RE LOG Fall 2024

14 Ransom Everglades LOG FALL 2024 Community and concerns at Everglades “The girls were resistant to the merger,” Georgia Penn Noble ’74 said matter-of-factly. “There was real concern that Everglades would lose its character, and would lose what was most special about it,” recalled Kate Sullivan Lindseth ’75 , the Everglades class president at the time of the merger. “We had such a nice situation in our classrooms and among ourselves,” Penn Noble added. “It was a very special environment and a very special group.” Marie B. Swenson perfectly filled a hole in the South Florida educational landscape when she founded the Everglades School for Girls in 1955 – the same year the legendary educator Dan Leslie Bowden arrived at Ransom. She and her husband, Edward, were determined to offer a premium education on par with that found at the finest girls’ schools in the Northeast. The school welcomed girls regardless of race, ethnicity or religious beliefs, and its small staff of mostly female teachers encouraged independent thinking, excellence in the liberal arts and active engagement in public service. Girls recalled a nurturing environment that helped them thrive as students and citizens, and form lifelong friendships. “It was magical,” Lindseth said. “It was really exceptional. There was support. It was fun. There was serious academics. It was very much a home away from home. It was really the port in the storm to a few kids. I just have the fondest memories.” The women from Everglades, who still refer to themselves as “Everglades Girls,” competed as members of the Egret or Ibis in-house teams and participated in community service. The youngest students interacted with the oldest, helping them feel included and valued. The students wrote the school song, wore uniforms that they had designed – pastel jumpers and saddle shoes – and took only college-prep classes; there was no home economics at Everglades. They benefited from interdisciplinary approaches in the classroom before “interdisciplinary” became a catch-phrase in education, and all of their classes were small and discussion-based. “This was a place that allowed us, young women, to have a voice,” Laurinda Spear ’68 said. “Amongst ourselves in our classes with our teachers, we could really discuss anything, and our voices were heard.” The atmosphere of care and concern, some said, was unlike anything they have experienced since. “Going to school at Everglades felt like being in a sorority, with big sisters there to look up to,” Lori Helfman Goldberg ’78 said. “We were like a family. It was so intimate. Our teachers were true educators, there to support us in our learning and intent on helping us become knowledgable young women with poise and integrity.” Added Spear: “At that moment in history, everything was right about it.” “It was so intimate. Our teachers were true educators, there to support us in our learning and intent on helping us ...” – Lori Helfman Goldberg ’78