Year, while highlighting our remarkable students,” Rodriguez said. “We are incredibly excited to bring the community together to mark this important holiday.” More than 200 people attended the culminating event at La Brisa, which followed events on both campuses with similar performances, decor and Chinese foods and delicacies. “Seeing all your faces here today – not just Asian faces, but faces of every background,” Ng said, “shows me that Ransom Everglades is truly a multicultural institution, by which I mean an institution that recognizes the cultural value each of its members brings to the table.”