Home > Gulliver Students Shine at the Miami-Dade County Fair and Exposition’s Creative Writing Competition
Gulliver Prep students achieved remarkable success at this year’s Miami-Dade County Fair and Exposition Creative Writing competition, standing out among 1,323 entries submitted by students across the county.
In a strong display of linguistic talent, five Gulliver students earned Blue Ribbons in both English and a World Language—a testament to the strength of our English and World Languages programs. This year, in addition to English, entries were submitted in Spanish and French. The following students received double Blue Ribbons, and their award-winning work will be featured in the May edition of The Muse, our Middle School literary magazine:
Katherine Bardet – English and French
Antonella Ciocca – English and Spanish
Juliana Sanchez-Tobar – English and French
Raphaella Tuch Bussey – English and French
Sofia Villagomez – English and French
In total, only 2% of entries received Judges’ Awards, and Gulliver students earned an impressive six of the 24 awards given. These students’ winning pieces will also be published in The Muse:
Antonella Ciocca
Abigail Costales
Daniel Sanchez
Riyaan Datta
Leo Castro Alves
Clarissa Perez
Additionally, we are thrilled to announce that eighth grader Clarissa Perez was selected as the recipient of the prestigious Larry Thompson Creative Writing Award. This special distinction, given to the “Best of Show” entry for teen writers in grades 8–12, honors the legacy of beloved Miami Herald humorist and columnist Larry Thompson and recognizes exceptional talent in creative writing.
We are incredibly proud of all our students for their creativity, dedication, and excellence in writing. The digital edition of The Muse is now available for viewing here.
Mike Komaransky, father of Hugo ’26 and Luca ’29, graduated from University of Chicago in 2001. He worked as a trader and later a partner at DRW Trading in both Chicago and London, starting Cumberland, one of the world’s first cryptocurrency trading desks. He moved to Miami in 2018 and founded Grapefruit Trading, Ransky Trading and currently manages a portfolio of crypto-related investments
Vincent Signorello P ‘21
Vincent Signorello founded Scout Capital Partners in 2017 and Scout Cold Logistics in 2021. He currently serves as the Chairman and CEO of Scout Cold Logistics. Previously, Vincent was the President and CEO of Florida East Coast Industries, a wholly owned company of Fortress Investment Group. Vincent also served in executive roles at Fortress Investment Group, Barclays Capital and Lehman Brothers. Prior to his investment banking and private equity career, Vincent served as an active duty officer in the United States Army where he led reconnaissance and infantry units. Vincent supports numerous non-profit organizations involving education and veteran assistance, including serving as the previous Chairman of the Board of Trustees for Gulliver Prep. Vincent, his wife Shannon, and his two children Cole and Mason currently reside in Coconut Grove.
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To register for the Primary and Lower School Open House on December 3, click here. If you are unable to attend that day, please email us at admissions@gulliverprep.org to schedule a visit to our campus. We can’t wait to meet you!
Transformation. Together. 2026. formally launched in May 2022, and, in October 2022, we opened the Center for Student Life at our Marian C. Krutulis PK-8 Campus. This 60,000 square foot facility was the first new building to be constructed as part of our capital campaign, and is at the heart of student life and learning. In March 2023, the Tennis Complex officially opened, marking the completion of Phase II.
With Phase III in progress, Phase IV pending fundraising, and Phase V on the horizon, we continue to make steady progress toward our campus transformation at the Upper School Campus.