The Seven Hills School Spring/Summer Magazine 2024

MENTORSHIP

AS A PHILOSOPHY

Mentorship

Chris

Making

Susan

THANK YOU!

The Seven Hills Development Office gratefully acknowledges and thanks the more than 260 volunteers who dedicate their time and energy to ensure The Seven Hills School is able to continue providing the rich learning experience and tight-knit community that defines a Seven Hills education.

Janet Allen-Reid ’76

Nupur Anand

Karin Anderson Abrell ’88

Libby Andrews

Sudie Anning ’84

Dulany Anning

Angie Apple

John Atkinson

Nancy Pechstein Aubke H’67

Steve Baggott

Michael Bain ’13

Fran Barrett

Eileen Ward Barrett H’69

Nolan Bean

Barbara Beaver

Jack Binkley

Natalie Bird

Rose Bitsoff

Steve Black L’60

Hannah Bloch ’80

John Bloch ’03

Susan Bolton

Lauren Boymel-Krekeler

Aideen Briggs ’87

Muzette Britt

Katie Brooks

Stephen Brown III

Bruce Brown

Karen Bidlingmeyer Callard ’80

Luisa Canneto

Lee Carter

Peter Cha

Erica Chiseck

Sophia Choi

Lalitha Chunduri

Teresa Clayton

Frank Cohen ’91

Marilyn Collins

David Colman ’03

Paula Ilyinsky Comisar H’74

Mary Ida Sloneker Compton ’77

Tucker Jones Coombe ’79

Margaret Cox ’16

Polly Adair Culp H’65

Wynne McCarthy Curry H’71

Gabe Davis ’03

Paige deBuys

Ron DeLyons

Amy DeWitt

Kathy DeWitt

Roxann Dieffenbach C’64

Tiffany Domet

Tim Drew

Clare Dupree ’76

Fay Dupuis

Scott Dust

John Dye

Patricia Eastin

Stacey Edelstein

Norman Ellard

Christie Evans ’76

Merry Ewing ’76

Ellie Fabe ’78

Lissy Fabe H’71

Molly Fender

Andi Ferguson

Sadie Ferguson ’04

John Ficks ’89

Meredith Edwards Ficks ’98

Ginny Fisher

Alicia Fitscher

Carolyn Fox

Vicki Gaffney

Kate Kuhn Galle ’88

Thomas Charles Garber ’96

Deborah Koons Garcia H’67

Kathryne Gardette ’79

Jane Garvey C’74

Robin Gerhardt

Raji Ghosh

Lisa Gilbert ’96

Ben Glassman ’93

Sherry Glover

Samantha Buyniski

Goldfeder ’04

Max Gollobin ’09

Debbie Good

Sarah McDonough Goodacre ’04

Eileen Gould C’74

Linda Heldman Greenberg H’71

Cathy & Chris Gross

Brooke Guigui

Datha Harrison

Tom Hayes

Claudia & Danny Hayes

Henry Head ’13

Louise Atkins Head H’56

Michael Heldman ’16

Patti Heldman

Sarah Henry

Karlene Herman

Carol Smith Hesser C’65

Debbie Hill

Nicki Hirsh

Dan Hoffheimer

Brenda Holloway

Laurent Huguenin

Andre Hunter-Woodard ’11

Brandon Hydrick ’92

Laurie Durbrow Hyndman H’70

Kay Ilg

Shirelyn Iyoha

Judy Jackson

Kimberly Jackson

Clay Jamison ’06

Jie Jiang

Kay Johnson

Sarah Johnson

Patricia Bigham Journeay H’65

Kathy & Tom Kahle

Cal Kalnow

Jacky Kalubi

Tshiunza Kalubi ’02

Amy Bulger Kattman ’89

Lair Kennedy

Maggie Kenner

Steve Kent

Sarajane & Richard King

Nancy Kingkeo

Carolyn Klein

Andrea Knarr

Ashley Ackerman Kohn ’05

Ashley Kohnen

Jennifer Kreines

Alex Kreines ’18

Matt Kreines ’18

Libby Landen Krone ’77

Samir Kulkarni

Cathy Bramlage Kunz ’89

Claire Hummel Kupferle C’73

Chip Larkin

John Larkin ’13

James Lee

Steve Leeper

Cissy Lenobel

Laura Hoguet Leonard ’06

Sally Leyman

Ina Zimpelman Loftspring C’69

Anni Macht C’70

Kathi Makoroff

Zola Makrauer

Susan Makris

Anne Mapes ’11

Bill Markovits

Michael Marrero

Josh Martin

Jill McBride

Dani McClain

Rebecca McDonough ’10

John McIlwraith

Diana & Henley McIntosh

Christina McKee

Holly McLeod

Abby McNerney

Tim Meckel ’77

Candace Miller-Janidlo

Linda Miltner

Chuck Mingo

Tracy Lynn Monroe ’82

Terri & Gary Morgan

Nancy Maxwell Mullen H’71

Sybil Behrens Mullin ’83

Cheryl Murrer

Devi Namboodiri ’17

Marianne Nelezen

Theo Nelson

Meghan Nelson

Mark Niehaus ’12

Maureen O'Driscoll

Jenny Oestreicher

Libby Warrington Ott ’78

Jim Papakirk

Tory Woodhull Parlin H’63

Manisha Patel

Nirvana Patel

Pretty Patel

Carol & Jim Pearce

Alana Pepper

Dede Gay Persson ’89

Rita and Tom Pohl

Jerry Porter

Dick Quimby

Alex Quinn

Andrew Quinn

Daniel Quint

Jessalyn Reid Mahoney ’08

Grant Revell

Aviva Rich

David Robinson ’84

Elizabeth Rogers

Jennie Rosenthal L’75

Patricia Rouster

Sunny Rowe

Regina Russo

Sunny Bowman Saelinger C’61

Marielle Samaha

Laura Lindner Sankey ’82

Casey Wood Santora ’84

Beth Schiff

Jim Schiff

John Schneider

Karen Schulman-Bear C’74

Samir Shah

Maya Shahani

Jim Shanahan

Tom Shepard

Anne Shepherd

Dennis Shiels

Kelly Shin

Marc Shotten ’92

John Silverman

Mary Jo & Bill Simpson

P.G. Sittenfeld ’03

Tiernan Sittenfeld ’92

Erin Snelting

Jennifer Stein

Kelli Stein

Sarah Steinman

Elizabeth Stock

Melanie Finn Sureau ’01

Jane Sutton

Lani Swinford

Dudley Taft Sr. L’52

Kim Takahashi

Mary Taliaferro ’09

Anne Drackett Thomas H’66

Barbara Oliari & Mauricio Tomazi

Sharon Worthing Vaino C’70

Ellen van der Horst

Heather Zaring Vecellio ’92

Sheila Waterman

Stephanie Waugh

Mary Welsh

Linda Bartlett Westfall C’64

Paula White Wharton ’83

Katherine Oechler

Whitbeck H’67

Emily Wiedemann ’01

Dan Williams

Marsha Williams ’77

Robin Wilson

Laura Welles Wilson ’84

Lisa Collins Winick ’85

Peter Wojda ’06

Michele Wolf

Joan Wolfram

Barbara Wulsin

Margaret Hogan Wyant H’60

Marcy Wydman ’76

Laney Yaninek

Lori Zimmerman

Tamela Sedacca

Zimmerman H’74

Katherine Zoepf ’96

CONGRATULATIONS

CLASS of 2024

Philanthropist, Seven Hills Advisory Council member, former Board of Trustees member, and parent of an alum, Jennie Rosenthal L’75 gives the keynote address at commencement.

Graduating senior Nathan Walker addresses the Class of 2024.

Seniors celebrate at graduation.

Graduating senior Lina Asfaw celebrates after receiving her diploma.

Graduating senior Lidya Tesfaye waves to the crowd after receiving her diploma.

Student Body President Rex Shaffer and Vice President Grace Dunson prepare to address the crowd at graduation.

Board of Trustees Chair Lair Kennedy addresses the crowd at graduation.

Graduating senior Oliver Szabo receives his diploma from then Head of School Chris Garten.

Graduating senior Ria Mittal receives a high five from Director of Safety and Security Cassandra Tucker after graduating.

Graduating senior Susie Stahl celebrates after receiving her diploma.

“Seven Hills has prepared you well for whichever path you choose.”

The words of commencement speaker Jennie Rosenthal L’75, current member of the Seven Hills Advisory Council, former Board of Trustees member, parent of an alum, and Lotspeich graduate, advised the graduates of the Class of 2024 to not feel pressured to rush through life, take their time, and choose the right path. “Trust yourself that you are picking the right path. Seven Hills has prepared you well for whichever path you choose,” Rosenthal said.

Seven Hills celebrated its 50th Commencement in the Field House on the Hillsdale Campus on June 7. The graduates, clad in caps and gowns, came together to commemorate their myriad of achievements and time at the Seven Hills Upper School. They listened to words of wisdom from several school community leaders, including then Head of School Chris Garten, then Head of Upper School and Head of School-elect Matt Bolton, and Board of Trustees Chair Lair Kennedy. Students also heard from classmates Grace Dunson, Rex Shaffer, and Nathan Walker; teacher and parent Tim Drew; and then Assistant Head of School and Director of College Counseling Susan Marrs.

In addition, Seven Hills alumna Carol Andress ’76 received the Goodall Distinguished Alumni Award. Congratulations to the Class of 2024!

The Class of 2024.

CONGRATULATIONS SEVEN HILLS

CLASS of 202 4

Aleesha Adhami

Rithvik Allamaneni

Jameel Almuti

Jenna Alshami

Aanvi Anand

Tyler Andersen

Isabelle Anthony

Lina Asfaw

Alice Bachelder

Dhanush Bearelly

Nico Berger

Leila Blackshaw-Brown

Ronan Blair

Ethan Blatt

Kailyn Brown

Max Brown

Alex Burke

Natalia Butler

Nate Campos

Harvey Chen

Noah Clark

Eli Cogan

Nick Cohen

Michael Colizza

John Corbett

Lauren Coulson

Nora Donovan

Callie Drew

Grace Dunson

Ariella Edelstein

Steven Elder

Magnolia Fan

Gardner Follin

Megha Gaitonde

Evelyn Gao

Asa Guigui

Arjun Gupta

Lily Hardware

Nolan Hentz

Michelle Hu

Gavin Isakov

Kaeden Iyoha

Julie Jiang

Timothy Jordan

Heidi Jurgensen

Alexa Kecman

Rylie Keller-Gray

Laila Kerr

Annika Kulkarni

Leon Li

Ed Li

Elan Little

Avi Mahajan

Rocco Maislin

Ria Mittal

Rishi Mittal

Riley Moser

Maggie Motch

Charlie Mullin

Kyler Pang

Kaiya Park

Anish Patil

Erin Pierani

Victoria Quinn

Abby Robinson

Phoebe Rubenstein

Frances Schlueter

Aaron Schneider

Margret Schnirring

Shravan Sekhar

Rex Shaffer

Siddha Shah

Susie Stahl

Carter Stevens

William Sutton

Oliver Szabo

Celine Tan

Margaret Tenney

Lidya Tesfaye

Gabrielle Walker

Nathan Walker

Nathan Wang

Leo Weller

Sophie Wiles

Mikul Wyer

Julia Zeng

Diana Zhang

Lauren Zhang

Julia Zhu

2 20 4

In April, the Seven Hills community gathered in the Field House to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the merger that engendered the modern era of The Seven Hills School. It was a wonderful opportunity to reflect on how this great school has grown and developed.

AS I AM AT THE END OF MY 15 YEARS AT SEVEN HILLS, I TAKE PRIDE IN THE FACT THAT THROUGHOUT ITS HISTORY, SEVEN HILLS HAS SOUGHT TO BE “THE BEST AT GETTING BETTER.” AS THE WORLD HAS CHANGED, AS THE STRESSES ON YOUNG PEOPLE HAVE ACCELERATED, SEVEN HILLS HAS EVOLVED, IN SOME CASES QUITE RAPIDLY, TO MEET THESE NEW CHALLENGES.

In “The Anxious Generation,” a new book by NYU psychologist Jonathan Haidt, Haidt posits that the emotional demands on today’s young people are greater than at any time in modern history. He alludes to a fiercely competitive college admissions climate, uncertainty about the economy and job market, and, most of all, to the pernicious impact

Christopher P. Garten FORMER HEAD OF SCHOOL

that technology, particularly social media, has had on the lives of young people.

To respond to those challenges in the lives of our students, Seven Hills has worked to provide a school experience that feels as safe, supportive, and inclusive as possible. This has involved reducing, as fully as possible, unnecessary stress on our students and providing multiple, more flexible paths through the curriculum. It has also involved enhancing student support programs, humanizing the college counseling program by spreading it out over time, adding more learning specialists and guidance counselors to help us meet the needs of a wide variety of learners, and developing more formal approaches to teach students: how to manage time and handle stress, how to work with others and resolve conflicts, how to develop healthy relationships, and how to achieve work/life balance.

Knowing that our graduates will likely work not just for many different employers but in many different fields; knowing that they will work in diverse workplaces with colleagues from a wide variety of cultural

backgrounds, we’ve also worked hard to foster our students’ crosscultural skills and to prepare them to participate in a democracy that requires a grasp not just of local issues but of how events around the world can impact their own lives.

Our extraordinary faculty has developed a curriculum that is much more global and multicultural: more non-western literature and history, and elective courses on contemporary topics (global issues, environmental studies, economics, gender studies, African American studies). We have developed a more robust world language program, including six levels of Chinese and extensive opportunities for foreign travel and cultural exchanges. We’ve embedded more contemporary topics in science and humanities courses, launched the

Civic Engagement Seminars and May Terms, and encouraged more purposeful community service and Challenge Experiences. Overall, our goal has been to help students explore the full complexity of the issues we face and to foster compassion, empathy, and a sincere desire to devote their talents to improving the lives of others.

As many more of our students aspire to careers in technical fields, we have developed new elective courses in micro- and macroengineering, anatomy and physiology, biotechnology; a robust sequence of courses in computer science; and experiences in design thinking and robotics. And, in all of our classrooms, there has been a new emphasis on helping students develop competence with information technologies. And, as learning has become more inquirybased, our students in virtually every classroom and discipline learn to use digital tools to gather, analyze, and present information and, in digital arts classes, gain experience with computer graphics, animation, and video editing.

To foster creative problem-solving and entrepreneurship, many of our

teachers have designed classroom experiences that involve identifying and proposing solutions to authentic, real world problems. And a host of cocurricular programs, past and present, like Project Math, the Creation Studio, the Innovation lab, and the Upper School’s engineering and entrepreneurship courses provide rich experiences in empathy-based design.

Seven Hills has evolved considerably over the last 50 years. We now serve well over 1,000 students, ages 2 to 18, in a population that is considerably more diverse, both ethnically and socio-economically. And to help meet the needs of a wide range of families, we now operate the school some 48 weeks a year, from 7:30 in the morning until 6 at night. At the same time, the footprint of our campuses has changed dramatically with having added 100,000 square feet of new space, and we now have academic, athletic, and fine and performing arts facilities that would be the envy of many college campuses.

As much as the school has grown and changed over the years, at its core, Seven Hills still provides the same lifechanging experience for our students. It is shaped by:

1. Talented, committed teachers who care deeply for the students they guide and support.

2. A lively, highly engaging, and student-centered curriculum.

3. A comprehensive educational program, rich in offerings in the arts, athletics, experiential learning, and service learning.

4. A safe and healthy culture for young people to learn and grow.

5. A strong, inclusive community unified in our shared values.

6. A commitment to preparing young people for lives of meaning and purpose.

That is what Seven Hills has always been and what, I sincerely hope, it will always be.

As I reach my retirement, I take great pride in how this great school has evolved over the last 15 years. My time at Seven Hills has been the joy of my professional life, and I am more grateful than I can possibly express for all who have supported the school during my time here.

Chris Garten retired as Head of School on June 30, 2024.

RICK TATE NAMED NEW HEAD OF UPPER SCHOOL

RICK TATE WAS NAMED THE NEXT HEAD OF UPPER SCHOOL BY HEAD OF SCHOOL CHRIS GARTEN IN LATE 2023. TATE REPLACES MATT BOLTON, WHO TOOK OVER FOR GARTEN AS THE HEAD OF SCHOOL WHEN GARTEN RETIRED ON JUNE 30, 2024.

“Rick brings to the role of Head of Upper deep prior experience, boundless energy, a passion for teaching and learning, and a gift for relating to and inspiring others,” Bolton said.

Tate has had a 27-year career in education and was most recently the assistant director of Upper School for teaching and learning at Hawken School in Gates Mills, Ohio.

Tate spent 14 years at Hawken, serving as a Spanish teacher, chair of the modern and classical languages department, and a global studies coordinator. In his capacity as assistant director of Upper School for teaching and learning, Tate guided the continuing evolution of Hawken’s innovative academic program in the Upper School division, which had 530 students and 80 faculty and staff members.

At Hawken, Tate was the assistant director in charge of hiring, budget,

operations, and academic programs for the Upper School. He has also played an integral role in coordinating Hawken’s Intensive Program, a series of courses that immerse students in experiential learning through the Cleveland community and beyond.

Tate said when he and his wife Kim visited Seven Hills, they were struck by the overwhelming impression of it as a powerful, caring community focused on doing what is best for its students.

“Rick brings to the role of Head of Upper School deep prior experience, boundless energy, a passion for teaching and learning, and a gift for relating to and inspiring others.”

-Seven Hills Head of School Matt Bolton

“Every individual with whom we interacted demonstrated love and respect for how their work benefited our most important asset: the students. Parents spoke of meaningful partnerships even in difficult situations; teachers shared joyful colearning experiences while elevating their colleagues’ unique talents; students felt seen and respected by the adults in the communities. This kind of learning community is exactly the type of place we want for our daughter and a place we know we will cherish,” Tate said.

The Seven Hills Search Advisory Committee—co-chaired by Assistant Head of School Susan Marrs and Upper School History Department Chair Eric O’Connor, with the assistance of a search consultant with Carney Sandoe & Associates — identified more than 30 candidates.

“As impressive as Rick’s list of professional accomplishments are,

“As impressive as Rick’s list of professional accomplishments are, it doesn’t really do justice to who he is as an educator or as a person. Those who met him during the interview process described him as warm, insightful, studentcentered, and approachable.”

-Chris Garten, former Head of School

it doesn’t really do justice to who he is as an educator or as a person,” Garten said in a letter to the Seven Hills community. “Those who met him during the interview process described him as warm, insightful, student-centered, and approachable.”

Tate visited campus again in late January, spending the day with Bolton, sitting in on classes, getting to know students, and attending the annual Lifers Lunch.

Tate has a B.A. and M.A. in Spanish teaching from Brigham Young University and has taught Spanish

at schools and learning centers in Utah, Missouri, and Ohio. At Hawken, he has led study abroad programs to Spain, Mexico, Costa Rica, Chile, Nicaragua, and Cuba. He also has a B.M. in music composition from BYU and has worked as a professional trumpeteer in musical theater, jazz combos, orchestras, and on cruise ships since 1989.

Tate expressed his excitement when asked to address the Seven Hills community.

“I’m looking forward to watching, learning, growing, and working together with every member of the community in this new exciting chapter of my career as a member of Seven Hills. Thanks for such a warm welcome. I can’t wait to meet you in person soon,” he said.

MENTORSHIP AS A PHILOSOPHY

AT SEVEN HILLS, MENTORSHIP IS PART OF OUR COMMITMENT TO NURTURING STUDENTS’ CHARACTER, AND ONE OF THE ESSENTIAL SKI LLS NEEDED TO BECOME ENGAGED CITIZENS AND RESPONSIBLE LEADERS.

In addition to the mentoring students regularly receive from their teachers, coaches, and counselors, Seven Hills students are also provided multiple opportunities to foster mentorship with their schoolmates.

From the nurturing guidance provided by Lotspeich fifth graders to their first grade buddies to the peer mentorship cultivated through initiatives like the Upper School Beekeepers, Seven Hills prioritizes the development of leadership skills and the cultivation of a supportive community.

Through these opportunities, students not only gain confidence

and responsibility but also learn the value of collaboration and empathy. As they embark and continue on their educational journey, Seven Hills students carry with them the profound impact of mentorship, shaping not only their academic success but also their character and sense of belonging within the Seven Hills community and beyond.

Peer-to-peer mentorship has been the foundation for the decades-old tradition of Lotspeich’s first and fifth grade buddies. The beloved initiative began in the 1990s under the guidance of first grade teachers Margaret Vitz and Marilyn Braun and fifth grade teachers Kaye Riser and Bobbie Kuhn. At the beginning of the school year, fifth grade students are paired with either one or two first grade students, depending on class sizes.

“

“While a mentee and a mentor differ in roles, the common denominator of gratitude serves to strengthen a school community.”

-Head of Middle School Bill Waskowitz

Throughout the year, buddies meet to learn about each other, go on field trips to the Cincinnati Zoo, and develop a close bond.

LOTSPEICH BUDDIES

AT SEVEN HILLS

“Fifth graders enjoy spending time with their first grade buddies,” Danielle Levine, a current fifth grade teacher, said. “The buddy partnership allows our first graders to feel a true sense of community in the Lotspeich building. It’s a wonderful experience for each buddy. Students correspond with each other via ‘buddy mail,’ and letters go back and forth weekly throughout the year. The fifth graders learn leadership skills and

to form stronger bonds with their classmates and develop adaptability and mentorship skills.”

Doherty’s Hives envision similar goals to Lotspeich’s buddies, while involving kindergarten through fifth grade students. The Doherty Hives program was introduced during the 202223 school year, as a way to increase inter-grade level relationships among students. The 10 Hives are comprised

how to effectively guide and encourage, while the first graders develop a higher self-esteem and interpersonal communication skills as their older buddies provide encouragement during new or exciting activities, like field trips to the Cincinnati Zoo.”

The tradition is an invaluable part of students’ time at Lotspeich, one they remember for years, first grade teacher Aimee Burton said.

“When the seniors visit Lotspeich at the end of the year, there are always a couple of students who talk about the buddies,” Burton said. “Whether as a first grader, or a fifth grader, or both, being a buddy positively helped them

of kindergarten through fifth grade students who work together to create a community service project and compete at Olympic Day.

According to Head of Doherty Tracy Murch, the program was initially inspired by Olympic Day as she and fellow faculty thought how great it

would be to provide students with mixed-age groups rather than compete as classes.

Hives provide students of all ages the opportunity to mentor their peers, provide leadership, and a chance to engage their peers across grade levels.

“The fourth and fifth graders initially try to stay with their grade level,” Murch said. “The Hive leaders are teachers who provide direction to help facilitate mentorship at the beginning. However, as students become more familiar with the Hives, you see them take ownership of learning how to guide and be guided by their peers. Recently,

MENTORSHIP AS A PHILOSOPHY

and curated practices,” Murch said. “They strengthen their teamwork, communication, empathy, and so much more.”

Kindergartners and new students are sorted into Hives at the beginning of the school year, which involves an

I watched one Hive group work on their community service project, which involved building birdhouses. The kindergartners and first graders hammered away, and the older students waited to provide help as needed.”

Murch explained, that while the older students knew it would be faster to finish the birdhouses themselves, they understood that was a short-term achievement. Enabling their young peers to be collaborators benefits their Hive’s long-term goal of developing strong friendships and building a team mindset.

“The mentorship skills students learn from participating in their Hives comes down to providing kids the time, space,

“Being a mentee cultivates a sense of gratitude in knowing that someone else cares and accepts you for who you are at a specific moment in your life. The joy a younger child feels in knowing that someone else sees them as special and unique is profound and instills a sense of comfort and joy that is especially appreciated. Being a mentor, in a similar manner, imbues a sense of gratitude in knowing that you are seen as a leader who can provide others with care and guidance.”

-Head of Middle School Bill Waskowitz

exciting confetti canon that reveals the student’s Hives’ color as Murch announces it.

“It’s a very fun event and truly a great introduction to their group,” Murch said. “We see how excited the students are to join their Hives. They keep that level of passion for their Hive members and their community service project consistently throughout the year.”

Bill Waskowitz, Head of Middle School, said enabling students to be mentors and mentees throughout their time at Seven Hills develops one of the most important skills the school can provide for a child — gratitude.

“Being a mentee cultivates a sense of gratitude in knowing that someone else cares and accepts you for who you are at a specific moment in your life,” Waskowitz said. “The joy a younger child feels in knowing that someone

else sees them as special and unique is profound and instills a sense of comfort and joy that is especially appreciated. Being a mentor, in a similar manner, imbues a sense of gratitude in knowing

DOHERTY HIVES PRESENT NAMES AND LOGOS

““I try to encourage the kids to dream big about what they want this institution to be.”

-Learning specialist Amaris White

that you are seen as a leader who can provide others with care and guidance.

While a mentee and a mentor differ in roles, the common denominator of gratitude serves to strengthen a school community.”

During Middle School, students have multiple mentorship opportunities including Swarms and the STEAM Fair.

Swarms are multi-grade level groups students participate in during Pumpkin Day and Global Education Day. The Swarms collaborate to win challenges and tasks, whether it's decorating the best pumpkins, “climbing” Mt. Everest, or “running with the bulls.” They provide students the opportunity to

interact with people from different grades they might not have encountered if they were not involved with after-school theater productions or athletics.

The STEAM Fair offers seventh and eighth graders the chance to lead a STEAM station and teach Lower School students a specialized lesson. The fair was created three years ago by the Middle School science department and Lower School parent community groups.

“We wanted Middle School students to take charge and lead the STEAM stations because not only does it help them develop more confidence and responsibility, they are examples for younger students to look up to,” Revell said. “They are living examples of what being a Middle School student at Seven Hills means. It’s a way to bring students from different divisions together, as each student gains a new skill in the process, whether it's STEAM-related or leadership-related.”

Continued on page 18

SWARMS "RUN WITH THE BULLS"

MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS TEACH THE SCIENCE BEHIND CONDUCTORS

SWARMS WORK AS A TEAM ON PUMPKIN DAY

MENTORSHIP AS A PHILOSOPHY

In Upper School, students have multiple opportunities to serve as mentors and learn as mentees.

The new Beekeepers program, advised by Upper School counselor Christine Stier, and the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Council, advised by Director of DEI Racheal Quinn and learning specialist Amaris White, are two flourishing examples of mentorship initiatives.

The program officially began at the beginning of the 2023-24 school year during orientation.

“A year ago, when I first opened the chance for students to apply to be

teams led a group of freshmen or new students in a wayfinding lesson or social activity during advisory twice a month throughout the year.

“Beekeepers benefit from the program by meeting freshmen they wouldn’t

The Beekeepers are 10th, 11th, and 12th grade students who volunteer to be the first point of contact for incoming ninth graders and Upper School students new to Seven Hills.

“We want it to be a transition program and a mentorship program for students,” Stier said. “Beekeepers are trained to run all of the new student orientations and to create monthly meetings that foster a sense of community and help students feel connected. We’re trying to help students feel plugged into Seven Hills immediately and keep that sense of belonging throughout the years they’re here. Everything about the program is very intentional and purposeful to achieve that goal.”

Beekeepers, I had 26 applications,” Stier said. “This year, 35 sophomores and 25 juniors applied. The numbers alone are wonderful to see, but it’s even better to know that some of the students who were new to Seven Hills are applying to help other new students navigate the transitions and become a part of our community. I want to make sure we have a diverse group of Beekeepers from all different backgrounds so every freshman and new student can find someone they relate to.”

Last year, Stier chose all 26 applicants to serve as Beekeepers and divided them into teams of two or three. Those

have met before,” Stier said. “It goes beyond their group, and they socialize outside of the structured time such as attending one another's sports events, having a group chat, asking me to get lunch for the group, and more. They also learn leadership skills and how to engage students. I hope students see themselves as part of the solution for helping others understand they belong at Seven Hills.”

The DEI Council, comprised of a selected group of Upper School student applicants, routinely works to offer programs and initiatives that serve each division in unique ways. Through

BEEKEEPERS

DEI COUNCIL HOSTS A LUNCH AND LEARN ABOUT CULTURAL APPROPRIATION

Lunch and Learns, Upper School students can discuss complex issues among their peers with guided discussion questions and talking points. At Lower School assemblies, council members meet with Lower School students to talk about various holidays and the significance of heritage months, like Black History Month. Council members craft presentations for Middle School students and regularly partner with clubs, like the Genders and Sexualities Alliance (GSA-Just Be You) to discuss different topics.

“

“ For the DEI Council, mentorship is seen as a community that is trying to live up to our values and foster a community where people are educated, understanding, and have some kind of compass about social justice and what that looks like.”

-Learning specialist Amaris White

For the DEI Council, mentorship is seen as a community that is trying to live up to our values and foster a community where people are educated, understanding, and have some kind of compass about social justice and what that looks like, White said.

“One of the things the council has said is that they’ve enjoyed the time when they were younger and met with Upper School students,” White said. “They thought it was important for building a sense of community and shared values. They’ve been very explicit about promoting inclusivity as a value. Since it was important to them, we wanted to support that. Now, both groups get excited about it — whether it’s a specific social issue, a cultural holiday, or simply spending time with the younger divisions. They also thought it was super important to show kids the path to being an equity leader, how to be a leader that promotes inclusivity and social justice in truth. It’s been lovely to see them take ownership of that.”

“I try to encourage the kids to dream big about what they want this institution to be,” White said. “They immediately thought of the Lotspeich and Doherty students. Whenever we’re planning anything, one of the first things they bring up is the younger divisions and how we can incorporate them into the event. We’ve seen the positive impact of their intentional efforts, because the younger kids ask about them throughout the year. It comes back to the idea that the council provides events that are thought-provoking, but also provides students with an opportunity to experience joy.”

Students of all ages are provided ample opportunities to assume the role of mentors at Seven Hills. Whether it's Doherty’s Hives, Lotspeich’s first and fifth grade buddies, the Middle School's Swarms, or the Upper School's Beekeepers, students have access to structured programs where they can learn the intricacies of mentorship. These initiatives underscore Seven Hills' commitment to empowering students to step into mentorship roles and help maintain the robust school community.

DEI COUNCIL

CELEBRATING 50 YEARS

SEVEN HILLS!

On April 13, hundreds of Seven Hills’ families and friends celebrated the 50th anniversary of the merger of the College Preparatory School and the Hillsdale-Lotspeich School at an exhilarating event in the Field House on the Hillsdale Campus.

Seven Hills alumni and friends relished in reuniting and reminiscing while enjoying incredible food from Eat Well, live music by Soul Pocket, and student performances.

Then Head of School Chris Garten, then Assistant Head of School Susan Marrs, and Board of Trustees Chair Lair Kennedy relayed their heartfelt gratitude and appreciation for the attendees’ efforts over the years that helped make the school the beloved institution it is today.

“Life as an adolescent is full of challenges, more so today than ever,” Marrs said, who is retiring at the end of the 2023-24 school year after 53 years

at Seven Hills. “It is not easy to be a kid and while it probably never has been, it feels like it gets harder every year. Yet my years here have convinced me that it is less hard at Seven Hills because this is an emotionally healthy place to go to school and to work.”

Sophomores Noah Ring and Lily Plum Gartenlaub sang a song from the Upper School spring musical “Mamma Mia!” and eighth grader Sahana Siddharth performed “Waving Through a Window” from “Dear Evan Hansen.”

Head of School Chris Garten thanked Director of Development Margo Kirstein for planning and hosting the event, which was the culmination of multiple events throughout the year celebrating 50 years of Seven Hills.

“We are celebrating a school that in many ways is remarkably different,” Garten said. “As much as this school has changed over the years, at its core this school is still the same as many of you in this room experienced. We are trying to provide a life changing experience for students that is still shaped by a talented faculty and staff, a lively and engaging curriculum, and a comprehensive program full of arts and athletics and all types of ways for students to test themselves.”

Attendees were able to journey through the history of Seven Hills since the merger in 1974 to the modern day with a timeline, displaying highlights from the schools’ history.

“This is a place where people care about each other. Getting to go to school in such an emotionally rich atmosphere is life enhancing for the kids and the adults who teach and care for them. I will certainly miss it,” Marrs said.

Attendees enjoyed an incredible evening catching up with old friends and making memories with new ones. Here’s to another wonderful 50 years!

CHRIS GARTEN LEAVES A LEGACY OF ENGAGING HEA RTS AND MINDS AFTER 15 YEARS AS HEAD OF SCHOOL

IN

JANUARY 2024, THEN HEAD OF SCHOOL CHRIS GARTEN SPOKE TO 29 MEMBERS OF THE CLASS OF 2024 AND THEIR FAMILIES AT THE ANNUAL LIFERS LUNCH, HONORING STUDENTS WHO HAVE SPENT THEIR ENTIRE EDUCATION AT SEVEN HILLS.

“One of the great joys of being at school is watching the arc of young people’s lives and seeing how they grow up. It has really been a pleasure of my life to watch the people in this room grow in so many ways,” said Garten, who began his time leading The Seven Hills School the same time as the lifers began as students. The lifers graduated on June 7 and Garten retired on June 30.

Though the lifers probably do not remember their first time on a Seven Hills campus, Garten will never forget it.

“I was struck almost instantly by the warm, open feel of the campus and how friendly and welcoming the people were,” he said of the crisp, fall day in 2008 during his weekend of interviews as a candidate for the Head of School position.

After 15 years of leading The Seven Hills School, Garten retired at the end of the 2023-24 school year.

“I am enormously proud of how the school has evolved over the last 15 years. With the guidance and support of the Board of Trustees and Seven Hills’ superb administrators, faculty, and staff, the school has launched a host of innovative programs to prepare our students, even more fully, for lives of meaning and purpose,” Garten said.

Former Assistant Head of School and Director of College Counseling Susan Marrs called Garten a blessing to the school who helped get it through the 2008 recession.

“He immediately rolled up his sleeves, patched our holes, shored us up, and

helped us see what was vital versus what was expendable, pedagogically as well as financially. Since then, we’ve grown in so many ways, always nurtured by the breadth and depth of his vision and his care for the students, faculty, families, and history of this extraordinary school,” Marrs said.

At the end of June, Matt Bolton succeeded Garten as the new Head of School, after serving nine years as the Head of Upper School under Garten’s leadership.

“Chris has been a visionary leader throughout his 15 years at Seven Hills. From transforming the campus, to elevating our curriculum and programs, to leading us through the challenges of the pandemic, Chris has ensured that the school will continue to flourish in the future,” Bolton said.

Under Garten’s guidance, Seven Hills increased enrollment to the highest in school history, with more than 1,000 students attending each year,

“Chris has been a visionary leader throughout his 15 years at Seven Hills. From transforming the campus, to elevating our curriculum and programs, to leading us through the challenges of the pandemic, Chris has ensured that the school will continue to flourish in the future.”

-Matt Bolton, Head of

School

and diversified the student body, with students coming from 65 Cincinnati area zip codes.

“Kids are growing up now in a society that’s much more pluralistic — their work experience, their life experience is going to throw them together with collaborators and employees and friends and family from a much wider array of backgrounds, so we’ve tried to make sure that what kids read and study helps them develop a cultural competence,” Garten said.

During Garten’s tenure, Seven Hills built $45 million worth of new facilities, including the Taft Early Childhood Center, Lower Field Complex, Field House, 10 tennis courts, Wyant Family Squash Center, and The Schiff Center, as well as major renovations to the Doherty Campus and a new middle school.

To honor his impact on the community, in October, the Board of Trustees announced the Garten Fund for Program Innovation, a $1 million endowment, which will provide ongoing funding for teachers to explore new teaching methodologies, instructional technologies, and educational research.

For Bolton, Garten’s true legacy will be the life-changing experiences Seven Hills students had, and will continue to have, during their time at Seven Hills.

on page 24

and minds

engaging hearts and minds

CHRIS GARTEN LEAVES A LEGACY OF ENGAGING HEA RTS AND MINDS AFTER 15 YEARS AS HEAD OF SCHOOL, CONT.

“Chris believed deeply in the school's mission of ‘engaging hearts and minds,’ and he made decisions by asking what would ultimately be best for the students and truest to our values as a school. Because of his emphasis on supporting students and guiding them to fulfill their potential, a generation of Stingers have grown up under his watch to become people who are ready to play meaningful roles in a rapidly changing world,” Bolton said.

Garten retired after 46 years in education. Before coming to Seven Hills, he spent 22 years in various administrative roles at The Savannah Country Day School and nine years as a teacher, and later, the director of grades seven and eight at The Collegiate School for Boys in New York City.

As Garten embarks on the next chapter of his journey, the Seven Hills community thanks him for his extraordinary leadership that left an indelible mark on our school through his unwavering commitment, vision, and deep sense of compassion.

FUNDING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN CHRIS GARTEN’S HONOR

Chris Garten

In late 2023, the Seven Hills Board of Trustees announced the Garten Fund for Program Innovation. Current and former trustees , who served during Chris Garten’s 15-year tenure as the Head of School, raised $1 million for the fund.

The Garten Fund for Program Innovation will provide ongoing funding for teachers to explore new teaching methodologies, instructional technologies, and educational research, former bo ard chair Jen Stein said at the reception announcing the fund and honoring Garten.

“Since the start of his tenure at Seven Hills nearly 15 years a go, Chris has been an ardent and steadfast champion of the school’s most cherished asset – its teachers,” Stein said. “As a teacher himself, Chris recognizes the need for educators to pursue knowledge for their own edification and growth, and he believes in the power of professional development to fuel excellence in tea ching and program innovation.”

At the reception, Head of Middle School Bill Waskowitz and Uppe r School Dean of Students Laura Leonard shared how they have benefited from Garten’s dedication to professional development. Garten thanked the trustees and his administrative staff for ma king Seven Hills’ continued success in professional development poss ible.

SEVEN HILLS CONGRATULATES NATIONAL MERIT SCHOLARS

Seven Hills continues its tradition of excellence with several students receiving recognition from the National Merit Scholarship program. Two students were named as recipients, 10 were named finalists, and nine were named commended scholars in the 2024 National Merit Program.

National Merit Scholarship Recipients

Seniors Oliver Szabo, Arjun Gupta, and Dhanush Bearelly were named National Merit winners. Szabo received the award from the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, Gupta received a college-sponsored National Merit Scholarship from Indiana University Bloomington, and Bearelly received a college-sponsored National Merit Scholarship from Virginia Commonwealth University. National Merit Scholarship winners are among a select group of students with high PSAT scores and strong academic records. More than one million high school juniors take the test each year and compete for the scholarships.

National Merit Finalists

Ten Seven Hills seniors were named National Merit Finalists in 2024. Congratulations to Szabo, Gupta and Bearelly, and seniors Alice Bachelder, Dhanush Bearelly, Nicholas Cohen, Timothy Jordan, Ed Li, Carter Stevens, Leo Weller, and Mikul Wyer.

National Merit Commended

Students

National Merit Commended Scholars were seniors Isabelle Anthony, Megha Gaitonde, Gavin Isakov, Rishi Mittal, Riley Moser, Anish Patil, Rex Shaffer, Margaret Tenney, and Gabrielle Walker.

The National Merit Scholarship Program is an annual academic competition that honors academically talented U.S. high school students. Students qualify for recognition in the National Merit program with their scores on the PSAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test.

FIRST ROW, L to R: OLIVER SZABO, ALICE BACHELDER, ED LI SECOND ROW: TIMOTHY JORDAN, ARJUN GUPTA, DHANUSH BEARELLY THIRD ROW: CARTER STEVENS, LEO WELLER, NICHOLAS COHEN INSET PHOTO: MIKUL WYER

National Merit Commended Scholars

National Merit Finalists

FIRST ROW, L to R: RILEY MOSER, GABRIELLE WALKER, RISHI MITTAL SECOND ROW: MARGARET TENNEY, REX SHAFFER THIRD ROW: MEGHA GAITONDE, ISABELLE ANTHONY INSET PHOTOS: ANISH PATIL (top), GAVIN ISAKOV (bottom)

SEVEN HILLS ON THE GO!

Two International Trips in the World Language Department

The Upper School world language department’s abroad trips are a way to teach Seven Hills students about the world so they can truly become global citizens. During the 2023-24 school year, students studying Chinese traveled to Taiwan during Spring Break and Spanish students traveled to Spain for May Term, from May 21 to June 5.

Upper School Chinese teachers Mia Wu and Nanyue Zhu accompanied the Upper Schoolers as they spent six days in Taipei and one day in the hot

springs town in Yilan. The students visited monuments, national museums, and various villages, while also exploring Taiwanese nature and food.

While visiting a local school, Upper Schoolers utilized their language skills to make local Taiwanese friends, who joined them for part of the trip.

“Students had a blast enjoying the delicious food, beautiful scenery, and talking to locals. They definitely used the Chinese skills they have learned in class,” Wu said.

SPAIN

Twenty Upper School students traveled to Spain for an abroad trip, which included a week-long exchange at Colegio Askartza Claret, a school in Bilbao. Students stayed with host families, attended

classes at the high school, and went on tours of the city and city hall.

TAIWAN

After saying goodbye to their host families and new friends, the Upper Schoolers traveled to Madrid and Toledo, where they explored castles, museums, markets, and religious sites. The students also attended various local restaurants, took an introductory flamenco class, and went on a tour of the Real Madrid soccer stadium.

“It’s so rewarding to see the students interact in a different country and thrive by using their language skills,” said Teresa Bardon, Spanish teacher and world language department chair. “All their hard work in the classroom, studying language and culture, comes to fruition outside the classroom when students experience interacting with natives,

“It’s so rewarding to see the students interact in a different country and thrive by using their language skills. All their hard work in the classroom, studying language and culture, comes to fruition outside the classroom when students experience interacting with natives, visiting different places and acclimating to the cultures. That’s what it means to succeed as a global citizen.”

-Teresa

Bardon, Spanish teacher and world language department chair

visiting different places and acclimating to the cultures. That’s what it means to succeed as a global citizen.”

Sophomore Amelia Schnirring leads the pack

BOOKS FOR LUNCH AUTHOR ANDREW SEAN GREER

Books for Lunch author Andrew Sean Greer captivated Upper School students, parents, alumni, and friends of Seven Hills on Feb. 2 with his literary prowess, infectious enthusiasm, and empathetic comedy.

BOOKS FOR LUNCH 2024

Greer’s novel “Less” won the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. The novel chronicles the adventures of 49-year-old Arthur Less as he uses numerous literary engagements around the world to distract himself from his approaching 50th birthday, and more importantly, the imminent wedding of his ex-boyfriend, Freddy Pelu.

“What I'm good at is being incredibly vulnerable in front of other people. And so [for ‘Less,’] I just went all in and committed to it … no one wanted to publish ‘Less.’ I went to 12 different publishing companies. But, that's the one [piece of] advice that I try to give to people who want to be writers. It turns out that whatever you do, you have to take the weird thing that's you, and it's very vulnerable to, commit completely to that,” Greer said.

Greer’s visit began in The Schiff Center, where Greer shared insights about his writing process with eager Upper School students. After his speech, numerous students inquired about a myriad of topics, such as how to adequately describe complex narratives or balance the tone between joy and sorrow. Greer also discussed his writing philosophy and background in more detail with Upper School creative writing students in the Young Family Library.

“Why would you read a book that's like every other book? Most people don't; we don't read lots of books.

You want to read the book that really stands out. I'm sure you've come across them, or your friends handed them to you, and you love those more than other books. That is what I urge you to do,” Greer said.

In the second part of his visit, in the ballroom of The Summit Hotel, Greer delivered a stirring address, applauding the students’ incredible intellect and probing curiosity. During his address to parents, alumni, and friends of Seven Hills, Greer relayed the various misadventures and genuine human connections he made throughout his travels, which would become part of his inspiration for his Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, "Less." Whether regaling the

ANDREW SEAN GREER

audience at The Summit Hotel or imparting wisdom to the attentive ears of Seven Hills' students, Greer's message resounded with unwavering conviction: authenticity is the cornerstone of great storytelling.

"The reason [your writing] doesn't fit is because that's probably the truest part of you, and you haven't managed to integrate it into the rest [of the story] yet. So, it stands out. It's the thing that

everyone wants to remove because it makes people uncomfortable. They haven't seen it before. And that is the thing to commit completely to," Greer said.

For 37 years, Books for Lunch has invited awardwinning authors to Seven Hills for a morning discussion with students and a luncheon with parents, alumni, and the greater Cincinnati community. It is also the Upper School’s oldest fundraiser.

THANK YOU to the 2024 Books for Lunch Committee for an incredible event!

The 2024 Books for Lunch Comm ittee: Co-Chair Lisa Briquet, Co-Chair Lalitha Chunduri, Jennifer Glaser, Laura Leigh Hahn, Natalie Martin, Meg Niederhelman, Melissa Lounsbury Osher, Susan Schaefer, and Kelli Stein.

6. Greer autographs his novel “Less.”

Upper School students ask Greer questions in The Schiff Center.

TEACHERS ARE THE DIFFERENCE

At Seven Hills, our teachers are experts at their craft. They create a welcoming environment for students to test their limits, try new things, and achieve more than they ever thought possible. Together, we are

DOHERTY UNIT I TEACHER JOAN CLAYBOURN

By melding captivating lessons, nurturing guidance, and a dedication to personalized instruction, Doherty Unit I teacher Joan Claybourn kindles curiosity, fosters selfassurance, and instills a lasting enthusiasm for learning in her students.

THINGS I LEARNED FROM MY STUDENTS...

Doherty Unit 1 teacher

Joan Claybourn

1. A hug can cure a lot of things

2. Live in the moment

3. Be passionate about what interests you

“My goal is to create a space where each student feels valued, respected, and encouraged to explore their unique abilities and perspectives,” Claybourn said. “Establishing a solid foundation for academic growth is essential, and I focus on students cultivating a love for learning that extends beyond the classroom.”

Claybourn tailors her approach to accommodate each student's learning

style, meeting them at their current level. With small class sizes, she can customize her instruction to match each student's skill level and development.

“I love teaching first grade,” Claybourn said. “I never knew the importance of losing teeth until I moved to this grade. Watching the children grow and learn from the beginning of the year to the end is gratifying. First graders are very loving and hard-working.”

Every morning, Claybourn and her students gather to begin their day with their “Morning Meeting,” which provides a space for students to greet one another, share things about their lives, and discuss the day’s schedule. Claybourn uses the fun yet purposeful meeting to set the tone for a productive day.

Furthermore, if a student is taking a trip, Claybourn designs a lesson that delves

into the destina tion before they leave and facilitates a post-trip discussion upon their return. This approach empowers the traveling student to share firsthand insights with their classmates, offering valuable perspectives on how different people, places, and cultures interact with one another.

“I have taught at Seven Hills for 27 years and have loved every minute of my time here,” Claybourn said. “I especially love the community and support at Doherty. There is a strong spirit of professionalism and care that I can’t imagine can compare to anywhere else. Seven Hills has helped me grow as a person, mom, friend, co-worker, and teacher.”

celebrating our amazing teachers in this magazine installment, which features Doherty Unit I teacher Joan Claybourn and Lotspeich third grade teacher Sarah Gaunt . #TeachersAreTheDifference.

LOTSPEICH THIRD GRADE TEACHER SARAH GAUNT

Stepping into Sarah Gaunt’s classroom is akin to embarking on a quest. Step by step, Lotspeich third grade students understand and solve the mysteries of the world around them one math equation at a time.

“The third grade math curriculum heavily focuses on developing an understanding of place value relationships, multi-digit addition and subtraction, multiplication and division and strategies for multiplication and division within 100, fractions and their sizes, and describing and analyzing two-dimensional shapes,” Gaunt said. “Regardless of what topic we’re studying, students are encouraged to think deeper, problem solve, and make sense of what they are learning with the goal of becoming stronger mathematicians.”

Gaunt provides real-world examples so students can better comprehend the relevance behind what they’re learning.

THINGS I LEARNED FROM MY STUDENTS...

Lotspeich third grade teacher Sarah Gaunt

1. How to approach a task in a different way

2. The importance of adding creative outlets in math

3. Always find ways to have some fun! 3

“For example, when they were learning about fractions and equivalent fractions, students filled orders for a fictional pizza shop based on pizza orders for a school or sports team and the number of different toppings needed,” Gaunt said. “If the toppings requested were equivalent to 1/2, they got a discount on the pizza. For our elapsed time unit, students used events that happened during their day to determine how much time passed between events. During our geometry lesson, we took campus walks to observe all the geometric elements around us.”

Gaunt’s highest priority is to meet the learning needs of every student in her classroom.

“One way I do this is by scaffolding my teaching and instruction with a goal of independence for all students,” Gaunt said. “I provide additional support when needed

through reteaching or guided practice and providing extension or ‘challenge’ tasks to those ready.”

Her approach to meeting the unique needs of each of her students enables Gaunt to provide seamless differentiation opportunities based on the individual.

“I love working with my third grade students,” Gaunt said. “They are excited to learn, explore new content and ideas, and are always eager for more information. Working with kind and curious Seven Hills students has made teaching here an amazing and rewarding experience. The Seven Hills community is a wonderful group of families who are engaged in their students' learning, are supportive, and partner with teachers on this educational journey. The beautiful campus is a lovely bonus!”

MAKING A CASE FOR DEBATE: Encouraging Exploration through Persuasion

SEVEN HILLS STUDENTS ARE CHALLENGING THEIR ASSUMPTIONS AND UNDERSTANDING OF COMPLEX ISSUES THROUGH DEBATES, MOCK TRIALS, PERSUASIVE SPEECHES, AND ARGUMENTATIVE WRITING

Whether it is having students argue if Medusa should be inducted into the hall of fame or deciding if George from “Of Mice and Men” made the right choice, Seven Hills teachers in all divisions are incorporating debate, mock trials, and argumentative writing to have students dive into the minds of historical figures and fictional characters to show their knowledge and explore topics in a different and more nuanced way.

Seventh grade English teacher Mandy Hayes employs debate when teaching John Steinbeck’s “Of Mice and Men” to help students process George’s moral dilemma and the choice he makes at the end of the novel.

“The character’s choice sparks a lot of emotion in the students and is a perfect topic for debate,” Hayes said.

Hayes poses the question to her students: did George do the right thing? The students start by writing an essay about their opinion with evidence to support it. Students present their point of view and choose sides in a splitroom debate, with yes on one side, no on the other, and undecided students standing in the middle. It is a "moving" debate — students can move to different sides of the room if they are convinced by their classmates’ arguments.

“Discussing moral dilemmas in literature provides a valuable opportunity for students to connect the themes and issues raised in the text to their own lives and the world around them,” Hayes said. “Through debating George’s dilemma in ‘Of Mice and Men,’ students can explore broader questions about responsibility, friendship, and justice that are relevant to their own experiences and society.”

Doherty teacher Katey Parks-Goad instills the importance of researching both sides of an argument through argumentative essays with her fifth grade language arts students.

“I teach my fifth graders to research both sides of the argument because it enhances their critical thinking skills. We look at both sides’ strengths and weaknesses. Many issues up for debate are multifaceted and will have valid points on both sides; researching both sides will help my students grasp the complexity of the issue,” ParksGoad said.

Much like how the students in Hayes’ split-room debate can be persuaded by their classmates’ arguments, Parks-Goad discusses with her fifth graders how, through research,

students’ assumptions and biases can be changed. They learn that being more informed on a topic can make them more likely to persuade their audience through facts rather than opinions.

“This is an essential skill, not just in persuasive writing, but in life. As the fifth graders get older, there will be many opportunities when they must make a choice or form their own opinion. The lesson on challenging assumptions and biases is vital,” Parks-Goad said.

Conducting extensive research and challenging assumptions is how Kyla Morgan Young and the Upper School African American studies class landed on the idea of a mock trial to answer the course’s main objective: what is the best path to freedom for African Americans?

“One of the ideas historians like to use is putting primary sources in conversation with each other,” Young said. “As we were having our discussions week in and week out, one of the things students started to talk about was what would historical figures do if they could talk across time. How would they debate with each other?”

Throughout the course, the students studied seven paths to freedom for African Americans in America from Reconstruction to the modern era.

The trial was the project that capped off the semester.

The students divided into two teams to argue their paths in the mock trial. One team picked culture and education, and the other picked economics and political institutions as their paths. The students

“I TEACH MY FIFTH GRADERS TO RESEARCH BOTH SIDES OF THE ARGUMENT BECAUSE IT ENHANCES THEIR CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS. WE

LOOK AT BOTH SIDES’ STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES. MANY ISSUES UP FOR DEBATE ARE MULTIFACETED AND WILL HAVE VALID POINTS ON BOTH SIDES; RESEARCHING BOTH SIDES WILL HELP MY STUDENTS GRASP THE COMPLEXITY OF THE ISSUE.”

~ Doherty teacher Katey Parks-Goad

used the primary and secondary sources they had studied throughout the semester, prepared a case file for each side, and submitted them to the other team.

Using their research and what they had learned in class, the students portrayed lawyers for both sides as well as different Black intellectuals and historians, like Fannie Lou Hamer, Marcus Garvey, W.E.B. DuBois, and Evelyn Brooks Higginbottom, who appeared as a witness in the trial.

“The students really turned into these activists. They did outside research to understand the lives of the activists and their point of view,” Young said.

The students wrote scripts for the activists they portrayed for their testimony but also had to answer new questions under cross-examination, ensuring their answers fit with the activists’ opinions and aligned with their team’s argument.

“The power of debate is that students really got to see a big picture in a way I don’t think they would have grasped from

Continued on page 34

Students in Kyla Morgan Young’s African American studies class argue the best path to freedom in a mock trial.

just the individual units,” Young said, adding the students were able to answer the course question in a way they did not think possible before.

Young’s African American studies students are not the only class delving into a topic through a mock trial format. Young

“OUR STUDENTS ALWAYS HAVE A GOOD TIME IN THE TOURNAMENT, AND CAN BE QUITE COMPETITIVE, SO THE DEBATES ARE OFTEN SPIRITED, BUT NOT MEAN SPIRITED. EVEN SHY STUDENTS THROUGHOUT THE YEAR OFTEN COME ALIVE DURING THE DEBATES.”

~ Eric O’Connor, chair of the Upper School history department

Eighth grade English teacher Laura Clemens incorporates mock trials into her students’ reading of “Lord of the Flies.” The students use textual evidence, think critically, and engage with details of the novel when determining which character should be held responsible for Simon’s death.

“The students are also assigned a client and a side, so they have to learn about making an argument they might not personally agree with,” Clemens said.

The Lotspeich fifth graders and Upper School ninth and 10th graders deepen their understanding of historical and mythological figures — whether they agree with their actions or not — by embodying them and debating their significance.

praised the case files fellow Upper School history teacher Dan Polifka created for a class activity in sophomore world history that puts historical figures and ideas, like nationalism in the 20th century, on trial with witnesses like Winston Churchill and Erich Maria Remarque, the author of “All Quiet on the Western Front.”

“The mock trial is a great tool because it forces students to construct an argument and support it with evidence,” Polifka said. “In doing that, they are forcing themselves to ask questions about what they need to know and then we work on where they can learn it.”

“One of the goals is to ask students to justify the choices of political actors from the past — to put themselves in another’s shoes at another time and to comprehend the historical context in which the person lived,” said Eric O’Connor, chair of the Upper School history department, about the annual Tournament of Greatness.

In the tournament, students research a figure of historical importance and make an argument for their greatness in a bracket-style tournament of debates. Like the witnesses under cross-examination in Young’s mock trial, students in the Tournament of Greatness must be

prepared to respond to accusations from their debate challengers.

“For many students, it dramatically deepens their understanding of the course material because the students know they must show up prepared for their session. Understanding why people made the choices they did in history is a higher level of thinking than memorizing facts,” O’Connor said.

The students determine how they want to define “greatness,” which can be achieved

Sophomores in Dan Polifka’s world history class put nationalism in the 20th century on trial.

Ace Shah gives a speech as Medusa for the fifth grade Greek Mythology Hall of Fame unit and was inducted in the 2022-23 school year.

through politics, war, peace, scientific advancement, or helping marginalized people. The debates happen over multiple weeks until a final winner is crowned.

“The students always have a good time in the tournament,” O’Connor said. “Our students can be quite competitive, so the debates are often spirited, but not mean spirited. Even shy students throughout the year often come alive during the debates.”

Greek mythological characters are brought to life during the Greek Mythology Hall of Fame unit Lotspeich teacher Danielle Levine does with her fifth grade students.

Students learn about Greek mythology and pick a hero, god, goddess, or monster to research and write two assignments about. The first is a research paper explaining the origins of their character. The second is a speech from the point of view of their character, arguing why they should be chosen for the Greek Mythology Hall of Fame. The students perform the speeches, in costume, for their classmates, who vote on who will be inducted.

Whether it is Aphrodite’s worthiness for the hall of fame, the greatness of Isaac Newton, or the responsibility of fictional characters, debate is about engaging students and deepening their understanding.

“GENERALLY, DEBATE IN HISTORY CLASSES DOES HONE SOME OF THE IMPORTANT SKILLS WE HOPE TO TEACH HISTORY STUDENTS: MARSHALING EVIDENCE TO MAKE A POINT, UNDERSTANDING OTHER’S ARGUMENTS AND RESPONDING TO THEM, HANDLING COUNTERARGUMENTS, IMPROVING CONFIDENCE AND FLUENCY IN ORAL EXPRESSION, AND RESPECTFULLY ENGAGING WITH YOUR CLASSMATES.”

~ Eric O’Connor

“Generally, debate in history classes does hone some of the important skills we hope to teach history students: marshaling evidence to make a point, understanding other’s arguments and responding to them, handling counterarguments, improving confidence and fluency in oral expression, and respectfully engaging with your classmates,” O’Connor said.

Students compete in the Upper School history department’s Tournament of Greatness in 2022.

Sophomore Maria Voronov takes the witness stand as q historical figure in mock trial.

SUSAN MARRS: A remarkable 53-year journey from part-time English teacher to assistant Head of School, director of college counseling, and director of studies

A FTER WORKING AT SEVEN HILLS FOR 53 YEARS, SUSAN MARRS IS A WALKING ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ITS HISTORY AND TRADITIONS. SHE'S THE CARING FAIRY GODMOTHER WHO ALWAYS HAS A MOMENT TO SPARE FOR ANY STUDENT OR FACULTY MEMBER WITH AN EAGER QUESTION. FOR GENERATIONS OF SEVEN HILLS STUDENTS, MARRS IS ONE OF THE MANY REASONS THEY HOLD FOND MEMORIES OF THEIR TIME AT THIS INSTITUTION.

With a bittersweet goodbye, we, as a community, say farewell to Marrs, who retired at the end of the 2023-24 school year.

Marrs was first hired at Hillsdale for a part-time English position in 1971 when Hillsdale was still an all-girls school.

"Being here at this school, I can honestly say my work has always been inherently meaningful. I’ve always been interested in the exchange of ideas. Seeing kids develop their interests as well as their thoughts and arguments is a true joy."

-Susan Marrs, retired assistant Head of School, director of college counseling, and director of studies

From the beginning, she adored her students and deeply respected her coworkers, "who had given their lives to teaching at the school."

In 1974, Marrs had a front-row seat to the historic merging of the HillsdaleLotspeich School and the College Preparatory School (CPS). She noted that merging school finances might have been easier than deciding which traditions the now unified student body celebrated or removed.

"We were told in that first year that the former CPS teachers were the only people who could discipline CPS girls, and the former Hillsdale teachers were the only ones who could discipline Hillsdale girls," Marrs said in her Seven Hills’ 50th anniversary profile. "By year three, I'd say, there was far less challenging of teachers from the other school, and more a feeling of, 'We really are friends who go to the same school.'"

Years later, while she was sitting in her shared office with former history teacher Dennis Reichelderfer, Head of Upper School Neil Smith asked if the two would be willing to be the new college counselors.

According to Marrs, she and Reichelderfer looked at each other

and realized since they were already teaching seniors and writing recommendation letters, they might as well give it a go.

Since her start as a college counselor, Marrs has advised hundreds of students, written volumes of recommendation letters, and so much more.

"It's amazing," Marrs said. "I've been the college counselor for kids whose parents I was the college counselor for, and the parent as a 17-year-old is still in my mind, especially when I see their

kids. It's one of the things I love about my job. Knowing that kids I’ve taught or counseled (who always feel like my students, even years after they’ve graduated) value the school and their experiences here enough to send their own children is just wonderful.”

Marrs explained she has witnessed changes in students’ preferences for colleges and majors over time. During her early years of counseling, Marrs said there was a trend for students to

attend small liberal arts schools in the Northeast. After the Great Recession in 2008, students tended to pick medium-sized schools in cities with

a higher chance of internships and research opportunities.

“The economy, world events, and policies all affect what students may decide they want in a college, or even a major,” Marrs said. “It used to be men went to college to find careers, but women rarely did. The roles were men ‘had’ to be the breadwinners, and women were often expected to play more supportive roles. But, over the years, thankfully, that’s changed a lot. It’s always wonderful to see students realize they can dream and achieve more than they initially thought they could.”

Marrs deliberately chose to stay at Seven Hills and contribute to the school's development for over half a century because of the unique nature of her work.

"Being here at this school, I can honestly say my work has always been inherently meaningful," Marrs said. “I’ve always been interested in the exchange of ideas. Seeing kids develop their interests as well as their thoughts and

SUSAN MARRS: A remarkable 53-year journey from part-time English teacher to assistant Head of School, director of college counseling, and director of studies , continued . . .. .

arguments is a true joy. I’ve watched kids mature into kind and curious people who go out of their way to aid others.”

Marrs mentioned one of the reasons she loves Seven Hills is that despite the intrinsic challenges of adolescence, the school's support systems and strong community make that phase of life a little less daunting.

"At Seven Hills, it has always been true that kids have allowed each other and rewarded each other for great qualities well beyond the stereotypical," Marrs said in her Seven Hills’ 50th anniversary profile. "You can be a class star in the eyes of your age-mates because you're funny or because you're in love with the environment or because you're really sold on community service or because of any of a million other reasons. They've always given that to each other — that regard for individual talents and individual enthusiasms. Kids feel freer in this kind of atmosphere to really be who they are and explore the things that they're interested in, not hide

“ Students feel freer in this kind of atmosphere to really be who they are and explore the things that they're interested in, not hide an enthusiasm because people might not think it's cool.”

-Susan Marrs, retired assistant Head of School, director of college counseling, and director of studies

an enthusiasm because people might not think it's cool."

As she embarks on a new chapter in her life, it'd be impossible to mention all the many ways she's touched the lives and hearts of the Seven Hills community during her 53-year adventure at the school.

Her commitment to excellence, compassionate mentorship, and boundless enthusiasm have left an indelible mark on all who've met her. Her legacy of kindness, wisdom, and empathetic sincerity will continue to inspire the community for years to come. While her presence will be deeply missed, we wish Marrs abundant joy, fulfillment, and relaxation in her welldeserved retirement. Thank you for your immeasurable contributions and for

enriching the lives of countless individuals throughout your remarkable tenure at Seven Hills.

SEVEN HILLS CREATE S

SCHOLARSHIP

TO HONOR SUSAN MARRS

IN HONOR OF SUSAN MARRS’ EXCEPTIONAL 53-YEAR-LONG CAREER AT SEVEN HILLS AND HER WISH TO CREATE A LASTING IMPACT, THE SCHOOL IS ESTABLISHING THE SUSAN MARRS UPPER SCHOOL SCHOLARSHIP.

THE PRIMARY GOAL OF THE NEEDBASED SCHOLARSHIP IS TO AFFORD STUDENTS THE CHANCE TO PURSUE STUDIES AT SEVEN HILLS BY ALLEVIATING THEIR FINANCIAL BURDENS.

“This school, especially its students, have been a gift in my life," Marrs said. "I’ve absolutely loved working with the kids I’ve taught and counseled, laughing with them, sometimes mopping tears, but most of all listening to them think and feel, and seeing them grow.”

AS SHE REFLECTED ON HER TIME AT SEVEN HILLS, MARRS SAID HER FAVORITE ROLES HAD ONE THING IN COMMON.

"Of all the roles I’ve held here on the Hillsdale Campus, the ones I’ve found endlessly interesting, and have enjoyed the most, have focused on kids," Marrs said. "That is why I believe a scholarship can provide a portal into this world for a child whose family might otherwise not even dream of it."

MARRS RETIRED AT THE EN D OF THE 2023-24 SCHOOL YEAR.

ARTS ALIVE

THE SEVEN HILLS SCHOOL CELEBRATED THE THIRD ANNUAL ARTS ALIVE FESTIVAL ON APRIL 26, 2024! FIRST THROUGH 12 th GRADE STUDENTS FROM BOTH CAMPUSES SHOWCASED THEIR ARTISTIC TALENTS THROUGHOUT THE HILLSDALE CAMPUS. FAMILY AND FRIENDS ENJOYED THE INCREDIBLE PERFORMANCES, ARTS AND CRAFTS, FOOD TRUCKS, AND THE WONDERFUL DEMONSTRATION OF OUR STUDENTS’ ARTISTIC VISIONS.

1. Sophomore Lemuel Zyyon sings a solo during the Upper School chorus’ performance in The Schiff Center.

2. A group decides what colors to paint their wooden figures.

3. Students create their own tie-dye shirts.

4. The Lotspeich fifth grade performance features a student-choreographed dance.

5. Middle School theater performs a selection from its winter production “Matilda.”

6. Upper School Contemporary Ensemble wows its audience with its energetic performance.

7. A young unicorn excitedly shows off her new face paint.

8. Upper School student rock band Boot Reer rocks out on Stage 2.

9. Irish step dancers whirl across Stage 1.

10. Doherty Unit II captures hearts with their passionate singing.

11. Junior Kyle Wang performs with assistance from Upper School teacher Lenore Horner.

12. Arts Alive attendees marvel at Lower School art displayed in The Schiff Center.

MIRIAM TITCOMB MEMORIAL FUND

Grants for Enrichment

Since 1978, the Miriam Titcomb Fund, an endowed enrichment fund established by alumnae, has made it possible for more than 100 Seven Hills faculty and staff to have meaningful travel and study experiences. These adventures are personally and professionally inspiring for our faculty and staff. Their increased scholarship and enthusiasm enrich the entire school community. We are pleased to share the stories of Gail Bloom, Anna WorksMcKinney, and Mia Wu.

MIDDLE AND UPPER SCHOOL ASSOCIATE

LIBRARIAN GAIL BLOOM , 2023 RECIPIENT

Gail Bloom was awarded a Titcomb grant for her experience, "La Villa Bonita Cooking School in Mexico."

Last summer, Bloom spent a week in Tepoztlan, Mexico, where she attended La Villa Bonita, a cooking school, and learned how to make squash blossom soup, oyster mushroom pozole, traditional tacos, homemade tortillas, and various Tepozteco dishes.

La Villa Bonita's co-founder and chef Ana Garcia taught Bloom's class in an incredible open-air kitchen, which overlooked beautiful mountains.

La Villa Bonita has been named one of the "Five Best Culinary Vacations Worldwide" by The Food Network and "The 100 Best Vacations to Enrich Your Life" by National Geographic Books. Garcia was declared a "Mexican food icon" and a top 100 Latina Powerhouse for her influence on Mexican cuisine and culture by Hola magazine in 2022.

"This experience was not only about cooking," Bloom said. "Chef Ana also took us to the markets to learn about how the pottery she uses in her home is made and to learn more about the town in general. My favorite part of my travel was building community with the people I met in Mexico through cooking and excursions. Going to the market and using my Spanish was both rewarding and humbling. Getting out of my comfort zone and traveling solo was something I hope to do again."

MATHEMATICS

DEPARTMENT CHAIR

ANNA WORKS-MCKINNEY , 2023 RECIPIENT

Anna Works-McKinney was awarded a Titcomb grant for her experience, "Baking with King Arthur."

In June 2023, Works-McKinney traveled to Vermont to spend four days learning the art of making bread.

"I ended up taking the three-day international breads class, where we made 10 different breads, and the half-day croissant class,” WorksMcKinney said. "Baking has always been my happy place. To be able to spend four days working with these incredible bakers and teachers was truly a dream come true. I was so happy to be able to spend this time doing something I am passionate about and something that nourishes my soul. I had wanted to take one of these classes for nearly 20 years, and it was so much better than I could have imagined. It is something I will do again! And on the plus side, my family, friends, and colleagues

have all gotten to eat many of the new breads I have learned to make."

During college, Works-McKinney said she strongly considered attending culinary school to become a professional baker.

"I got a job at a bakery making scones, chocolate mousse, cakes, and cookies," Works-McKinney said. "While I eventually decided that career wasn't for me, I am still passionate about

baking. I do a lot of baking and have learned a lot through trial and error, as well as my mom (who also learned how to bake bread at a King Arthur class), but I have not had any professional training since college. This experience allowed me to fulfill my dream and wish since I was 22 years old."

MIRIAM TITCOMB MEMORIAL FUND

Grants for Enrichment, continued . . .

MIDDLE AND UPPER WORLD LANGUAGE

TEACHER MIA WU , 2023 RECIPIENT

Mia Wu was awarded a Titcomb grant for her experience, "Visiting My Homeland After Four Years."

Wu traveled through China and Japan for her Titcomb adventure and reconnected with family, friends, and her former high school teachers.

"In Japan, I visited Tokyo and Hakone,” Wu said. “Hakone is a little town below Mt. Fuji that is famous for its hot springs. In Japan, I was just amazed at the great food. For $7, you will get great ramen; for $35, you can get a nice sushi meal and no tips! In China, I visited my hometown, Hangzhou, and Shanghai. I learned that the new trend for people in

China is to go to coffee shops instead of bars at night. COVID hit the economy hard, and now many people must work extra hard to make a living. Some people finish work at midnight! Electric cars are popular in China now, too. While I was hanging out with my friends in the coffee shops, their husbands watched movies and got massages from their car seats, which was quite mind-blowing. In terms of education, schools have focused more on AI and robotics."

As she traveled, Wu also noted potential places students could visit on a future study abroad trip.

"While there were many highlights, the best was seeing my family in person again,” Wu said. “It was tough being away from my family for almost four

years because of COVID. Through this visit, I was able to reconnect with my family, my friends, and the city itself. I really feel recharged with good emotions and new experiences. This trip definitely equipped me with more topics that I could share with my students and reignited my passion for my own culture," Wu said.

25 YEARS OF CLASS AGENTS

The Class Agents Program is celebrating its 25th year. Director of Development

Margo Kirstein started the program for current Upper School students to get a jump-start on their Seven Hills alumni experience by seeing how the alumni and development offices operate.

“Our goal is for the students to see and understand the importance and benefit of the Seven Hills alumni network. They learn how they can utilize our community and take part in it as they move into the next phase of their Seven Hills journey.”

~Director of Development Margo Kirstein

The students — picked for their poise, responsibility, and friendliness — exemplify what current Seven Hills students are like to alumni, from the youngest to the oldest. Every year, the agents help the development office make the care packages of treats and Seven Hills swag sent to the youngest alumni in their first year of college.

The agents also attend the Classics Luncheon, for alumni celebrating at least their 50th reunion as graduates of Seven Hills, the College Preparatory School, or the

Hillsdale-Lotspeich School. The three schools combined 50 years ago to create The Seven Hills School. At the luncheon, the agents help attendees with their name tags and seating, while seniors are chosen to speak about their time at Seven Hills and students have the opportunity to provide musical entertainment.

Thank you for your service, class agents for the 2023-24 school year!

JUNIORS

Areej Arif, Sarina Bedi, Timothy DeWitt, William Huguenin-Virchaux, Annie Katuska, Saxon Lackey, Reagan Licata, Chinmay Machavaram, Shlok Mehta, Ahalya Nambiar, Kira Njegovan, Sophie Ottke Moore, Everett Rinaldi, Roman Russo, and Sammy Willard

SENIORS

Aanvi Anand, Heidi Jurgensen, Alexa Kecman, Rishi Mittal, Maggie Motch, Margret Schnirring, Susie Stahl, Celine Tan, Gabrielle Walker, and Leo Weller

Class agents serve two-year terms and attend six lunch meetings a year with activities, like writing thank you notes to donors and campus visitors, happening throughout the school year.

“Our goal is for the students to see and understand the importance and benefit of the Seven Hills alumni network. They learn how they can utilize our community and take part in it as they move into the next phase of their Seven Hills journey,” Kirstein said.

PERSONAL CHALLENGE EXPERIENCE

Four Stories of Discovery

Each Upper School student designs an original Challenge Experience that helps define their interests, explore their passions, and stretches them beyond their comfort zones. Challenge Experience embodies the spirit of Seven Hills’ dedication to experiential learning.

Creating a Hor ror Comic Senior RIA MITTAL

Experience Description: Ria created a horror comic book, which pushed the boundaries of what she has accomplished artistically and serves as an allegory for her views on human nature and science.

Experience Process: Ria decided she wanted to create a horror comic as a way to improve her art and learn more about how comics, which she frequently reads, are made. She combined her love of art, horror, mythology, and science into the story. The comic follows a trusting kid

who meets another child in the woods. This child in the woods turns out to be a siren. “I am really a science person, so I was super into Darwin’s theory of evolution and theory of natural selection. I really wanted to include the idea that people are so evolved that we really don’t have a natural predator and that is why we are so trusting in society,” Ria said.

Her writing and drawing process mostly began with walking around her coffee table with a pair of headphones on, thinking through the story. She would quickly sketch ideas, then go through a process called thumbnailing, similar to storyboarding, and would then pick the ideas she wanted to include. Ria had never made a comic before, so it took a long time to sketch out all of the story, then ink and color it, and format it to make sure all the pages fit together.

Ria said figuring out the formatting was

one of the most challenging aspects, since she has mostly painted before. Another was moving the project forward despite not having the story complete, but she believed the process of going through it helped develop her ideas.

Ria: “The main reason I liked this project, and I kept going with it, was because I’m worried, in a sense, as an artist, that AI is going to take over art one day. But art is a more human thing. Art really comes from the people and their feelings and thoughts. It takes time — it took me 90 to 100 hours to finish this. If a computer can do that in like two seconds, there is no real work, energy, or effort in it anymore.”

Video Game Design

Senior JULIA ZENG

Experience Description: Julia created “Skyroad,” a first-person adventure video game, inspired by artist Cai GuoQiang’s “Sky Ladder.”

Experience Process: Julia did not originally set out to make a video game. She wanted to combine her love of art, writing, and games in a way that would be interactive and explorative. “I was able to try things I have never done before by making a video game,” Julia said.

CHALLENGE EXPERIENCES ARE A REQUIREMENT FOR ALL UPPER SCHOOL STUDENTS. EACH STUDENT DESIGNS AN ORIGINAL PROJECT THAT HELPS DEFINE THEIR INTERESTS AND

Ria Mittal

Julia said the game is not hard in terms of the concept, but the coding was hard. The player uses a zip line

mechanism with custom length, curvature degree, and direction to move throughout a landscape inspired by “Sky Ladder,” a very long ladder of fire that goes into the sky. Julia had made other video games before, but “Skyroad” called for more coding. She began with the coding for the zip line

mechanism and puzzles throughout the game. She then moved on to game level design and had to decide what she wanted the players to do and how they would move around in the game.

Debugging the game was the most challenging part, Julia said. She had to go through the code, find parts that did not work and figure out why, which is difficult in a large project. She also dealt with another type of “debugging” after she conducted beta testing by sending the game to people to play. “That is the moment when I had to ‘debug’ and figure out how to actually get a good player experience. Because that is what it is really about, that the people who play the game are happy about how it is played,” she said.

Julia: “I do think it is very fun to do something in high school that you don’t usually do in your classes. Even though video games sometimes have a bad reputation, I have played games that are very inspiring and have changed part of my life.”

Handmade Chess Set

Senior MAX BROWN

from his family. His dad collects chess sets and Max has always played chess. He also hunts with his family and during the downtime, they whittle. “I thought it would be cool to combine those two aspects,” Max said. So, he set out to whittle his own chess set by hand. After getting the basswood and whittling supplies he needed, he conducted research and got the basic idea for the three-layered skirt design for the pawns. He built on that original framework and created designs for the other pieces.

STRETCHES THEM BEYOND THEIR COMFORT ZONES. PERSONAL CHALLENGE EMBODIES THE SPIRIT OF SEVEN HILLS’ DEDICATION TO EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING.

Experience Description: Max made a wooden chess set by hand, whittling each of the pieces himself.

Experience Process:

The inspiration for Max’s project came

Max said the most challenging aspect was the intricacy of the designs, which made the whittling take a long time because of the carefulness needed in certain groves. “I’m a pretty heavyhanded person, so sometimes I would

continued on page 48

Julia Zeng

Max Brown

PERSONAL CHALLENGE PROJECTS, Continued . . .

Four Stories of Discovery

accidentally knock off a giant chunk, and then I would have to start over.”

But Max learned to stay dedicated to the project and not lose hope. After whittling the pieces, he sanded, stained, and put a wax on the pieces to seal them and ensure they last longer. For the board, he set the tiles with wood glue, used grout to secure them, and stained the edge of the board.

Max: “Because I found something that I was really interested in, it wasn’t hard. I didn’t feel like I was forcing myself to get it done. I would suggest to other people to find something you are interested in and that could captivate you so you are not focusing on a specific time limit that you need to meet.”

Local Waterways Study Senior WILL SUTTON

Experience Description: Will researched and tested the water health and pollutant levels of seven local waterways and recorded the data on his website, williamsgonefishing.com.

Experience Process: Will has a passion for fishing and wanted to learn more about the seven waterways he frequents: the Ohio River, Great Miami River, Little Miami River, Brookville Lake, East Fork Lake, Mill Creek, and the Oxbow Wetlands. He researched the history of each waterway, the fish species commonly found in them, and

different features of the waterways.

“The second part of the project was learning about water testing and learning how pH, dissolved oxygen, total dissolved solids, and water turbidity affects water quality,” Will said.

Will tested the water from the different waterways with a pH meter, total dissolved solids meter, dissolved oxygen analyzer, and a turbidity tube with a secchi disk. He said the most challenging part was learning how to analyze the water quality by looking at the test results, since he had to learn

how the results impacted each other. Will began updating his website and keeping track of the test results when he was a freshman. The first post was on Oct. 18, 2020, and he has more than 150 posts.

Will: “I have been very interested in fishing for a few years now, and I wanted to base my project off my passion. I thought it would be interesting to learn more about the waterways I regularly fish in.”

Will Sutton

EXPLORATION, INNOVATION, AND CREATION: THE LOWER SCHOOL STEAM FAIR

Over the past three years, the Lower School STEAM Fair has evolved into a cherished annual tradition, spearheaded by Middle School science teacher Ken Revell and his seventh and eighth grade student volunteers, who oversee approximately 20 diverse STEAM stations each year.

Initially held on the Doherty Campus, the event found a new home inside the

new Middle School building. This year, around 150 Lower School students and their families participated in a multitude of STEAM activities and demonstrations.

Throughout the fair, Middle School students facilitated STEAM stations dispersed across

presented a unique scientific concept for Lower School students to explore. For instance, to delve into Archimedes' buoyancy principle, the budding scientists constructed boats from various-sized sheets of aluminum foil to determine what type of boat design could hold the most pennies. At another station, Lower School students marveled at the effects of air pressure within a vacuum chamber, observing as balloons and marshmallows expanded when they increased air pressure.

Revell said. “Having Middle School students lead the stations gives them confidence and responsibility, while younger students are inspired and encouraged to explore STEAM subjects. We're engaging students across multiple grades and

“We're

achieving

two goals with the STEAM Fair: empowering Middle School students as mentors and leaders

and

engaging Lower School students in science and creativity.”

- Middle School science teacher Ken Revell “

The abundance of stations allowed Lower School students to delve into nearly any scientific concept of interest. This year's offerings covered gravity, electricity, drone flight, acids and bases, polarity, capillary action, chromatography, color and light, and the mechanics of vision.

"We're achieving two goals with the STEAM Fair: empowering Middle School students as mentors and leaders and engaging Lower School students in science and creativity,”

strengthening our sense of community while learning to fly drones or building furniture for our stuffed animals. It's always an incredible morning."

M IDDLE AND UPPER SCHOOLS NAMED FOR CHRIS GART EN AND SUSAN MARRS

To recognize their years of service, dedication, and commitment to Seven Hills and their retirements at the end of the 2023-24 school year, the Middle and Upper School buildings are now the Garten Middle School, in honor of Retired Head of School Chris Garten, and the Marrs Upper School, in honor of Retired Assistant Head of School and Director of College Counseling Susan Marrs.

“ Both Mr. Garten and Mrs. Marrs have dedicated their lives to enriching the experiences of countless students and alumni. Today, we celebrate their remarkable achievements. While their presence will be sorely missed, their influence will continue to resonate within our community for generations to come,” said Seven Hills Board of Trustees Chair Lair Kennedy, at the dedication ceremony attended by students and members of the Seven Hills community on April 24.

Head of Upper School and Head of School-elect Matt Bolton praised Garten for his strategic planning and ability to turn dreams into reality. During his 15 years as Head of School,

“These buildings are a physical manifestation of Mr. Garten’s commitment to making our school the best at getting better. Seeing his name over the entrance of the Middle School every day will be a reminder of the excellent example he has set.”

Head of School Matt Bolton

Garten oversaw the construction of the Taft Early Childhood Center, Lower Field Complex, Field House, 10 tennis courts, Wyant Family Squash Center, and The Schiff Center, as well as major renovations to the Doherty Campus and the new Middle School.

“These buildings are a physical manifestation of Mr. Garten’s commitment to making our school the best at getting better. Seeing his name over the entrance of the Middle School every day will be a reminder of the excellent example he has set,” Bolton said.

Garten was touched by the recognition and was honored to share it alongside Marrs.

“My time at Seven Hills has been the happiest of

be here for 15 years,” Garten said.

Former Board of Trustees Chair and former Interim Head of School

my professional life, and my family and I have found a home in Cincinnati and a family here at Seven Hills. It has been wonderful to

Tory Parlin H'63 spoke of Marrs as an integral and beloved member of the Seven Hills community for more than 50 years.

“Over an extraordinary career, Susan has been an inspiring teacher, an empathic and thoughtful adviser, a supportive and collaborative colleague, and a consistently generous contributor of her time. In short, she has given her life and soul to Seven Hills.”

~ Former Board of Trustees Chair and former Interim Head of School Tory Parlin H'63

“Over a n extraordinary career, she has been an inspiring teacher, an empathic and thoughtful adviser, a supportive and collaborative colleague, and a consistently generous contributor of her time. In short, she has given her life and soul to Seven Hills,” Parlin said.

Marrs thanked Seven Hills for hiring her, putting up with her for a “staggering number of years,” and

sending her off into retirement with the honor of the Upper School bearing her name.

“Thank you most of all for the warmth and kindness that is Seven Hills. May those qualities emanate from and bounce around the walls of this building, enveloping you all a million times over,” Marrs said.

SEVEN HILLS HONORS LIFERS WITH LUNCH

The third annual Lifers Lunch honored the 29 members of the Class of 2024, who spent their entire education at Seven Hills. To be a lifer, a graduating senior must have started at Seven Hills in at least the first grade.

Some lifers started as early as prekindergarten for 2-year-olds and spent 15 years at Seven Hills.

“

“One of the great joys of working at a school is watching the arc of people’s lives and seeing how [our students] grow up.”

-Retired Head of School Chris Garten

“One of the great joys of working at a school is watching the arc of people’s lives and seeing how they grow up. It has really been a pleasure of my life to watch the

people in this room grow in so many ways,” said former Head of School Chris Garten, who began his career at Seven Hills the same time as the lifers and is retired at the end of the 2023-24 school year.

Director of Development Margo Kirstein thanked the seniors’ parents for entrusting Seven Hills with their children for so long. Each lifer was gifted a plaque with their school photo from their first year at Seven

Hills and a group photo taken this year with their fellow Doherty or Lotspeich Lower School lifers.

Max Gollobin ’09, a member of the Alumni Board, encouraged the lifers to cherish the sense of community and value of what they experienced during their time at Seven Hills.

“You guys are part of what makes this community so great, and I hope you stay in touch in the years to come,” Gollobin said.

SEVEN HILLS DEDICATES THE WYANT FAMILY SQUASH CENTER

Seven Hills opened and dedicated the Wyant Family Squash Center in Stoehr Gym on the Hillsdale Campus, the largest squash facility for a high school in the Cincinnati area, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on March 12.

The squash facility was made possible by a small group of generous donors, including alumni Peg and Jack Wyant, said Director of Development Margo Kirstein.

Seven Hills began offering squash as an Upper School girls winter sport during the 2021-22 school year, fueled by an interest from students.

“It’s been really exciting to have a team in high school and get another one in college. Thank you to everyone who donated; without you, this

would really not have been possible. It was a dream my freshman year for me and my sister, Aanya, who helped make it happen along with [Athletic Director Scott] Willard. So, thank you for helping her and thank you for helping us,” said senior and team captain Aanvi Anand.

The squash program has grown in popularity and success since then. The program added a boys team during the 2022-23 season and expanded into the Middle School for the 2023-24 season. Both the girls and boys varsity teams competed at the U.S. High School Squash Championships in Philadelphia in February. Thanks to Seven Hills’ no-cut athletics programs, there were six squash teams

“Our hope is to spark an interest in a game our students can play throughout their adult lives and have them be part of a community.”

- Retired Head of School Chris Garten “

across the Middle and Upper School for the 2023-24 winter sports season.

The Wyant Family Squash Center has four squash courts and a viewing area for spectators. In addition to being the home courts for the squash teams, squash is being incorporated into the Seven Hills physical education curriculum.

“Opening these courts today allows us to launch our own full-fledged squash program. We really want to provide an opportunity to introduce the game to all our students. Our hope is to spark an interest in a game our students can play throughout their adult lives and have them be part of a community,”

former Head of School Chris Garten said at the dedication ceremony.

A Collegiate Wall was included in the facility to honor the more than 20 Seven Hills alums who went on to play squash in college before Seven Hills offered it as a sport. Since the program began, three students, including

Aanvi Anand and her older sister Aanya Anand of the Class of 2022, have signed or gone on to play squash at the collegiate level.

Willard hopes Seven Hills’ commitment to squash helps grow middle and high school squash in the area.

“There are great partnerships, and there is great squash in Cincinnati. Our goal here is to champion that effort to grow squash in the area and have more people to play in town. We also hope to set a standard in the area for squash programs,” Willard said.

1. Wyant Family Squash Center namesakes Peg and Jack Wyant pose for a photo with former Head of School Chris Garten at the dedication ceremony. 2. Middle School squash players attend the ribbon cutting at the Wyant Family Squash Center. Squash expanded into the Middle School during the 2023-24 school year. 3. Former Head of School Chris Garten speaks at the ribbon cutting for the Wyant Family Squash Center. 4. Squash players senior Aanvi Anand and junior Saxon Lackey thank donors at the Wyant Family Squash Center dedication. 5. Senior Aanvi Anand plays a match against Shady Side Academy at the Wyant Family Squash Center.

HELPING STUDENTS FIND THEMSELVES THROUGH ARTISTIC EXPRESSION

Experimenting with color and technique, capturing their charact er’s emotion and heart, and hitting the high note onstage. These moments of self-expression and technical skills are the core of the Middle School’s arts d epartment.

As a Middle School student, life is an ongoing adventure of discovery, whether it’s the journey of figuring out who they want to be or trying their hand at a new skill and finding out it’s their passion.

Every year, Jacob Hauser, Elissa Donovan, Tina Kuhlman, and John Rising craft their curriculum to engage students to create outside their comfort zone and strengthen their technique.

“Creativity is at the heart of everything a theater performer does,” said Hauser, fine and performing arts department chair and Middle School drama teacher.

“Voice, body, and imagination are the only tools an actor brings to the art form. Creativity is what separates one actor’s portrayal of a scene from another’s. The collaboration that exists in theater and builds on each person’s unique ideas, whether it is the other actors, the director, the costume designer, props, set, sound, lighting designer, choreographer, etc., is what makes for the most interesting and engrossing productions.”

In Hauser’s class, sixth graders begin with various activities that develop the students’ tools of voice, body, and imagination. The goal is to develop their teamwork skills as they learn how to build on the creative ideas of others.

Seventh graders dive into naturalistic two-person scenes, learning how to highlight their characters’ motivations and what their characters are trying to accomplish in the scene.

“Empathy is very important in this context because the students are

“ Creativity is at the heart of everything a theater performer does. Voice, body, and imagination are the only tools an actor brings to the art form. Creativity is what separates one actor’s portrayal of a scene from another’s.”

- Jacob Hauser, fine and performing arts department chair and Middle School drama teacher “

Middle School's winter production, "Matilda"

actually putting themselves into someone else’s position and trying to see their perspective,” Hauser said.

As eighth graders, students use what they’ve learned in previous years as they’re given more creative control of theatrical productions. Starting in eighth grade, students can become directors, designers, and writers, and they work together in larger groups to develop more complex scenes.

Throughout their time in Hauser’s class, students are learning how to balance important techniques they’ve learned while fostering their own creative expression.

“The one absolutely feeds the other,” Hauser said. “The more technique a performer has, the better they are able to communicate their fantastic ideas to

the audience. Once young performers feel the necessity for developing their skills to give voice to their imaginations,

they fully embrace it. Many of the skills they develop in the performing arts are important to any field they might pursue. Collaboration, communication, spontaneity, creativity, selfconfidence, empathy, and

analysis are critical skills applicable to everything from their personal lives to their future careers.”

For Kuhlman, the Middle and Upper School vocal music teacher, her primary goal is cultivating a genuine appreciation for music.

“It's important to me to strike a balance between developing vocal skills, furthering their music education, nurturing creativity, and offering a variety of performance opportunities to build confidence and a sense of

accomplishment,” Kuhlman said. "The teamwork, discipline, and commitment required to master challenging music and work toward performance goals help students develop resilience, grit, determination, and valuable life skills. Additionally, choral singing provides an outlet for emotional expression and creativity, which can be empowering and fulfilling. I hope that this combination of musical, personal, and emotional benefits carries over into other parts of my student's lives and that they find a lifelong love of singing.”

Donovan, the Middle School art teacher, shared the process of creating is more important than the outcome.

Middle School's winter production, "Matilda"

Sixth grade chorus performs in The Schiff Center

Middle School students perform two one-act productions; Edgar Allen Poe's "Shuddersome: Tales of Poe" and "The Brothers Grimm Spectaculathon" in their fall theatrical production.

HELPING STUDENTS FIND THEMSELVES THROUGH ARTISTIC EXPRESSION,

“Sure, I teach them skills and concepts that can lead to artistic success, but creating art has to be an adventure for the students and they need to take risks,” Donovan said. “They have to get comfortable with knowing that sometimes their initial effort will produce amazing outcomes and sometimes it won’t. Reflection and making thoughtful decisions about the direction of their work are important skills for any artist to develop so they can grow.”

Donovan explained how she tailors her lessons to help students where they are and what skill benchmarks they want to achieve.

“In sixth grade, I focus on creativity and imagination, adding in concrete skills development where appropriate,”

Donovan said. “Many projects, like splatter painting, are process-based with open outcomes. It’s designed to encourage students to explore a medium and make artistic choices as they arise. Others, like superhero/ villain drawings, grow from fundamental figure drawing exercises culminating in original concepts.”

As the students grow, projects become more complex, building on skills from previous lessons and focusing more on

students' personal interests and views. Donovan creates opportunities for students to explore self-expression through projects like symbolic selfportraits, reverse glass paintings, and pop art canvas shoes, to name a few.

“The growth I see in students goes beyond their artistic skills, especially in sixth grade when many kids start out with a desire to mimic each other’s styles without experimenting with their own,” Donovan said. “At the beginning of the semester, I talked with them about how we could all try to make the exact same project or draw the exact same thing, but because of the structure of our hand, the way we hold the tools, and even the way we view something, our work is never going to look exactly the same. At this age, there is a great need to belong, and sometimes that means trying to be like everyone else. It is my goal to help my Middle School artists appreciate their unique views and help them tell their own stories.”

As Middle School musicians, students learn how they can meld their sound with other members of their ensemble, while still expressing themselves. Rising, the Lower, Middle, and Upper School

Eighth graders learn how to sculpt clay

Sixth grade students learn how to blend colors

instrumental music teacher, is able to balance the two priorities by creating a unified spirit and showing the young musicians that, as their teacher and conductor, he’ll be with them at each step.

“Music is about the journey, but at the end of the day, we are onstage performing,” Rising said. “Sometimes, those performances exceed our personal expectations, and sometimes, they don’t. The big takeaway I want my students to have comes down to this: we work hard, we take some uncomfortable chances, we make thousands of mistakes, we rely on each other, and we stretch ourselves. When it’s time to perform, we’ll see if in that exact moment on stage we can bring our very best. The other takeaway is that music is cool! Playing an instrument and singing is cool, acting is cool, and being an artist is cool.”

A part of Rising’s strategy for retaining student interest is crafting a setlist of songs they’re familiar with and songs they are not.

“Every ensemble plays a wide variety of music, and it’s important we don’t think one group of instruments can only play certain types of music,” Rising said.

“

“

Many of the skills they develop in the performing arts are important to any field they might pursue. Collaboration, communication, spontaneity, creativity, self-confidence, empathy, and analysis are critical skills applicable to everything from their personal lives to their fields of employment. ”

- Jacob Hauser, fine and performing arts department chair and Middle School drama teacher

“Part of the reason behind the music selection is hearing the parents’ feedback after concerts. They’ve expressed wishing they could have played music like our students in school because they may have kept playing.”

Rising subtly incorporates as much music theory as possible into his Middle School curriculum, in order to not overwhelm his students.

“When I heard those two words together as a kid I was out the door,” Rising said. “We unpack as much as we need to for each song, and as we progress, each song presents new challenges, which means we learn new things. My job is not to know every answer but to help teach and guide students to possible answers. I love it when kids can get to answers faster or better than I can.”

Whether through acting, music, or art, Middle School students at Seven Hills have an incredible team of teachers dedicated to helping each student find their voice, adopt new skill sets, and create camaraderie among their peers while exploring the fine and performing arts.

Seventh grade instrumental ensemble

WINTER AND SPRING SPORTS HONORS

Talented teams, competitive players, and thrilling matchups

The Seven Hills winter sports season was one to be remembered. Stingers traveled to state and national tournaments, went deep into the postseason, and had great matchups all season. Congratulations to our athletes and coaches who made the winter 2023-24 sports season successful!

Seven members of the co-ed varsity swim team advanced to the state tournament this season. Junior Henry Stimson took fifth in the 100 breaststroke and seventh in the 50 freestyle. Sophomore Colin McNerney finished eighth in the 500 freestyle and 14th in the 200 freestyle. For the girls, junior Josie Schneider finished 14th in the 100 backstroke. The relay team of Schneider, freshmen Irene Zhang and Madison Zortman, and junior Raine Ellerman took 15th in the 200 freestyle relay. In the 200 medley relay, the team of Schneider, Zhang, Ellerman, and freshman Avery Clayton finished 15th.

The boys varsity bowling team advanced to the district tournament this season, finishing 17th overall. Junior Nicholas Stein had the highest finish with a total of 589 points across three games. The Stingers finished third overall in the Miami Valley Conference with an overall record of 11-4. Junior Madi Kasman qualified individually for the district tournament and finished 18th overall with a score of 506. Kasman was the second individual points leader in the MVC averaging 153.4 per game.

The girls varsity basketball team made it to the third round of the sectional tournament. The Stingers won the MVC Gray Division title with an in-

conference record of 14-0. The team had an overall record of 20-4 and junior Reagan Licata was second in the league in rebounds with 9.9 per game and fifth in points, with 16.5 per game.

The boys varsity basketball team made it to the second round of the sectional tournament after defeating FelicityFranklin 83-62. The team finished the regular season with a 9-3 MVC record, earning them second place in the Gray Division. Junior Terrance Yarbrough led the Stingers with a points per game average of 20.1 and 3.6 steals. Junior Jackson Calloway had the most blocks, averaging 1.9 a game.

The girls and boys varsity squash teams competed at the national tournament in Philadelphia in February. The Stingers fought hard and had excellent matchups. The squash teams hosted their first home tournament this season at the Wyant Family Squash Center in Stoehr Gym against Louisville Collegiate. The girls team won 5-2 and the boys team dominated with a 7-0 win.

The varsity indoor track team had an excellent season. At the OHSAA qualifier tournament, senior Carter Stevens finished third in the 800 meter. Junior Brady O’Connor set a new school record in the 60 meter with a time of 7.92.

The hard work, enthusiasm, and Stinger spirit of the cheer squad kept the atmosphere high in Kalnow Gym and on the road during the boys and girls basketball games.

There were several highlights of the Seven Hills spring sports season. Some Stingers traveled to state tournaments, forced upsets in the post season, and had great matchups. Congratulations to our athletes and coaches who made the spring 2023-24 sports season successful!

The boys varsity tennis team had an excellent showing this season, with four members competing in the state tournament. Sophomore Adi Nayak finished third in the state and senior Avi

continued on page 60

Cheerleading squad

Carter Stevens

Boys Varsity Lacrosse Henry Stimson

Seven Hills Squash Team

Boys Bowling

Girls Basketball

Jackson Calloway

Madi Kasman

Amelia Schnirring and Margret Schnirring

Adi Nayak Avi Mahajan

SPRING SPORTS HONORS,

Mahajan finished fourth. The doubles team of senior Gavin Isakov and junior Chinmay Machavaram also competed. At the district tournament, Mahajan took first, Isakov and Machavaram took second in doubles, and Nayak finished third. The Stingers also won the Miami Valley Conference for the fifth straight season with an in-conference record of 7-0.

Four members of the co-ed varsity track and field team also competed at the state tournament. The girls 4x200 relay team of sophomores Claire Bachelder and Amelia Schnirring and seniors Callie Drew and Margret Schnirring competed at the state tournament, finishing 14th. Numerous school records were broken this season by the girls 4x200 team, junior Brady O’Connor in the 110 meter hurdles, sophomore Malcolm Faison in the 300 meter hurdles, and the girls 4x100 by Drew, Margret Schnirring, Amelia Schnirring, and freshman Zora Simpson.

The varsity softball team won the MVC Gray Division with an undefeated 7-0 conference record and an overall record of 10-3. Junior pitcher Annie Katuska led the MVC in wins with nine and strikeouts with 124. She also had four home runs and a batting average of .600. Senior Erin Pierani had the fourth best batting average in the league with .575. Freshman pitcher Jackie Katuska had the best earned run average with 1.00.

The varsity baseball team were cowinners of the MVC Gray Division with an in-conference record of 11-1 and an overall record of 13-6. The team made it to the second round of the sectional tournament after beating Sabina 6-0. Senior pitcher Nicholas Cohen was second in the MVC with an earned run average of .42.

The girls varsity lacrosse team made it to the second round of the regional tournament after defeating Summit Country Day 14-12 in the first round. There were multiple milestones reached for the team during the regular season. Junior goalie Quincy Morris made her 300th career save during the 14-4 win over Notre Dame Academy. Senior Sophie Wiles made her 100th career goal during the game against Madeira and sophomore Siena Motch scored her 100th career goal in the final game of the regular season against McNicholas.

The boys varsity lacrosse team bid farewell to nine seniors this season. The team had a spectacular overtime win on senior night. The Stingers scored two goals in two minutes to tie

the game at 8-8 and force overtime play. The win was secured with a goal by sophomore Miles Rizor with the assist by senior Rocco Maislin

Rocco Maislin

Sophie Wiles

Varsity Baseball

Varsity Softball

ICE EXPLORATION IN PK2

As part of their study of arctic animals in February, the pre-kindergarten for 2-year-old students at Doherty explored an iceberg and arctic animals. They experimented with ice by adding warm water and seeing what happened. The act of scooping, pouring, and collecting their ice and snow allowed for sensory exploration and the building of fine motor skills.

SPANISH AROUND THE WORLD

Unit II and III students completed their “All Around the World” projects in March in their Spanish class taught by Katya Ramos, who was the long-term sub for Spanish teacher Kristen Diersing In groups, students picked different Spanish speaking countries, researched

them, and created a poster displaying what they learned. The groups then taught their classmates about the different ways Spanish is spoken throughout the world in places like Honduras, Mexico, and Peru.

AWARD WINNING AUTHOR NANCY

CHURNIN

VISITS LOWER SCHOOLS

On April 8 and 9, children’s book author Nancy Churnin visited Doherty and

Lotspeich, where she shared her writing journey and fascinated students of all ages with her stories. Churnin explained that one of her books, “The William Hoy Story,” took over 10 years to be published.

“It took a while, but would we say I failed?” Churnin asked the kids. “No, because I kept trying! We only fail when we stop trying.”

Churnin also discussed her goal when writing “The William Hoy Story” was to bring more attention to Hoy’s incredible baseball career and how he challenged preconceptions of what deaf people were capable of during the late 1800s.

Churnin has won many accolades for her works including the 2021 National Jewish

Book Award and 2022

Sydney Taylor Honor for “Dear Mr. Dickens,” a true story that is the subject of an educational program offered by The Charles Dickens Museum in London; and two

Sydney Taylor

Notables, in 2021 for “A Queen to the Rescue, the Story of Henrietta Szold Founder of Hadassah” and in 2018 for “Irving Berlin, the Immigrant Boy Who Made America Sing.”

LEAP DAY FUN

Lotspeich teachers surprised their students with an afternoon full of Leap Day adventures on Feb. 29. Students rotated through different stations that included learning a dance to “Jump,” folding paper frogs, discovering facts about frogs in Spanish, contributing to a schoolwide frog mural, and more! The afternoon concluded with the entire division dancing on the Upper Field to “Jump,” and some ECC students even joining in the fun.

ARCHITECTS IN PREKINDERGARTEN

Pre-kindergarten students in Tyler McIllwraith’s and Kathleen Koester’s classes displayed their models of different types of homes from around the world to ECC students on March 1. The little architects used a variety of materials to bring their visions to life and discussed the features of their homes with their peers with great enthusiasm and detail. From apartments to tree houses to yurts, students loved sharing their projects with their peers and learning more about the world.

SEVENTH GRADE PRESENTS INNOVATION LAB PROJECT

Seventh graders presented their Exploring Engineering and Design prototypes to family and peers, resulting from their student-directed, semester-long journey of crafting solutions for problems they felt passionately about. Some of the projects included: Coukie Co., a vegan protein cookie free of the top 10 allergens, a self-heating blanket that doesn’t require electricity, a sports net to catch any size ball and prevent it from going into bushes or a neighbor’s yard, and more. Middle School

Innovation Lab director Keagan O’Mara said the project helps students strengthen their project management skills, define problems, and assess potential solutions.

NOAH BENDIX-BALGLEY ’02 VISITS MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS

On March 4, Noah Bendix-Balgley ’02 returned to Seven Hills to discuss his path to becoming the concertmaster for the Berlin Philharmonic with Middle School students . Prior to the Berlin Philharmonic, Bendix-Balgley served as concertmaster for the Pittsburgh

Symphony from 2011-14. BendixBalgley also played two musical numbers on a loaned violin, a historic 1718 Antonio Stradivari instrument. One of Stradivari’s violins is currently viewable at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. After BendixBalgley’s performance, he answered students’ questions about his life. The Middle School musicians were pleasantly surprised to hear he also performed in the Cincinnati Youth Orchestra when he was a Seven Hills student.

FRESHMEN PERFORM “AS YOU LIKE IT”

As part of Meredith Brown’s freshman English class, students performed selected scenes from William Shakespeare’s “As You Like It” in March. Performing in groups, the students gained a better understanding of the work and put their own spin on their scenes through costumes and props.

BLACK HISTORY MONTH VISITORS TO UPPER

Two Upper School clubs brought visitors to campus in February in honor of Black History Month. Paws for a Cause Club hosted Dr. Kamaria Maseru-Catalan, or Dr. Cat, a Black

DREW AND LEA LACHEY VISIT UPPER SCHOOL THEATER

On Feb. 9, Drew and Lea Lachey visited an Upper School theater class to discuss their experiences in the entertainment industry and how they created “label•less,” a touring production

veterinarian and the owner of Rover the Rhine, a veterinary hospital in Overthe-Rhine. Dr. Cat and her associates shared what daily operation is like at a veterinary hospital and the different types of jobs in the vet field.

“No job is too small or too insignificant, and it is not too early to start working,” Dr. Cat told the students gathered in the Young Family Library.

The African American Awareness Club hosted the Soul Lunch with food donated and served by the Seven Hills Network for African American Parents for all Upper School students in Founders Hall on Feb. 27.

Schneider, freshmen Irene Zhang and Madison Zortman, and junior Raine Ellerman took 15th in the 200 freestyle relay. In the 200 medley relay the team of Schneider, Zhang, Ellerman, and freshman Avery Clayton finished 15th.

that was featured in The Schiff Center earlier this year. Students also had the opportunity to ask questions about the couple’s experiences and learn a part of the show’s choreography to the music “Born This Way” by Lady Gaga.

STINGERS SWIM AT STATE

The co-ed varsity swim team had an excellent showing at the state tournament Feb. 20-25. Junior Henry Stimson took fifth in the 100 breaststroke and seventh in the 50 freestyle. Sophomore Colin McNerney finished eighth in the 500 freestyle and 14th in the 200 freestyle. For the girls, junior Josie Schneider finished 14th in the 100 backstroke. The relay team of

STINGER MADNESS AND SEVEN HILLS DAY OF GIVING

During the first week of March, the Seven Hills campuses buzzed with two important yearly events dedicated to supporting The Seven Hills Annual Fund – Stinger Madness and the Seven Hills Day of Giving.

In the bustle of this busy week, the Development Office was a flurry of activity, with volunteers and staff sending emails and letters and making phone calls, all with the goal of rallying support. Across town and beyond, the response was heartwarming, as a stream of generosity flowed in supporting Seven Hills students and teachers.

As in years past, we aimed to fill the hills of both the Hillsdale and Doherty Campuses with personalized Stinger bees, each representing a donor's contribution to the Annual Fund.

Stinger Madness

Our weeklong Stinger Madness event, which ran the week of March 4 through March 8, not only inspired families of current Seven Hills students to give but also celebrated the 50th anniversary of The Seven Hills School with a “through the decades” themed spirit week. Students dressed in a different decade each day showcasing the long history of The Seven Hills School.

Our friendly competition between the divisions for the Stinger Madness trophy was as close as always. By the end of the week, the Upper School families pulled off the win with the greatest number of new gifts. Every gift brought us closer to our $1.3 million Annual Giving goal and, most importantly, continues to provide for the vast array of programs that help our students learn, grow, explore personal interests, and develop individual talents.

Seven Hills Day of Giving

On Tuesday, March 5, our 24-hour Day of Giving drew Annual Fund support from alumni from across the country and around the world. Our alumni donors represented graduates in each decade, beginning in the 1940s, and continuing through the 2000s, proving the deep and long-term connections created at Seven Hills.

Alumni aren’t the only ones who maintain their connection with Seven Hills. Our extended community of grandparents, parents of alumni, and friends made generous gifts as well.

Thank you!

We are grateful to ALL our donors and Annual Fund volunteers whose encouragement helped us fill the hills with stinger bees during Stinger Madness and Day of Giving! More than 200 friends and families of Seven Hills made Annual Fund gifts during this week, joining the more than 1,200 donors who had already supported the 2023-24 Seven Hills Annual Fund. With the funds raised, Seven Hills can continue to provide exceptional educational opportunities to its students and retain expert teachers who inspire them to reach their full potential.

CHRIS GARTEN

Head of School 15 YEARS

“

“The real key to Mr. Garten's success and to his long tenure is that he has always led from the heart. When facing big decisions, whether in good times or in bad, he ultimately comes back to the question: ‘What would be best for the kids?’ Drawing on the head and heart to lead a life of meaning and purpose ... that's what Seven Hills' mission statement calls for, and it is what Mr. Garten has modeled for us as Head of School.”

-Matt Bolton, Head of School

“

“Jody is a woman of many talents and passions: artist, musician, animal lover, horseback rider, nature lover. I have loved working with Jody for these past 17 years. She is fun, kind-hearted, and spirited. She’s one-of-a-kind and a dear friend.”

–Robin Wilson, Lotspeich music teacher

retirements

SUSAN MARRS

Assistant Head of School, Director of College

Counseling,

and Director of Studies

53 YEARS OF SERVICE

“

“For decades, Susan Marrs has served as the moral touchstone for our community. With her wealth of institutional knowledge, she has ensured that institutional decisions are grounded, always, in what’s best for the students and consistent with the deepest values of this great school.”

–Chris

Garten, former Head of School

53

KARA MEADOR

Director of the Early Childhood Center

24 YEARS OF SERVICE

“

"Kara is the heart and soul of our Early Childhood Center. For the past nine years, she has led this magical place, creating an environment that is warm, nurturing, and supportive for both students and teachers alike. Kara has fostered a love for learning in every child who walks through our doors. Families confidently drop off their children each morning, knowing that Mrs. Meador is there, treating each child as if they were her own. While her impact on our ECC families is immeasurable, it becomes evident when they return to share accomplishments or seek advice. We will miss her dearly but are excited for the next chapter in her life!"

- Tyler McIlwraith, Lotspeich pre-kindergarten for 2-year-olds teacher

retirements

CATCHING UP WITH GREG HUANG ’97

“It was a broad-based curriculum, and Mr. Abineri, Mr. Turansky, and Ms. Beaver brought their topics to life through their lectures. It helped prepare me for my future because it introduced me to so many different kinds of topics, ones I might not have considered pursuing independently.”

REFLECTING ON HIS JOURNEY FROM STUDENT TO TRAUMA SURGEON, GREG HUANG ’97 EMPHASIZED HIS SEVEN HILLS TEACHERS' PROFOUND IMPACT ON SHAPING HIS ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL TRAJECTORY. HIS TEACHERS' UNWAVERING SUPPORT, ENCOURAGEMENT, AND COMMITMENT TO EXCELLENCE HELPED HUANG CULTIVATE A LIFELONG LOVE OF LEARNING AND A DEDICATION TO MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN THE LIVES OF OTHERS.

During his time at Seven Hills, Huang’s favorite subjects were science and history, and he competed on the track and cross country teams. To this day, Huang still keeps in touch with some of his old peers, like David Evans ’98, Steve Mullen ’97, Steven Zoepf ’97, John Lin ’98, and Jacob Chudnovsky ’97.

After graduation, Huang attended Illinois Institute of Technology for his undergraduate education, and later the University of Cincinnati for medical school. Today, as a highly respected trauma surgeon with Bon Secours Mercy Health System in Youngstown, Ohio, Huang continues to embody the values instilled in him during his formative years at Seven Hills.

At Seven Hills, Huang was exposed to a rigorous academic curriculum and encouraged to think outside the box thanks to teachers like Mr. Abineri, Mr. Turanksy, Ms. Beaver, and Mrs. Karol.

"It was a broad-based curriculum, and Mr. Abineri, Mr. Turansky, and Ms. Beaver brought their topics to life through their lectures. It helped prepare me for my future because it introduced me to so many different kinds of topics, ones I might not have considered pursuing independently," Huang said.

Because of his teachers' wide range of expertise, Huang said he was able to keep an open mind and learn unique connections through different topics.

“The great part about being introduced to so many topics as a student, I was able to use that sense of curiosity in other parts of my life, aside from college and med school. It helped me become a passionate reader during the pandemic and explore all kinds of subjects outside of medicine,” Huang said.

Although there were many incredible classes, Huang recalls one class, in particular, as a stand-out — speech with Mrs. Karol.

"It really helped with public speaking, among other things. We performed a cooking demo in front of the class, and I chose to make cookies," Huang said.

This innovative approach honed the students' culinary abilities and cultivated invaluable communication skills. As they navigated the pressure of presenting in front of their peers, students learned to convey information concisely and confidently, mastering the art of clear and effective communication. Furthermore, the experience equipped them with the practice of remaining composed under pressure, a skill that Huang finds indispensable in his daily practice as a trauma surgeon.

The commitment to intellectual curiosity and innovation laid the foundation for Huang's future success in the field of medicine and in his personal life.

Greg Huang ’97

"As a student, there may be times when you take classes that aren't your favorite at the moment or ones that don't seem to have a direct connection to what you want to do in life. But, those classes are crucial to keeping an open mind because you never know how they'll impact your life," Huang said.

Although Huang no longer bakes, in his free time he enjoys cooking, collecting wine, and traveling the world with his wife, Natalie. Each year, the couple tries to visit a country they haven’t been to before. The world travelers also find time to train for and run two half marathons a year.

With a steadfast commitment to compassionate care, innovative thinking, and continuous learning, Huang remains a shining example of the transformative power of education and the profound influence of dedicated educators.

In May, Huang and his wife set up an endowed scholarship, "The Gregory Huang and Natalie Lariccia Upper School Scholarship." Huang has always wanted to give back to Seven Hills and was so happy that he and his wife are now in the position to do so.

CATCHING UP WITH MARGERY BLACKER GRIFFITH L’42 H’48

“I remember one of my first paintings I did was after I came home from the Russian ballet,” Griffith said. “I painted a ballerina with the watercolors my grandmother gave me. They needed to be mixed in these small porcelain china cups. I still have the china to this day. Art is my life.”

WE RECENTLY CAUGHT UP WITH MARGERY BLACKER GRIFFITH L'42 H'48 AND DISCUSSED HER LIFELONG PASSION FOR ART AND HOW SEVEN HILLS HELPED FOSTER HER CREATIVITY.

“When I was a young girl at Lotspeich, we had a visiting Cincinnati painter, Mary Alexander, come and teach classes to the students,”

Griffith said. “She saw my paintings and pulled my mother aside to recommend I study at an art school on Saturdays because I showed promise.”

Griffith recalled her days as a Lotspeich and Hillsdale student so fondly that it was hard to decide which memory or experience she wanted to discuss. However, there was a particularly beloved memory she knew she had to share.

“I just loved everything about Lotspeich and Hillsdale,” Griffith began. “There was one girl I was friends with, Rosalyn Taft, who was a year older than me. One day in the winter, we had just finished ice skating on the pond by Lotspeich and Hillsdale. We hiked up the hill with our skates when we saw the ice path the boys had made. It went all the way down the hill, and Rosalyn and I couldn’t resist. We put our skates on and skated down the ice path without falling once!”

Griffith’s athleticism was a source of joy for her as a student. She loved playing all sports available to her, specifically baseball and hockey. She also continued to take and excel in art classes at Lotspeich and Hillsdale and focused on oil painting and still life during her school days.

After graduating from Skidmore College with an art degree, one of the first projects she completed was the Hillsdale 1952 annual, a yearbook she designed with the aid of a special person.

“I silk-screened and spiral-bound the annual,” Griffith said. “I worked on it with James Griffith, the man who would become my husband. I also attended art school as an adult to learn printmaking, and my husband built me two printing presses.”

Griffith’s creative talent and vision have covered all kinds of artistic mediums, such as still life and sculpture. She credits her 18 years as a senior docent at the Cincinnati

Art Museum for part of the reason why her interest in art continued to evolve. Griffith is broadening her skillset further by exploring abstract and contemporary painting styles.

“I remember one of my first paintings I did was after I came home from the Russian ballet,” Griffith said. “I painted a ballerina with the watercolors my grandmother gave me. They needed to be mixed in these small porcelain china cups. I still have the china to this day. Art is my life.”

At 94 years old, Griffith came back to celebrate her 75th reunion in 2023 and participate in the Alumni Art Show, where she displayed several of her incredible paintings in Founders Hall.

To current students, Griffith says, “try everything you can and learn about the artists behind the technique to understand how it works fully.”

Margery Blacker Griffith L'42 H'48

ALUMNI BOARD UPDATES

By Gabe Davis ’03, Seven Hills Alumni Association Board Chair

TO THE CLASS OF 2024, I WANT TO TAKE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO SAY CONGRATULATIONS ON BEHALF OF THE ENTIRE SEVEN HILLS ALUMNI ASSOCIATION!

We are tremendously proud of what you have accomplished at Seven Hills, and you should be proud as well. We know that when you leave the halls of the Upper School, you will carry with you the friendships, warm memories, enrichment, intellectual curiosity, and commitment to learning and growth that you have cultivated here. And as the newest members of our alumni community, we welcome you! Please know that this is your alumni association and that we are here for you as you embark on life’s next set of adventures.

I also want to thank the school, its leadership, and our beloved Seven Hills faculty for doing what they do best: educating the next generation of leaders, thinkers, and doers; equipping them to succeed in our world; and empowering them to write their own stories. Our alumni community is strong, and its future is bright because of you.

The first half of 2024 has seen several highlights worth mentioning. In April, we commemorated the school’s merger as well as its longevity with Seven Hills’ 50th Anniversary Celebration during Reunion Weekend. The celebration drew hundreds of people from across the Seven Hills community (including alumni,

faculty, board members, students, and friends), all of whom gathered in the Field House to enjoy good food, great music, and even better company. Earlier in the year, alumni came together for a Road Show in Naples, Florida (the second one for the season after a fall Road Show in New York). In January, we welcomed the school’s new Director of Alumni

Engagement Tess Cohan.

This year, we also received some bittersweet news with the announcement of Susan Marrs’ retirement. Mrs. Marrs has undoubtedly changed the lives of countless alumni at the school, and while she will no longer be a faculty member, her influence will endure for generations. To that end, alumni were elated to celebrate her 53 years of service by cheering the school’s recent creation of the Susan Marrs Upper School Scholarship Fund, as well as the naming of the Upper School after her this spring. There has never been a more deserving person.

Lastly, I’d be remiss if I did not express our gratitude to outgoing Head of School Chris Garten for his years of dedicated service to Seven Hills. Looking to the future, we are excited to welcome, formerly Head of Upper School, Matt Bolton as the incoming Head of School this autumn.

As always, I encourage all alums to reach out and connect in a way that makes sense for you. We have some exciting events on tap for the upcoming fall. In the meantime, enjoy the summer and Go Stingers!

Seven Hills Alumni Association Board Chair Gabe Davis '03 has served the community in many ways, and Seven Hills is fortunate to have his guidance as the Alumni Association president. A graduate of Yale University and Harvard Law School, Davis has held positions at the Manhattan District Attorney's Office, the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division, Frost Brown Todd, and the Cincinnati Citizen Complain Authority. Davis is now the CEO of the Ohio Justice and Policy Center.

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Gabe Davis ’03

#THROWBACK

The Joyous and High-Flying Freshmen Bonding Trip to Camp Joy

Being the youngest students in the Upper School is an exciting, and sometimes intimidating, experience for all Seven Hills students. It is also a time when building class bonds is incredibly important. From the late 1980s until the early 2000s, the Upper School’s freshmen class escaped the confines of their new school building to conquer challenges, form friendships, and spend time outdoors at Camp Joy in Clarksville, Ohio.

“The freshmen retreat to Camp Joy was always a blast,” said Upper School science teacher Tim Drew. He was the director of the Seven Hills Outdoor Program, or SHOP, at the time and handled experiential learning and outdoor education.

To get to know their classmates and work on cooperation skills, the students completed team-bonding activities, like going on hikes and scaling a 12-foot wall in groups of 15 using only human power.

There were also higher stakes activities, like a ropes course 30 feet in the air and the Pamper Pole. The Pamper Pole was a 30-foot pole that was at the top edge of a valley and, once a person reached the top, they had to jump from a small platform toward the valley to catch a trapeze in midair.

“It was a terrifying element but the highlight for the freshmen,” Drew said.

A “substantial number of freshmen” in the Class of 2001 were able to complete the Pamper Pole, according to that year’s yearbook.

After all the activities were completed, the group reflected on the day and took pride in everyone’s accomplishments.

The students celebrated even the small victories, Drew said. The students encouraged each other, and their teachers, to believe in themselves, be courageous, and get outside their comfort zones. It was also a time for the students to see their teachers as people outside of the classroom. They cheered on English teacher Susan Richardson’s small victory of making it halfway up the ladder to the ropes course. They also challenged Drew’s bravery during the last year the freshmen

attempted the Pamper Pole, by making him attempt it wearing a blindfold.

“The trip ran for many years and was a great way for the new students to get to know each other and support each other,” Drew said.

The freshmen classes still go on a bonding trip at the start of their time in the Seven Hills Upper School, but Camp Joy has been swapped for Camp Ernst in Burlington, Kentucky. The students compete in relays, play water sports, and, of course, test their bravery on a ropes course, like generations of Seven Hills students before them.

1. Students have dinner at Camp Joy during the freshmen bonding trip in 2000. 2. Freshmen scale a 15-foot wall using only human power in 2001. 3.Freshmen arrive at Camp Joy for their bonding trip in 1992. 4. Freshmen test their bravery on the Pamper Pole in 1991. 5. Freshmen ride a water tricycle during the Freshmen Retreat at Camp Kern in 2023. 6. Freshmen prepare for and

in 2023.

ALUMNI RETURN TO CAMPUS, SHARE CAREER AND LIFE ADVICE WITH STUDENTS

THIS YEAR, THE SEVEN HILLS SCHOOL INTRODUCED THE ALUMNI SPEAKER SERIES IN CELEBRATION OF THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE MERGER BETWEEN THE COLLEGE PREPARATORY SCHOOL (CPS) AND THE HILLSDALE-LOTSPEICH SCHOOL IN 1974. THE INVITED ALUMNI SHARED THEIR LIFE AND CAREER EXPERIENCES WITH CURRENT SEVEN HILLS STUDENTS IN SMALL CLASS ENVIRONMENTS AND UPPER SCHOOL ADDRESSES.

This winter and spring, Frank Cohen ’91, Katherine Zoepf ’96, Deborah Garcia H’67, Emily Wiedemann ’01, and Hannah Bloch ’80 returned to Seven Hills to visit classes and clubs and address students at an all-school assembly.

Frank Cohen ’91

Senior Managing Director at Blackstone

November 2023

Cohen is the senior managing director at Blackstone, a global investment firm, and acts as the global chairman of Core+ Real Estate and chairman and CEO of Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust. At an Upper School meeting in The Schiff Center, he told students about how he found his success by having the logic, teamwork, and communication skills he learned from his time at Seven Hills. He also spoke to the economics class about his work in real estate investing and navigating property laws in other countries.

Katherine Zoepf ’96

Senior Editor at Foreign Affairs

January 2024

Zoepf is a journalist and author, who told Upper School English students she wanted to become a writer as a second grader at Lotspeich and thanked her Seven Hills teachers for the guidance, encouragement, and support.

Zoepf touched on the difficulty of reporting on conflicts in the Middle East for an American audience, how she chose what topics to write about, and the differences between writing news articles and writing her book, “Excellent Daughters: The Secret Lives of Young Women Who are Transforming the Arab World.”

Deborah Garcia H’67

Filmmaker

March 2024

Garcia is a filmmaker who makes documentaries about agriculture and the food system. She

shared with the environmental club and film and animation and creative writing classes about how she got into filmmaking, her interest in environmental issues, and her writing process.

During an Upper School assembly, she shared with students how a speech writing contest and a science project about plants during her time at Hillsdale helped her in her later film career.

“I learned to not take the superficial way out and to dig really deep into something and distill it and present it in a way people can understand it and are moved by it,” Garcia said.

Emily Wiedemann ’01

Founder and Executive Producer of Greencard

April 2024

Wiedemann is the founder and executive producer of Greencard, an independent film company in New York City that makes commercials and short and feature films. She told students at the all-school meeting about the importance of following their passions and not being afraid to try new things. She explained her path from majoring in art history — a decision she made after taking AP Art History at the Upper School — to working in the restaurant industry, to becoming a film producer.

“You don’t need to have a grand master plan, you just need to make some smaller, hopefully thoughtful, choices.”

Hannah Bloch ’80

Lead Digital Editor at NPR

May 2024

Bloch is the lead digital editor at NPR’s international desk and has worked as a foreign correspondent and science reporter for Time Magazine, National Geographic, and NPR. She told students at the Upper School assembly that her junior English teacher Susan Marrs helped spark her interest in writing and the international presence among the student body at Seven Hills opened her eyes to other parts of the world.

But she also stressed that wherever Seven Hills graduates go, the Seven Hills community could be there. When Bloch arrived as a foreign correspondent in Pakistan in November 1996, she met another American journalist who had just arrived, Gretchen Peters of the Seven Hills Class of 1987.

ALUMNI 5, 10, and 15 YEAR REUNIONS

5 -YEAR REUNION–2018

The Class of 2018 had an amazing turnout with approximately 45-50 alumni attending. Classmates caught up and reminisced at MadTree Brewing’s Oakley Taproom. The event was scheduled from 4-6 p.m., but as organizer Matthew Kreines noted, everyone enjoyed themselves so much, most didn’t head out until 7:30. Those in attendance received Seven Hills hats, pens, and cups to show their Stinger pride.

Thank you to Matthew Kreines and Alex Kreines for organizing the Class of 2018’s first reunion.

10 -YEAR REUNION–2013

More than 25 classmates gathered to celebrate and reconnect at Queen City Radio in Over-the-Rhine. Attendees had a fun evening sharing memories, updating each other, and taking group photos. Everyone there received swag to show they are a part of the Seven Hills alumni community.

Thank you to Michael Bain, John Larkin, and Henry Head for their leadership in organizing this event.

15 -YEAR REUNION–2008

Over 15 alumni reunited at Rhinegeist Brewery in Over-the-Rhine for an evening of memories and fun. Reunion organizer Jessalyn Reid Mahoney shared that classmates were grateful for the opportunity to get together and “people who regretted missing it are already excited for our 20th!” As a special surprise, alumni who attended received Seven Hills hats, pens, and cups.

Thank you to Jessalyn (Reid) Mahoney for coordinating a successful and enjoyable reunion.

CLASS OF 2018 REUNION

CLASS OF 2013 REUNION

CLASS OF 2008 REUNION

REUNION 2024

The weekend of April 12 and 13, we celebrated Reunion Weekend 2024 with Classics Luncheon, campus tours, and class parties

REUNION 2024

Classics Luncheon at Cincinnati Country Club

On April 12, alums locally and from around the country gathered in celebration of the annual Classics Luncheon. This cherished tradition celebrates those who graduated 50 or more years ago. This year, we happily welcomed the members of the Class of 1974, with more than half of

CPS ’74 in attendance to celebrate the moment. Margo Kirstein, director of development, warmly welcomed all attendees, followed by then Head of School Chris Garten, who provided an update on the school’s progress. Senior Aanvi Anand and juniors Roman Russo, Saxon Lackey, and William

Huguenin-Virchaux all spoke about how Seven Hills has empowered them through opportunities and adventures they experienced as students. The attendees enjoyed their delicious lunch at the Cincinnati Country Club while reminiscing about their days as classmates.

Sue Skilken Magnan C’67, Carol Smith Hesser C’65, Ann Bartlett Blemker C’65, Janie Maddox Dumbadze C’65, Marge Davis C’65, Susan Elliott Wilkening C’60, Roxann Dieffenbach C’64, Barbara Huenefeld LeBlond C’62

Holzman Kauscher C’69, Barbara Busener Miller C’69, Weasie Yeiser McAlpin C’69, Ann Salinger C'69, Michaele Hahn Jordan C’69, Hildy Cohen Clayton C’69, Martha Schuster Schinbeckler C’69, Valerie Vornheder Allendorf C’69, Ina Zimpelman Loftspring C’69, Laurie Crutchfield Leonard C’69, Deborah Meyer Chamberlain C’69

Top Row: Cindy Bardes Galvin C’74, Joanna Ward Shair C’74, Leslie Sciarra Shimer C’74, Eileen Gould C’74, Holly Keller Wilson C’74, Patti Williams Niehoff C’74, Jane Garvey C’74, Karen Schulman-Bear C’74 Bottom Row: Cinda Lett Leugers C’74, Debbie Salzer Kincaid C’74, Libby Helmholz Jones C’74, Jane Liggett Mercurio C’74, Julie Scripps Heidt C’74

Gretchen

REUNION 2024

Classics Luncheon at Cincinnati Country Club

to R

Sue Skilken Magnan C’67, Carol Smith Hesser C’65, Ann Bartlett Blemker C’65, Janie Maddox Dumbadze C’65, Marge Davis C’65, Susan Elliott Wilkening C’60, Roxann Dieffenbach C’64, Barbara Huenefeld LeBlond C’62

L

Barbara Simpson Garner H’61, Jane Porteous Ellsworth H'64, Ann Shepard Bulger H’64, Mary Russell H’64, Susan Deck Brown H’64, Head of School Chris Garten, Talie Morrison H’64, Alison Keeler Carrillo H’64

Diana Gatch Avril H’47, Head of Upper School and Head of School-elect Matt Bolton, Polly Adair Culp H’65, Sladie Martin Morrison H’57, Janet Keys Simpkinson H’58, Francie Garber Pepper H’58

L to R

L to R

REUNION 2024

Doherty and Hillsdale Campus Tours and “Back to Class” Session

Doherty Tour

After the Classics Luncheon at the Cincinnati Country Club, eight CPS alumni returned to the Doherty Campus to reminisce about their school days. Susan Coldiron, administrative assistant to the Head of Doherty, led the tour through the memory-filled halls. Alums were delighted to look through class photos displayed on the wall in what is now Haile Hall. Jones Hall echoed with stories as they recalled their favorite teachers when they passed by their former classrooms. When the tour arrived at

Brooks Hall, laughter quickly turned into the notes of Doherty’s spirit songs. Alumni marked the finale of a wonderful return to Doherty by singing their alma mater’s song “Ad Summum,” which translates “to the highest” in Latin.

Hillsdale Tour

During Saturday of Reunion Weekend, then Head of Upper School and Head of School-elect Matt Bolton warmly welcomed alumni back to the Hillsdale Campus for a guided tour. As they explored the campus, alums were

impressed by the school’s renovations, while they still recognized the old comforts from their days as students. They excitedly recalled their school adventures, before returning to a discussion-based class with Bolton. Through engaging conversation, Bolton’s class, titled “New Novels for a New Century,” covered several of the novels students studied during the 202324 school year. Bolton shared, "Reading classic and contemporary novels has always been a vital part of the Seven Hills curriculum, and I loved having a chance to talk about books with our alums."

DOHER TY AND HILLSDALE

CAM PUS TOURS

REUNION 2024 : Individual Class Events

Throughout the weekend, alumni gathered for individual class events to celebrate their reunions and reconnect with classmates.

Dede Gay Persson ’89 shares, “Our classmates have really enjoyed reconnecting and catching up over the past 10 months through a Class of ’89 Facebook page, so our 35th reunion was a great gathering that was highly anticipated. It felt like no time had been lost, as we picked up right where we left off — a true testament to the Seven Hills culture! It was an honor that so many

The Hillsdale Class of 1969 celebrated a milestone reunion this year — it was their 55th! Classmates gathered as Seasons 52 in Cincinnati to mark the occasion. It was a night full of laughter, fond memories, and reminiscing of their time spent as students.

CPS Class of 1974 celebrated their 50th reunion with an astonishing 16 out of 26 of their graduating class. Alumni flew in from Florida, New York City, Arizona, Texas, Connecticut, Virginia, and Kentucky. Jane Garvey said, "We all loved sharing our memories of our times together, both good and not so great. Classmates came with memorabilia including photos, HAC pins, and old yearbooks. One classmate led a trivia game, and another created a class survey to collect confidential, and very funny, stories from the past. We even sang songs. It was very heartwarming!”

joined us, including those who flew in for the weekend from all over the country! We look forward to celebrating our 40th! Congratulations to Seven Hills on their 50th celebration! Go Stingers!”

The Seven Hills Class of 1984 gathered to celebrate their 40th high school reunion. Twenty-five alums were reunited with friends from across the United States and Amsterdam, Netherlands. David Robinson quotes, "We reminisced about teachers, classmates, parties, field trips, and being the inaugural class of the new middle school. We had a great time at our two events, followed by an amazing 50th year event at the school. It was a great weekend."

REUNION 2024: Individual Class Events

THE GOODALL DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI AWARD

Carol Andress ’76

During the Upper School Commencement Ceremony on June 7, then Head of School Chris Garten recognized the Goodall Distinguished Alumni Award recipient, Carol Andress ’76.

Established in 1978, the Goodall Award annually honors an alum of CPS, Hillsdale, Lotspeich, or The Seven Hills School who has achieved distinction bettering the lives of others in a public or private career or activity.

Andress was part of the second class of graduates from The Seven Hills School in 1976. She went on to study economics at Duke University and since graduating has dedicated her life to environmental protection. She retired from the Environmental Defense Fund after more than 30 years of service.

“Thankfully, Carol was championing care of our environment and the fundamental importance to our daily lives of a healthy environment long before most of us were aware of the issue,” wrote her sister Pamela (Andress) Kelley ’77 in her nomination.

Through her work at the Environmental Defense Fund, or EDF, Andress crafted legislation, consulted on environmental issues, and shaped the Democratic Party messaging and policy around climate change.

Andress began her work with the EDF with the Pollution Prevention Alliance, which improved chemical safety. She was part of two campaigns against loosening methane regulations and led the community effort on a bill pushing for 100% clean energy in 2019.

“Carol gives us an incomparable insight into how the legislative process works and what it takes to move Senators and House members,” wrote Environmental Defense Fund President Fred Krupp about Andress. “Throughout the victories and the disappointment, she maintains her focus. She has an ability to work with a wide array of people, always using her keen strategic judgment. Carol is passionate about winning and committed to working for the causes we care about.”

In her volunteer work, Andress has supported Emily’s List, the nation’s largest resource for women in politics; Moms Clean Air Force; and various political campaigns. Congrats to Carol on this great honor!

“Carol is widely admired and respected both by colleagues at EDF and across the environmental movement and Capitol Hill. On behalf of EDF, Carol ran the Climate Action Campaign. Through her work with that coalition, she connected with Moms Clean Air Force and proceeded to do exceptional volunteer work for them. Over the years she has continued to do volunteer work in many capacities.”

~ Tiernan Sittenfeld ’92, senior vice president of government affairs at the League of Conservation Voters

Former Head of School

Chris Garten speaks with Goodall Distinguished Alumni Award winner Carol Andress.

Former Head of School Chris Garten and Carol Andress shake hands at the commencement ceremony.

Carol Andress (third from left) poses with her family.

Reunion 2025 April 4 & 5

We look forward to welcoming you back to campus for your reunion in Spring 2025!

Reunion representatives are needed to help make this a special weekend with your class. Please contact Director of Alumni Engagement Tess Cohan at tess.cohan@7hills.org or 513.728.2432.

CPS & HILLSDALE

Classes of 1950, 1955, 1960, 1965, and 1970

LOTSPEICH

Classes of 1944, 1949, 1954, 1959, 1964, 1969, and 1974

SEVEN HILLS

Classes of 1975, 1980, 1985, 1990, 1995, 2000, and 2005

All events are provided at no cost, thanks to the generosity of your Alumni Association and the Development Office.

website this coming fall at www.7hills.org/reunion

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE SEVEN HILLS CLASS OF 1975 ON YOUR 50 th REUNION!

HILLSDALE

NUMBER OF ATTENDEES AT THE CELEBRATION ~ 500

50 th ANNIVE RSARY CELEBRATION BY THE NUMBERS

1953 of SEVEN HILLS

EARLIEST CLASS YEAR REPRESENTED

4 . 13 3 ,866

2018

MOST RECENT CLASS YEAR REPRESENTED

FARTHEST DISTANCE IN MILES TRAVELED BY AN ATTENDEE TO THE CELEBRATION

STATES REPRESENTED BY ATTENDEES 17

On Saturday, April 13, nearly 500 people from the Seven Hills community came together to celebrate 50 years since the merger of College Preparatory School (CPS) and the Hillsdale-Lotspeich School that formed today’s Seven Hills School.

Fellow alumni, current and former parents, grandparents, as well as current and former faculty, staff, and trustees celebrated the occasion at the Field House on the Hillsdale Campus. Familiar faces in attendance included Velma Morelli, long-time administrative assistant to the Head of School; Todd Bland, former Head of Upper School and interim Head of School; Wynne Curry H’71, retired college counselor and teacher; Tory Parlin H’63, former Board of Trustees chair and interim Head of School; and many more.

Alumni traveled from as far as Alaska and California and spent the night reminiscing, laughing, and dancing. The evening included food and drinks from Eat Well, live music from Soul Pocket, performances by students, and a special program including speeches from then Head of School Chris Garten and then Assistant Head of School Susan Marrs, both of whom received standing ovations.

The night ended with attendees creating their party favor bags with Seven Hills swag and three delicious cookie flavors for the road. Thank you to everyone who attended and for making connections to last a lifetime!

DOES THE SCHOOL STILL ... HAVE 7 UP CLUB?

Alumni often wonder if the school maintains the traditions, events, and activities that they enjoyed while they were students at the school. Many times, our answer is, “Yes! We still have that!”

“

SINCE ITS FOUNDING DURING THE 1975-76 SCHOOL YEAR, THE 7UP CLUB HAS WORKED TO INFUSE EVERY CORNER OF THE UPPER SCHOOL WITH INFECTIOUS ENTHUSIASM AND SCHOOL PRIDE.

1975

For nearly half a century, this student organization has dedicated itself to nurturing a sense of belonging and camaraderie among students, faculty, and staff alike. 7Up was created one year after the College Preparatory School and Hillsdale-Lotspeich merger with the goal of helping the two student bodies become one community. Through its spirited initiatives, the 7Up club has woven a tapestry of memories and traditions that unite people together across decades. Its commitment to strengthening school spirit has left an indelible mark on

the school’s collective identity, reminding everyone that they play a part in making Seven Hills special.

The founding members of the 7Up club were Jodi Bakst, Catherine Dupree, James Flaig, John Bullock, Carolyn Sawyer, Pamela Pauly, Tracey Smith, Melissa Mechem, Susan Rowat, Lucy Browne, and Mr. Bill Porter. Together, the 10 club members created traditions that remained for decades, such as the pizza booth at the Harvest Fair, a spring dance, and a sports dinner.

Melissa (Mechem) Congdon ’76 fondly recalls her time as a founding 7Up club member.

“As soon as I heard about the club, I knew I wanted to be a part of it,” Congdon said. “It was created with the idea of bringing everyone together and celebrating school spirit.”

Congdon’s father pitched the name for the club, inspired by the famous soft drink.

1985

“It’s very cool to think about students 50 years ago doing the same or similar things that I did this year,” Bachelder said. “I imagine the club has changed over the years, but knowing that this club has a long history makes me want to take it more seriously and do everything I can to help out and keep it going strong.”

burst of bubbly energy that inspired the recently merged student body to become a more unified community.

“It was all just brand new, and a whole new chapter,” Congdon said. “We went from a relatively small all-girls school to a larger coed student body. 7Up was an opportunity to help shape what the school, and the school community, was going to be.”

Some of Congdon’s favorite memories of the club were selling her homemade chocolate chip cookies and popcorn

“After baking so many cookies, I really got my cookie recipe down,” Congdon chuckled. “More than anything, I remember the student body was incredibly interested in the club’s activities. It was great because of how supportive the students and parents were. It truly felt like we were a part of something special.”

In the years that followed, 7Up created more events that boosted school spirit and facilitated life-long memories with Upper School students.

During 1977-78, the club began the year with a Club Breakfast Pep Rally. They filled the year with multiple events, such as a pieeating contest, several school dances, a trivia contest, a science fair, and the Bottle Drive that was co-sponsored with the Student Council. The club also initiated tutoring services for Lotspeich students and said farewell to classmates by baking cakes and distributing them on Class Day.

Over the years, 7Up and the Student Council collaborated for different events, like pep rallies, friendly competitions, and more.

During 1994-95, 7Up helped organize the first annual Seven Hills Homecoming and the Snow Ball dance.

Peter Fischer and Kim Howard led the club for two years, from 1994-96, and oversaw major club changes which, according to the dynamic duo, helped breathe new life into the club.

Sophomore and current 7Up member Claire Bachelder said her favorite part of 7Up is being able to interact with students in different grades and working together to plan events.

“7Up is important to me because I’ve been able to get more involved in the Upper School, whether it’s planning events, spirit days, or getting to know people from other grades who I wouldn’t otherwise spend time with,” Bachelder said. “7Up has given me many leadership opportunities. For example, I had to buy the soda for Homecoming with my friend and figure out a way to get it into the gym for the dance. I think this club positively

impacts the Upper School community because we help plan spirit weeks where everyone can dress up and we also work on Homecoming week and the festivities along with the dance.”

The club’s history has inspired part of Bachelder’s passion for 7Up.

“It’s very cool to think about students 50 years ago doing the same or similar things that I did this year,” Bachelder said. “I imagine the club has changed over the years, but knowing that this club has a long history makes me want to take it more seriously and do everything I can to help out and keep it going strong.”

Whether it's baking cakes for classmates, organizing spirit weeks, or planning school dances, the 7Up club has continuously exemplified what it means to be passionate advocates for our school's commitment to the community for almost 50 years. Here’s to another 50!

ALUMNI NEXT CHAPTER EVENT: Alumni and Their Families Gather

Virtually for an Interactive Magic Show

Next Chapter

events

bring alumni together in the spirit of fun.

Alumni and their families gathered on Zoom the evening of Jan. 18, 2024, for an interactive magic show hosted by the Alumni/ Development Office. The event, designed to bring together alumni regardless of their location, featured renowned magician and mentalist Dennis Watkins, who mesmerized the audience with his incredible skills.

Back by popular demand, Watkins delighted attendees with a variety of card tricks and sleight of hand illusions, often calling on both children and adult audience members to participate. One particularly memorable trick involved a randomly chosen card and a phone number built by multiple audience members. Watkins called the number and had the recipient on the other end guess a card, astonishing everyone when it turned out to be the card selected by the alum.

Despite the virtual format, alumni enjoyed the opportunity to see familiar faces and share in Watkins' magic. Feedback from attendees was overwhelmingly positive, with many expressing amazement at the intricacy of the tricks and gratitude for the chance to connect with fellow alumni. Watkins' behind-the-scenes set up was also revealed, adding a special touch to an already magical evening.

The magic show wasn't just about the tricks; it was a reminder of the Seven Hills community's connections, even in a virtual space.

SEVEN HILLS ROADSHOW : Naples, Florida

The Seven Hills Roadshow returned to Naples, Florida, on Jan. 26 after three years. Former parent Sarah Johnson graciously hosted a lovely lunch at the Naples Yacht Club for alumni, former parents, and grandparents. It was a great time for everyone to catch up, see old friends, and make new ones.

During the lunch, then Head of School Chris Garten provided an update on the school and then asked the guests to share a favorite memory about the school as a student or a parent at the time. It was immediately apparent what a special place the school was —

whether it was Hillsdale, CPS, or Seven Hills — and still is to this day.

The afternoon resulted in lots of fond memories, proving, once again, that Seven Hills builds connections that

CLASS NOTES

News from our Alumni

1986

Recently moved? New job? Just got married? Addition to your family? New email? Go to www.7hills.org/alumniupdates to update your information or send your news to development@7hills.org

1963

Jane (Tomlinson) Sullivan (C) (Keedysville, MD) shares, “My husband, Bill, and I are happily retired. I have a greenhouse where I start all my garden flowers and veggies in the spring and then play in the dirt all summer. What wonderful therapy for the soul. I try to do one good deed a day even if it’s just for our dogs. Best to everyone.”

1970

Sharon (Worthing) Vaino, Bronwyn (Parl) Elssaeser, Deb (Muntz) Krehbiel, Anni Macht, Lissie Pogue, and Carol (Crutchfield) Wiggers , all CPS ’70 alums, gathered for their annual lunch at The National Exemplar. They all look forward to catching up each time they get together.

Laura (Stearns) Testé (Bloomfield Hills, MI) is a full-time artist. The University of Michigan recently displayed Testé’s work at Taubman Health Center. This exhibit debuts three sculptures from the “About Time” series. Her piece, “Time Keeper’s Opus,” depicts a poised maestra confidently directing a bolt of fabric adorned with a gold leaf. Observers may wonder whether the fabric turns into a cocoon or billows like a snail. She uses the lost wax technique, which helps the viewer see dimensions and details.

Before, Testé was an engineer who made art on the side; she is now an artist who does engineering on the side. She lives in southeast Michigan, and her awardwinning work is displayed in Michigan, Ohio (Eisele Gallery, 6936 Madisonville Road, Cincinnati), South Carolina, and France.

1991

Peter Matthews (Dayton, OH) was honored when Mayor Jeffrey Mims Jr ., on behalf of the City of Dayton, proclaimed Nov. 5, 2023, Peter E. Matthews Day. The proclamation honored Peter as a soughtafter author and international speaker who has lectured, preached, or served as a keynote speaker in seven countries over the past 20 years. Matthews currently serves as the founder/president of the Dayton Equity Center, a faith-based social incubator serving more than 3,500 people annually. Pastor Matthews was also celebrated as the youngest pastor to lead

McKinley United Methodist Church, the oldest African American Church in Dayton. During his tenure, he oversaw property and technological improvements, valued at over $300,000, as well as mentored eight others to join the ministry. Peter was also honored by the Dayton Daily News in both 2020 and 2021 for his work providing more than 20,000 COVID vaccines in one of the city’s most economically disadvantaged neighborhoods. Congratulations, Peter!

1992

Our condolences to family and friends who lost loved ones as reported in this issue.

Lt. Col. William “Tom” McElhinney (Cleveland) shares, “I retired in October 2023 from the United States Air Force after over 27 years of service. I was fortunate to have more than 3,000 successful flights and nearly 4,000 flight hours in my time in the Air Force flying F-16s, T-38s, and KC-135s. I flew nearly 30 combat hours in Iraq, the F-16 during Operation Southern Watch, and flew homeland defense sorties after the 9/11 attacks in 2001. I was the first Air Force Reservist to lead the 14th Operations Group in Columbus, MS, where I managed almost 300 aircraft and over 50,000 sorties per year to produce 25% of the pilots for the United States Air Force. I concluded my career at Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station, where I was the installation vice commander and installation commander, leading over 1,100 airmen who provided aerial refueling and

transport for Air Mobility Command. I received two Legion of Merit honors, six Meritorious Service Medals, and an Aerial Commendation Medal, in addition to other decorations during my time in the Air Force, and retired in the rank of colonel. I’m very thankful for all the help from the Seven Hills community, preparing me for the Air Force Academy, and ultimately my career in the Air Force. The challenge program cultivated my love of flying, and with the help of the counselors there, pointed me in the direction of the Air Force Academy and my career as an Air Force officer. I am continuing to fly with United Airlines since my Air Force retirement. We settled down in Cleveland, Ohio, in 2021, and it’s nice to be closer to family and friends after a long Air Force career of being away from the Midwest!”

Jennifer Spaccarelli (Cincinnati) is teaching reading methods as an adjunct professor at Xavier University while also working as a third through sixth grade reading specialist for Lakota Local School District.

1994

Julie (Witten) Lloyd (Cincinnati) is the vice president of advancement at Learning Grove, a nonprofit organization that provides career educational opportunities

in Ohio and Kentucky. Learning Grove provides innovative learning and experiences that empower children, youth, and families across diverse communities.

2005

In Memoriam

Our condolences to the families and friends who have lost loved ones.

1942

Susan Finke (H) (Northport, MI) passed away on Feb. 18, 2024.

1944

Alice (Whaling) Fossett (H) (Cincinnati) passed away on Feb. 9, 2024.

Margery (Hobson) Thomas (H) (Kalamazoo, MI) passed away on Jan. 18, 2024.

Ashley (Ackerman) Kohn and Drew Kohn ’08 (Cincinnati) share, “Baby boy Kohn arrived one week early at 1:06 a.m. on Monday, Dec. 18, weighing in at 7 pounds, 6 ounces! William “Willie” Michael Kohn is excited to join the Seven Hills family!”

Carter MacLeod (Washington, D.C.)

married Leigh Courtney in October 2023. His former ’05 classmates Hannah Sheehy, Zack Conyne, Chris Wade, Drew Gibson, Aaron Bendix-Balgley, Katherine Schram, and Will Constable celebrated alongside them.

3 4

3

1947

Abby (Dittmann) Wise (L'41 H) (New Canaan, CT, and East Providence, RI) passed away on Nov. 14, 2023.

1949

Alexander (Sandy) Thomson (L) (Cincinnati) passed away on March 27, 2024.

1960

Barbara (Brewster) Lawrence (C) (Cincinnati) passed away on June 27, 2023.

1962

Linda (Eberts) Sansone (C) (Pickerington, OH) passed away on Jan. 7, 2024.

Continued on page

CLASS NOTES,

News from our Alumni

2006

Erin Reese (Scottsdale, AZ) is the marketing director for the national brand of DRHR-DR Horton Rentals. DR Horton Rentals has been the largest national builder since 2002 and hopes to be the largest rental home provider (homes, townhomes, apartment homes, etc.) by 2025.

2007

Zaki Anwar (Boston) shares that he is representing clients in state and federal court at all stages of litigation focusing on appellate advocacy, dispositive motion, and trial strategy. His practice involves complex commercial litigation, government-facing litigation, and intellectual property litigation. He maintains an active pro bono practice, with an emphasis on gun control, immigration, and voting rights. Anwar and his wife Shima, live in Boston where she is a resident in pediatrics at Boston Children’s Hospital. They have one child named Zayn, who is celebrating his first birthday in June.

2008

Clare Schroder (San Francisco) started her new job as a director in FSG’s health practice, a social impact consulting organization advancing equitable systems change. Clare shares that she is really looking forward to working with health equity, social determinants of health, behavioral health, and the intersection of climate and health.

2009

Doug Wulsin (Cincinnati) shares that he started a new position as senior corporate partner success manager at InStride. InStride helps organizations provide access to debt-free education to their

employees as a benefit through University Partner Network. Wulsin is focusing on helping some of its larger clients deploy this benefit and drive adoption among its workforce. Wulsin also shared a photo with his three girls. From left to right: Claire (4), Audrey (11 months), and Emma (6).

2010

Alex Hill (Falmouth, MA) is moving cross-country with his partner from Los Angeles to Falmouth, Massachusetts. They’re moving for both work and to be closer to family and friends.

Grace Elkus (New York City) is a food writer and recipe developer focused on high-protein vegetarian cooking. Formerly an editor at Real Simple and The Kitchen, she now creates content full-time for a variety of media outlets and food brands, including Epicurious, Food Network, Athenos Feta, and Great Jones. You may have already made her viral feta fried egg!

2011

Anne Mapes and Austin Younker (Cincinnati) welcomed their first child, Charlotte “Lottie” Louise Younker, in January. The new parents could not be happier!

Carlton Zesch (Cincinnati) started his new position as director for Yellow Cardinal Mergers & Acquisitions Group at First Financial Bank. He and his wife, Libby (Carter) Zesch ’11, live in Hyde Park with their two children, Benjamin and Virginia.

George Taliaferro (Cincinnati) published his second children’s book, “Glerm the Worm Goes to School.” You can find the book on Amazon.

2012

Ryan Ferrell (Denver) is a solutions architect at Archetype Consulting. Ferrell moved to Denver to spend more time outside camping, hiking, and skiing.

2014

Connor Rouan (Marin, CA) started a new role as the chief operating officer at SiteWorx Software, an industrial controls software company that helps global industrial companies monitor energy use and reduce carbon footprint through energy efficiency. Connor is happy to be living in a place that supports his favorite hobbies: biking, hiking, camping, surfing, and skiing.

2015

Maxwell Even (Denver) recently relocated to Denver where he is a licensed insurance broker and loan officer.

Nicole Malofsky (Nashville, TN) was awarded the prestigious National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship. This fellowship recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students in STEM. She is currently getting her Ph.D. in biomedical engineering at Vanderbilt. Nicole also volunteers with a cancer support organization called Gilda’s Club of Middle Tennessee, as an associate board member and executive chair of volunteering.

Danielle Caller (New York City) married Benjamin Sabin in March with her sister, Jenna Caller ’18, as her maid of honor. Congrats, Danielle!

Our condolences to family and friends who lost loved ones as reported in this issue.

2016

Margaret Cox (New York City) graduated with her master’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania in nonprofit management. Congratulations, Margaret!

Bennet Cho-Smith (San Francisco) shares, “I’ll be graduating from Georgetown Law this spring and will be moving to San Francisco to start my legal career as an associate with Kessler Topaz Meltzer Check, a plaintiff-side class action firm that specializes in securities fraud.”

Olivia Silverman (Cincinnati) is excited to announce she moved back to Cincinnati to be the assistant coach of the University of Cincinnati women’s soccer team.

Matthew Marquardt (Columbus, OH) writes, “I’m currently a rising third-year medical student at The Ohio State University College of Medicine, where I

am forging an unconventional path. Alongside studying and conducting head and neck cancer research, I am also a professional Ironman triathlete and had a breakout rookie season in 2023. During my debut year, I finished No. 11 at the Ironman World Championship, finished on the podium in three Ironman races, and was ranked No. 21 overall in the world.”

Gerardo Scheufler (Tampa, FL) recently moved from Milwaukee, WI, to Tampa, FL, to work for the Tampa Bay Lightning as an account executive.

2017

Shelby Davis (Washington, D.C.) has recently launched her own marketing and event consulting business, MS Davis Consulting. Working with several clients in the greater D.C. area, Shelby provides digital marketing and event planning services for businesses looking to reach new audiences and provide additional value to existing clients. Her favorite projects include podcast productions, short-form video production, and creating in-store experiences for small businesses.

Lukas Geiger (New York City) shares that he has taken a new role as AI Specialist at Google Cloud. Additionally, he is coaching

In Memoriam, cont.

Our condolences to the families and friends who have lost loved ones.

1965

Sandra (Love) Bennhoff (C) (Cincinnati) passed away on Oct. 23, 2023.

Cynthia (Garrison) Ware (C) (Washington, D.C.) passed away on March 28, 2024.

1967

Gail (Riefkin) Geary (C) (Naples, FL) passed away on July 10, 2023.

2016

Kaylan Young (New York City) passed away on Feb. 28, 2024.

Friends of Seven Hills

Suzanne (Beyer) Richmond (Cincinnati), former Seven Hills employee, passed away on Oct. 24, 2023.

Don Partin (Cincinnati), former Seven Hills employee, passed away on Jan. 1, 2024.

Karen Mandel (Cincinnati), former Seven Hills employee, passed away on April 29, 2024.

CLASS NOTES, Continued . . .

News from Our Alumni

part-time for the New York University club rowing team and lives in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. He encourages anyone who makes their way through NYC to reach out!

Grace McVey (Cincinnati) graduated from the University of Cincinnati’s College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning with a bachelor of science in architecture. McVey is now working as an architectural designer at an industrial and aviation firm designing airport hangars.

Scott Arnold (Cincinnati) is currently in his cooperative education (co-op) through the University of Cincinnati College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning. Arnold is placed at Procter & Gamble in their R&D department. He is working on consumer research and designing potential new products for the future.

2019

Gaurav Kilaru (New York City) started a new role at PwC as a cybersecurity risk consulting associate in their financial service practice.

Varshini Odayar (Boston) shares that they graduated from Harvard College with a double degree in neuroscience and social anthropology and a secondary degree in global health and health policy. After graduation, they worked with the World Health Organization. They’re now pursuing a master’s at Harvard Medical School and will be an incoming MD candidate this fall.

Micheal Weirich (Dallas) is working for Bain and Company as an associate consultant and recently moved to Dallas.

Grace Wharton (Cincinnati) started a new role at VSC, a leading public relations agency focused on tech startups in AI, climate tech, and healthcare. Wharton is looking forward to learning more about the fast-paced world of startups, media relations, venture capital, and launching impactful marketing campaigns.

2022

Wendy Woffington (Philadelphia) is a fashion stylist. Last summer she interned for Jared Ellner where she got to style Sza for the cover of Rolling Stone and Olivia Rodrigo for her music video.

Colin Chen (Nashville, TN) shares, “Currently, I am the chair of the ‘Taste of Nashville’ Initiative which means I am networking with local Nashville restaurants to add to Vanderbilt’s ‘Taste of Nashville Program.’ By being in this program, Vanderbilt students can buy meals using their ‘Commodore Cash’ (the university’s private currency) at these restaurants,

thus bringing more customers to the restaurants and making more places easily accessible for Vanderbilt students. Specifically, we are targeting Asian restaurants as there aren’t many in the program, and there are a large amount of students who enjoy Asian cuisine.”

2024-25 Alumni Calendar

Mark your calendars! We always look forward to seeing you at our alumni events. Make sure you are staying up to date with the alumni calendar at www.7hills.org/alumni and checking your email for details!

Friday, Sept. 20, 2024

Homecoming: Join the entire Seven Hills community for a night of fun with sports clinics run by varsity teams and the soccer shootout. Bring your family for a great night with a grill out and fireworks.

5 p.m.

Hillsdale Campus

5400 Red Bank Rd. Cincinnati, OH 45227

Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024

FC Cincinnati Game: Join fellow alums for an exciting night watching FC Cincinnati play Orlando City. Limited tickets are available for purchase at a subsidized rate.

7:30 p.m.

TQL Stadium

1501 Central Pkwy. Cincinnati, OH 45214

Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024

BLINK Happy Hour: BLINK is back in Cincinnati! Start the evening with other alums at our Alumni Happy Hour before heading out to explore opening night at BLINK!

5-7 p.m.

The Pitch Cincy

1430 Central Pkwy. Cincinnati, OH 45202

Friday & Saturday, April 4 & 5, 2025

REUNION WEEKEND: Mark your calendars for our annual Reunion weekend with the Classics Luncheon, campus tours, cocktail reception, and more!

STAY TUNED FOR OTHER EVENTS COMING UP, INCLUDING OUR ROADSHOWS!

Recently moved? Just got married? New email? Go to www.7hills.org/alumniupdates to update your information or send to development@7hills.org