Speech and Debate Team
The Ransom Everglades Speech and Debate (RESD) Team strives to bring out the best in students, making them confident public speakers, educating them on how to develop an argument, and providing them with the opportunity to give their voices a platform and purpose, and to use their words for action. The team also fosters a well-spoken, well-informed environment in which people are not afraid to speak up for themselves, and RESD's mission is to help students find "strength in words."
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Team News
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RE Speech and Debate excels at national championship
Read MoreRansom Everglades Speech and Debate scored a podium finish and other top results at the 2026 National Speech and Debate Tournament in Richmond, Va., June 14-19. Luisa Duarte '27, Nick Torres '27, Eli Tomassetti '27, Evan Coulter '27 and Lila Mosse '27 achieved second place in the nation in World Schools Debate, and Torres claimed eighth place in the Top Speaker Award category. -
RE Speech and Debate sweeps regional team events as 17 students earn national bids
Read MoreRansom Everglades Speech and Debate delivered a dominant performance at the 2026 Florida Flamingo District National Qualifier at Ransom Everglades March 14, with 17 students securing a trip to the National Speech and Debate Association’s (NSDA) Championship Tournament in Richmond in June. RE also swept the team honors, winning the speech, debate and overall tournament sweepstakes and tying for the congressional debate sweepstakes under coaches Kate Hamm and Justinmar Perez. -
RE Speech and Debate scores nationally and locally
Ransom Everglades speech and debate students continued an award-winning season with stellar results in two recent tournaments. At a local event, five team members – Lucas Sanchez '27, Jackson Berlin '27, Dylan Kantesaria '29, Tula Thompson '29 and Misha Gowda '28 – won first-place trophies as nearly a dozen received top awards. At a highly competitive national event, RE students excelled, with several advancing deep into the elimination round.Read More -
RE speech and debate excels in national, regional tournament
Ransom Everglades' speech and debate team continued a strong competitive season with excellent performances at national and regional tournaments in January. RE students claimed 11 top-four finishes at the Cavalier Invitational in Durham, N.C., and multiple event championships at the Sunvitational in Davie, Fla.Read More -
RE speech and debate scores locally, regionally and nationally
Ransom Everglades Speech and Debate concluded its fall competitive season with high-level performances across five tournaments since mid-October, winning eight event championships while scoring 18 top-three placements at local, regional and national events.Read More
A few highlights: Lucas Sanchez ’27 earned fourth place in Dramatic Interpretation at a national event in Chicago; Ella Griffin '29 earned three first-place finishes across two events; and Reed Gershman ’26 won one event while scoring three top-three finishes. The team of Tyler Marcus ’26 and Eduardo de Sabrit ’26 claimed a first-place finish at a major regional tournament. -
RE Speech and Debate off to a strong start in 2025-26
Speech and debate students from Ransom Everglades scored three first-place trophies and eight finals finishes at the early-season Nova Titan Invitational in Davie, Fla., Oct. 10-11. RE's champions: Gustavo do Valle '26 won first place in Humorous Interpretation, Flavia Contreras '28 scored first place in Dramatic Interpretation and Jackson Berlin '27 claimed first in Informative Speaking.Read More -
Colina wins national championship in speech and debate
Claudia Colina '25 concluded an extraordinary season in speech and debate with a national championship in Dramatic Interpretation at the 100th anniversary of the National Speech and Debate Tournament in Des Moines, Iowa. A year after finishing fifth in the nation, Colina captured the U.S. title on June 21 with her moving, impassioned interpretation of Legitimate Kid: A Memoir by Aida Rodriguez. Surrounded by teammates and supported by coaches Kate Hamm and Justinmar Perez, she flourished during numerous competitive rounds and endured a tournament delay caused by an intruder who was apprehended.Read More -
RE Speech and Debate wins three state titles at state tournament
RE's speech and debate team won three state titles – Claudia Colina '25 in Dramatic Interpretation, Eduardo Michelsen '25 in Impromptu Speaking, and Nora Brue '25, Mia Bouyoucef '25 and T.J. Malone '25 in World Schools Debate – and earned seven podium finishes at the 2025 Florida Forensic League Varsity State tournament at the University of Central Florida March 1-2.Read More
Rounding out the top-three finishes for RE: Miranda Silva '26 and Daniela Garcia '26 scored second place in Duo Interpretation; Andrew Gedde '25 earned second in Informative Speaking; Silva won third place in Humorous Interpretation; and Lucas Sanchez '27 claimed third in Dramatic Interpretation. -
RE Speech and Debate continues excellence in 2024-25
RE's speech and debate team excelled at two major events in January, extending a stellar season with more points of pride for the program. Miranda Silva '26 and Daniela Garcia '26 won first place in Duo Interpretation at the Jan. 17-19 Cavalier Invitational in Durham, N.C., and Claudia Colina '25 and Lucas Sanchez '27 won first place in that event at the Sunvite Tournament Jan. 10-12 in Fort Lauderdale.Read More
Two large teams of RE students also claimed victories: In Durham, Nora Brue '25, Todd Malone '25 and Mia Bouyoucef '25 won World Schools Debate and, at the Sunvite, Minnie Zhou '25, Michael Mederos '25, Ana Gonzalez '26 and Winston Hosford '27 claimed the title in World Schools Debate as Sofia Mena '27 and Julia Jacir '27 finished first in Junior Varsity Public Forum Debate. -
Ransom Everglades Speech and Debate excels in back-to-back tournaments
Read MoreRansom Everglades Speech and Debate won the Speech Sweepstakes Award – given to the top team in the speech event – at the Cypress Tradition tournament in Weston Dec. 7-8 as team members collected a host of individual awards. RESD also excelled at the Glenbrooks National Speech and Debate Tournament Nov. 23-25 in Chicago, Ill. Across both tournaments, team members collected 19 top placements.
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Coaches
List of 2 members.
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Kathleen Hamm
History & Social Sciences Teacher, Speech and Debate CoachSt. Cloud State University - B.A.
Loras College - M.A. -
Justinmar Perez
History & Social Sciences TeacherFlorida International University - B.A.
Roster
Adler, Jaden '29
Alderuccio, Isabella '29
Andrade, Diego '28
Andrade, Natalia (Naty) '29
Barrington, Arthur '29
Bayly, Zoe '29
Berkowitz, Jagger '30
Berlin, Jackson '27
Berthier, Isabella '30
Berthier, Sabrina '29
Beyda, Dylan '28
Bhandari, Maya '28
Bhandari, Ria '28
Bland, Felicia (Felicia) '30
Bontas, Alexander (Alex) '29
Brandrick-Morris, Ben '29
Brooks, Alana '29
Brue, Owen '27
Bush, Georgia '29
Cassel, Violet '29
Chinoy, Giacomo '27
Contreras, Flavia '28
Coulter, Evan '27
Cramer, Noa '29
Dalal, Ryder '30
Dalal, Tyson '28
Daphnis, Lani '28
Davis, Tallulah '30
de Sabrit, Isabella '28
de Souza, Alexander '29
de Souza, Nathan '29
Delgado, Mateo '27
Dewan, Sofiya '29
Duarte, Luisa '27
Echavarria, Lucas '28
Echavarria, Sabrina '29
Fehretdinov, Maksim '30
Fierro Garcia, Iker '28
Galinsky, Anna '30
Garcia, Ozi '30
Geronemus, Sam '29
Gershman, Charles '29
Gold, Caleb '27
Gonzalez Bergoderi, Constanza '29
Gowda, Misha '28
Graziano, Diana '29
Griffin, Ella '29
Griffin, Sophie '30
Grunauer Cordova, Valentina '29
Haralambides, Phaedra '28
Hart, Julianna '30
Hurwitz, Zachary '29
Jacir, Julia '27
Jayaram, Rafael '30
Johnson, Nicholas '28
Kaleli, Selin '28
Kantesaria, Dylan '29
Katsoufis, Aleko '28
Katz, Hannah '30
Kern, Grace '30
Khvorostianyi, Matt '29
Kong, Michael '28
Kruger, Stefano '28
Kulkarni, Felix '27
Lazo, Nina '30
Lemus, Kaitlyn '27
Lie-Nielsen, John '30
Louis, Josephine '28
Luca, Cristina '28
Mantri, Daven '30
Mark, Oliver '29
Martin, David '29
Alderuccio, Isabella '29
Andrade, Diego '28
Andrade, Natalia (Naty) '29
Barrington, Arthur '29
Bayly, Zoe '29
Berkowitz, Jagger '30
Berlin, Jackson '27
Berthier, Isabella '30
Berthier, Sabrina '29
Beyda, Dylan '28
Bhandari, Maya '28
Bhandari, Ria '28
Bland, Felicia (Felicia) '30
Bontas, Alexander (Alex) '29
Brandrick-Morris, Ben '29
Brooks, Alana '29
Brue, Owen '27
Bush, Georgia '29
Cassel, Violet '29
Chinoy, Giacomo '27
Contreras, Flavia '28
Coulter, Evan '27
Cramer, Noa '29
Dalal, Ryder '30
Dalal, Tyson '28
Daphnis, Lani '28
Davis, Tallulah '30
de Sabrit, Isabella '28
de Souza, Alexander '29
de Souza, Nathan '29
Delgado, Mateo '27
Dewan, Sofiya '29
Duarte, Luisa '27
Echavarria, Lucas '28
Echavarria, Sabrina '29
Fehretdinov, Maksim '30
Fierro Garcia, Iker '28
Galinsky, Anna '30
Garcia, Ozi '30
Geronemus, Sam '29
Gershman, Charles '29
Gold, Caleb '27
Gonzalez Bergoderi, Constanza '29
Gowda, Misha '28
Graziano, Diana '29
Griffin, Ella '29
Griffin, Sophie '30
Grunauer Cordova, Valentina '29
Haralambides, Phaedra '28
Hart, Julianna '30
Hurwitz, Zachary '29
Jacir, Julia '27
Jayaram, Rafael '30
Johnson, Nicholas '28
Kaleli, Selin '28
Kantesaria, Dylan '29
Katsoufis, Aleko '28
Katz, Hannah '30
Kern, Grace '30
Khvorostianyi, Matt '29
Kong, Michael '28
Kruger, Stefano '28
Kulkarni, Felix '27
Lazo, Nina '30
Lemus, Kaitlyn '27
Lie-Nielsen, John '30
Louis, Josephine '28
Luca, Cristina '28
Mantri, Daven '30
Mark, Oliver '29
Martin, David '29
Mason, Keane '30
Mason, Sloane '27
Mena, Sofia '27
Morlacchi, Maya '29
Mosse, Alexis '29
Mosse, Lila '27
Motwani, Arin '30
Moyle, Catherine '28
Moyle, Thomas '30
Nadeau, Pearson '30
Nantambu, Mikhail '29
Newton, William '29
Pabby, Ria '30
Paresky, Ava '29
Parisi, Isabella '27
Peiffer, Sailor '30
Perez-Carrillo, Andrea '29
Phillips, William '29
Pines, Daniela '30
Pollock, Olivia '29
Pombo, Gustavo '29
Powe, Evan '29
Puleo-Newman, Matias '29
Rahman, Alia '30
Rai-Walls, Ellora '29
Ramirez, Ana '30
Revilla, Gabriel '30
Rodriguez, Isabella '28
Rodriguez, Santiago '30
Rojas, Olivia '30
Ross, Leonard '30
Rothberg, Jacob '29
Salman, Aya '29
Salvat, Sandro '29
Sanchez, Lucas '27
Sardina, James '29
Saverin, Natalia '29
Schimel, Quinn '30
Schwartz, Sidney '29
Senra, Sofia '30
Shah, Nina '30
Shore, Sofia '28
Sigelman, Maya '30
Simmons, Faith '29
Simon, Chloe '30
Sirinyan, Axel '29
Sirinyan, Mathis '30
Slusky, Henry '29
Sohn, Marlo '30
Thomas, Trevor '29
Thompson, Anna '29
Thornburg, Robert '30
Thurber, Lyla '28
Tomassetti, Eli '27
Torres, Cristian '29
Torres, Gabriella '29
Torres, Nicholas '27
Udell, Rayna '29
Uster Valdivieso, Matias '30
Vadia, Micaela '29
Veloso, Arthur '29
Vergara, Daniela '28
Villamizar, Sebastian '29
Wallen, Alex '30
Wang, Sophie '29
White, Rexford '29
Yagnik, Connor '29
Yale, Grant '30
Yang, Jerry '30
Yarckin, Hudson '29
Yavagal, Reisha '27
Mason, Sloane '27
Mena, Sofia '27
Morlacchi, Maya '29
Mosse, Alexis '29
Mosse, Lila '27
Motwani, Arin '30
Moyle, Catherine '28
Moyle, Thomas '30
Nadeau, Pearson '30
Nantambu, Mikhail '29
Newton, William '29
Pabby, Ria '30
Paresky, Ava '29
Parisi, Isabella '27
Peiffer, Sailor '30
Perez-Carrillo, Andrea '29
Phillips, William '29
Pines, Daniela '30
Pollock, Olivia '29
Pombo, Gustavo '29
Powe, Evan '29
Puleo-Newman, Matias '29
Rahman, Alia '30
Rai-Walls, Ellora '29
Ramirez, Ana '30
Revilla, Gabriel '30
Rodriguez, Isabella '28
Rodriguez, Santiago '30
Rojas, Olivia '30
Ross, Leonard '30
Rothberg, Jacob '29
Salman, Aya '29
Salvat, Sandro '29
Sanchez, Lucas '27
Sardina, James '29
Saverin, Natalia '29
Schimel, Quinn '30
Schwartz, Sidney '29
Senra, Sofia '30
Shah, Nina '30
Shore, Sofia '28
Sigelman, Maya '30
Simmons, Faith '29
Simon, Chloe '30
Sirinyan, Axel '29
Sirinyan, Mathis '30
Slusky, Henry '29
Sohn, Marlo '30
Thomas, Trevor '29
Thompson, Anna '29
Thornburg, Robert '30
Thurber, Lyla '28
Tomassetti, Eli '27
Torres, Cristian '29
Torres, Gabriella '29
Torres, Nicholas '27
Udell, Rayna '29
Uster Valdivieso, Matias '30
Vadia, Micaela '29
Veloso, Arthur '29
Vergara, Daniela '28
Villamizar, Sebastian '29
Wallen, Alex '30
Wang, Sophie '29
White, Rexford '29
Yagnik, Connor '29
Yale, Grant '30
Yang, Jerry '30
Yarckin, Hudson '29
Yavagal, Reisha '27
Middle School
2045 South Bayshore Drive, Coconut Grove, FL 33133Phone: 305 250 6850
Upper School
3575 Main Highway, Coconut Grove, FL 33133Phone: 305 460 8800
Accreditations and Memberships
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Founded in 1903, Ransom Everglades School is a coeducational, college preparatory day school for grades 6 - 12 located on two campuses in Coconut Grove, Florida. It is rated the top private school in Miami and among the 10 private schools in North America. Ransom Everglades School produces graduates who "believe that they are in the world not so much for what they can get out of it as for what they can put into it." The school provides rigorous college preparation that promotes the student's sense of identity, community, personal integrity and values for a productive and satisfying life, and prepares the student to lead and to contribute to society.
Ransom Everglades School®, The RE Way®, RE Pathways® and Bowden Fellowships in the Humanities™ are trademarks of Ransom Everglades School.
Ransom Everglades School®, The RE Way®, RE Pathways® and Bowden Fellowships in the Humanities™ are trademarks of Ransom Everglades School.