14 Ransom Everglades LOG FALL 2025 “I try to teach respect – respect for self, respect for others – in everything they do. Always give 100 percent and always treat your classmates with kindness.” – Joe Mauro he year was 1985. President Ronald Reagan was in his second term of office. Madonna reigned as the Queen of Pop on MTV. Teenagers showed off their latest piece of technology, the Sony Discman, while rollerskating down Miracle Mile. That same year, an enthusiastic and eager teacher, Joe Mauro, walked onto the Ransom Everglades campus for the first time. Regardless of all that was happening around him, it is the students whom he remembers most. “My first impression was how grown up and mature the kids were,” he recalls. “I was also impressed by their intelligence.” That student-centered, student-focused mindset that guided him during his first years of teaching remains the foundation of his classroom in his 41st year at RE. Mauro’s fingerprints are all over the Ransom Everglades middle school experience. He doesn’t just attend events; he plans them. He doesn’t just coach teams; he builds cultures of teamwork, sportsmanship and pride. New faculty seek him not just for guidance, but also to learn from his actions. During his time as a Raider, Joe Mauro has become synonymous with Ransom Everglades, serving in roles that have shaped the school. Throughout his career, he’s served as teacher, coach, athletic director, field trip coordinator, history and geography team sponsor, mentor for new faculty and assistant head of the middle school. Mauro hasn’t been just involved; he has been essential. And he’s been essential for multiple generations of students. At middle school open houses in recent years, he has been routinely reunited with former students who are now parents of current students. Amy Sayfie Zichella ’93, RE Director of Admission and Enrollment Management, has experienced Joe Mauro from multiple vantage points: as a student, a fellow teacher (she served as an English teacher early in her career) and, most recently, as an RE parent. When she learned that her daughter, Abby Zichella ’29, would have a class with the man she still refers to as “Mr. Mauro,” she was ecstatic. T By J.P. Arrastía English Faculty Member “Having Mr. Mauro as my teacher in middle school was one of the most special parts of my Ransom Everglades experience,” Sayfie Zichella said. “However, nothing compares to the fullcircle moment when my daughter also had the privilege of being his student. Sharing ‘Mr. Mauro stories’ with her and seeing her experience the same joy I once did is something I’ll treasure forever. He is truly one of a kind, and our community is so lucky to have had his influence for four decades.” One of the earliest, and most unexpected, hats he wore was as the school’s summer camp director only two years into his time at RE. “That was the summer of ’87,” he says. “I was pretty new to the school, and it was a lot of responsibility – but it was a lot of fun.” Mauro just didn’t keep the camp running. He turned it into a memorable, meaningful experience for campers and staff alike. RE’s Camp by the Bay remains one of the most popular summer camps in South Florida today. That early challenge was the first of many times Mauro would say “yes” to opportunities, no matter how big. No task was too intimidating for Mauro, including presenting a revolutionary program to the school’s board of directors. Without him, RE’s Breakthrough Miami Scholars may not be enriching the student body today. He says one of his greatest accomplishments was “being able to present the concept of Summerbridge, now known as Breakthrough Miami, to our board of directors and having it be accepted.” That idea, brought to life by co-founders John Flickinger ’74 and Doug Weiser ’74, has since grown into a life-changing opportunity for thousands of students across South Florida. This is the kind of impact few teachers can claim, and it all started with a conversation a young teacher had the courage to bring forward. “When I think of the number of lives [that] have been impacted by Breakthrough, it’s pretty humbling,” he said. Breakthrough Miami has since become a model of educational equity and opportunity, serving students at RE’s middle school and seven other locations across South Florida. Reflecting on his legendary time at Ransom Everglades, Mauro can’t help but Joe Mauro with the 2023 National History Bowl champion team.
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