SEVEN HILLS
September 12, 2011
The Buzz
A Brief Word from Chris Garten One of the defining characteristics of our school is how deeply our values are interfused into the daily life of our community. This is a school that, to a remarkable extent, truly lives its values. I believe that this stems, at least in part, from the conscious effort we make each year to reflect on one of our core values. This year, our focus is kindness. At a series of events throughout the school year, we will celebrate and work to enhance the culture of kindness that defines our interactions with one another and with the world at large. As part of that effort, we have invited Rosalind Wiseman, internationally recognized author on children, teens, parenting, education and social justice, to join us for two days in October. Ms. Wiseman will conduct workshops for students, teachers, and parents, all focused on “creating a culture of dignity.” At this two-day event and at a host of other events throughout the school year, we will have opportunities to reflect together on ways to build an even stronger and more cohesive community. I hope that you join us! Chris Garten Head of School
Rosalind Wiseman presentation Oct. 12: “Creating a Culture of Respect” Join us as Seven Hills welcomes best-selling author and parenting expert Rosalind Wiseman for an evening presentation on Wednesday, October 12, at 7:00 pm on our Hillsdale Campus. Rosalind Wiseman is the acclaimed author of Queen Bees and Wannabees: Helping Your Daughter Survive Cliques, Gossip,
Boyfriends, and the New Realities of Girl World and Boys, Girls & Other Hazardous Materials. Wiseman will present “Creating a Culture of Respect,” followed by a brief Q&A and book signing. Books will be available for sale at the event. This is a free event and is open to Seven Hills parents, faculty and staff, alumni and friends. Please RSVP by October 5 by going to https:// www.7hills.org/respect.
93% of AP Exam scores qualify for advanced standing in college; average 4.2 of 5 Fifty-eight Seven Hills seniors and 2011 graduates have been named AP Scholars by the College Board for their exceptional achievement on the college-level Advanced Placement Exams. On the 221 AP Exams in 16
subject areas taken in May by 107 students, 93% of the scores earned were 3’s or better on the 1–5 national scale, qualifying the students for advanced standing in college. The Seven Hills students scored an average of 4.2 (“Extremely Well Qualified”).
Receiving National AP Scholar Awards for average scores of at least 4 or higher on all AP Exams taken and scores of 4 or higher on eight or more were 2011 graduates Justine Cefalu, Peppar Cyr, and Virgilio Urbina Lazardi. Their average score was 4.88.
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Save the Date for All-School Open House!
Inside this Buzz
The All-School Open House for prospective and current families will be held on Sunday, October 30, from 12:30 to 2:30 pm. Current Seven Hills families who are curious about what lies ahead, for instance in Middle or Upper School, can tour the campus and experience our classrooms firsthand. Meet students, teachers and coaches and speak to the division heads and our Head of School. Bring a friend! If you are interested in attending the Open House or want to volunteer to help, please RSVP or sign up, respectively, by calling the Admissions Office at 728-2400.
Photos of new deck
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Faculty News
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Upper School News
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Seniors’ amazing summers
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Middle School News
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Lotspeich News
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Doherty News
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Mark your calendars: Athletic Boosters Fall Spirit Night Sept. 22 and TSHS Family Picnic & Homecoming Sept. 30! Spirit Shop info is on page 6.
AP Scholars Continued from page 1
Beautiful new courtyard deck on Hillsdale Campus!
Receiving AP Scholar with Distinction Awards for average scores of at least 3.5 on all AP Exams taken and scores of 3 or higher on five or more were seniors Isabel Arjmand, Sarah Austin, Alex Ferree, Broti Gupta, Kate Harsh, Betsy Johnson, Sharon Liao, Alex Markovits, Suhel Singh, Jonathan Tiao, and Ned Williamson.
With the assistance of gifts from parents of the Class of 2011, the Hillsdale Campus has a wonderful new courtyard deck!
2011 graduates who receiving AP Scholar with Distinction Awards were Julianne Bain, Gabriel Blanco, Jeffrey Brown, Justine Cefalu, Katie Cromer, Leah Cromer, Peppar Cyr, Elisse Hill, Victoria Huang, Ari Kirsh, Sydney Larkin, Sasha Lieberman, Ryan MacKenzie, Aaron Markiewitz, Nathan Markiewitz, Haleigh Monaco, Joe Soonthornsawad, Virgilio Urbina Lazardi, and Stella Warner. The average score of Seven Hills seniors and 2011 graduates who earned AP Scholar with Distinction Awards was 4.58. Receiving AP Scholar with Honor Awards for average scores of at least 3.25 on all AP Exams taken and scores of 3 or higher on four or more were seniors Alex Baggott, Emily Bedell, Ginger Johnson, Sam McHugh, Adair McWilliams; 2011 graduates Julia Berger, Maddie Caldemeyer, Andrea Compton, Helen Head, Mia Perlman, Kristen Prevost, and Alex Wilt. Their average score was 4.45. Receiving AP Scholar Awards for scoring 3 or higher on three or more exams were seniors Harrison Addy, Ian Grohsgal, Helen Jatho, Deepak Kumar, Shea Renusch, Alexandra Scheiber, Jack Tyndall; 2011 graduates Graeme Harten, Kevin Pan, Ari Shifman, Celine Shirooni, Ben Sims, and Lauren Truncellito. Their average score was 4.12.
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Enjoyed by students as a gathering spot, study area, and place to relax, the deck, which was originally constructed in 1975 and modified in 2002, will no longer need annual triage on fatigued wooden boards. Our new deck is made of an earth-friendly product called Trex Transcend—a composite material guaranteed not to fade, stain, warp, rot, crack, splinter or ever need painting, and it carries a 25-year warranty against fading or staining. The new deck is certain to retain its character as the traditional campus “hub” for many years to come. Our sincere thanks to the Class of 2011 parents for their generous support of this important project! A group from the girls soccer team participated on the morning of September 10 in the Great Prostate Cancer Challenge®, a 5K Run/ Walk to support ZERO—The Project To End Prostate Cancer.
Seven Hills welcomes our new faculty and staff! Welcome to our new faculty and staff: (seated) Stephanie Park, Middle School theater; Megan Hayes,Lotspeich Spanish; Cassandra Bruce, Middle/ Upper School Spanish; Alison Kahn, Middle School learning specialist; Mimi Stricker, Doherty art; (standing) Chris Hedges, Director of Communications; Melissa Woodard, Lotspeich fourth grade; Anna Works-McKinney, Upper School math; Kate Riley, Upper School theater; Amy Wyatt, Upper School English; and Jennifer Gutzwiller, Doherty extended day.
Beth Driehaus, Nate Gleiner participate in prestigious history, English summer seminars Upper American history teacher Beth Driehaus was selected to participate in a one-week competitive application seminar, “The Great Depression and World War II,” June 19-25 at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California. Directed by David Kennedy, the Donald J. McLachlan Professor of History at Stanford University, the seminar examined the experience of the American people in the Great Depression and World War II. The seminar was sponsored by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. Beth writes, “Attending the Gilder Lehrman was an enormously rewarding experience. Not only was I able to work with a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian, but what I learned from our week together has transformed the way I teach the Great Depression, New Deal and WWII.” This past summer, Upper English teacher Nate Gleiner received the Laurence B. Holland Memorial Scholarship at the Bread Loaf School of English, “recognizing and celebrating [his] outstanding academic achievepage 3
ments in the Bread Loaf program.” The Bread Loaf School of English is a summer graduate school of Middlebury College, in which participants engage in an intensive, six-week course of study. Students complete two courses per summer, earning an M.A. in English in five summers. Nate attended the Asheville, NC, campus, where he enrolled in “Laugh, Cry, Hum, Quake: Comedies, Tragedies, Musicals, and Melodramas, London 17001900,” taught by Stuart Sherman (Fordham University) and the “Poetry Workshop,” taught by Rick Chess (UNC Asheville). Nate writes, “I found my courses this summer both immensely challenging and rewarding. They exposed me to fascinating content and exemplary teaching, and I have already drawn heavily on my studies this summer in the instruction of my own students.”
Our congratulations and appreciation to these faculty and staff members! At the opening faculty meeting, the following teachers and staff were honored for their years of service at Seven Hills. 40 Years Glenn Shillinger Linda Wolfe
35 Years Tom Betts Sarah Roberts Betsy Sittenfeld Margaret Vitz
25 Years Beth Leonard Anne Vanoy Dennis Wilson
20 Years 15 Years Jennifer Licata Terry Betts Jan Alford Joan Claybourn Cyndi Kenyon Dan Dinger Judy Wiesemann Joy Copfer Marty Hamilton Mary Inkrot-Schroder 5 Years Angela Kramer Linda Clark 10 Years Davina Dunn Cary Daniel Danielle Necessary Barb Frey Steve Poff Susan Dansereau Nate Gleiner Susan Settle Patty Dawson Mitzie Moser Natalie (Wildfong) Jen Faber Jo Schnirring Williams Katie Forster Sara Snyder Robin Wilson Julie Guminey
Sharing expertise at SNA national convention Food Service Director Jan Alford and Chef Jimmy Gherardi were invited by the School Nutrition Association to a present an education session at the Annual National Convention in Nashville, TN, July 2011. Together, they demonstrated recipes and techniques used in the Seven Hills kitchens to food service directors, chefs, and administrators from around the country. Chef Jimmy also presented a Continuing Education Seminar on Communications and Marketing. Doherty Cafeteria Head Cook Barb Christie provided expert support to the event. Before returning to Cincinnati, they were invited to present again next year at the national convention in Denver, CO.
A look at what’s happening at Upper School
See page 8 for Middle School, page 10 for Lotspeich, and page 12 for Doherty Upper English teacher Nate Gleiner reported, “In both English 10 Honors and English 12, students have taken collaborative ownership of their study of the summer reading texts—1984 (Orwell) and Cat’s Cradle (Vonnegut), respectively. After completing the Summer Reading Test, students proposed individual unit plans, concluding in a culminating project or experience, based on guidelines provided by their teacher. In small groups, students shared their individual unit plans then chose one plan to revise, clarify, and refine before pitching to the other groups. Using SurveyMonkey, students voted on their preferred unit proposal. Each class then engaged in a detailed discussion of the steps necessary to realize the chosen unit’s culminating goal. Students in English 10 Honors and English 12 are now engaged in self-designed units culminating in a range of ways, including group-led discussions of human nature in Cat’s Cradle and individually-composed, imaginative prequels of 1984.” Chemistry and environmental science teacher Linda Ford reported, “Last year my Honors Chem classes participated in a Periodic Table Project sponsored by the University of Waterloo in Canada. The project is now complete and the Periodic Table poster is on display in the lower science area. Although several students participated in the research and design, junior Brandon Malofsky (pictured with the poster) was the principal artist.” The students in music teacher Tina Groom’s Speech page 4
class had the opportunity to work on expression, enunciation and enthusiasm in their delivery while reading children’s books to the welcoming and attentive audiences in the Lotspeich pre-K and K. See page 10. Some early uses of the iPad in the iPad Pilot Program this year: Upper science and technology teacher Brian Berning’s biology classes are taking photos through the microscopes and inserting them directly into lab reports—all on the iPad. History Department Head and Upper history teacher Brian Wabler’s class is Tweeting responses to questions, so he can get immediate feedback on their progress. He said, “The students can all instantly answer questions on Twitter (for quickie answers) or the wiki (for longer ones) so I can get a sense of what everyone knows rather than just the one student who answers. We can also put responses on the board and use them as a springboard for debate. Upper history teacher Jen Faber is doing a similar thing with something called Poll Everywhere.” Barbara Scarr’s AP Biology students designed experiments to study the behavior of pill bugs (aka Armadillidium vulgare) in response to stimuli like different amounts of moisture, light, and background. Another recent experiment involved using yeast to blow up balloons. “It was really quite impressive,” said Mrs. Scarr. Two Seven Hills students volunteered as “Counselors in Training” in the Cincinnati Parks Explore Nature! Summer Nature Camp Program this summer. Junior Andrew Berliant (at left) volunteered five weeks in the Discovery Days camps, traveling to parks all around the city, and eighth grader Clay Hausberger (pictured on page 8) volunteered for two weeks at Stansberry Park and California Woods.
The Benefit Concert for India on September 3 at Anderson Center was a great success with performances by Seven Hills musicians and attendance of many from the school community. Proceeds from the concert benefited Nanritam, a non-profit that provides education and medical aid to the rural poor http://www.aptcmd.com/concert of West Bengal, India. Performers were seniors Broti Gupta (vocals and piano), Sam McHugh (drums), Alex Ferree (guitar), Jack Tyndall (saxophone) and Kaleb Brill (bass). Parents Pragya and Sarbari Gupta wrote to Head of School Chris Garten, “With everybody’s efforts and generosity, we were able to raise $3,427 for Nanritam. We could not have done this without the help of the Seven Hills talents and all of the generous people that attended. Thank you so much again.” Congratulations to freshman Chris Janidlo on his selection for the Cincinnati Symphony Youth Orchestra. Chris plays the bass.
“What I Did on Summer Vacation” On the next page, check out some of the impressive summer experiences of our seniors.
Summer 2011 meant exciting learning & future-ready challenges for seniors!
Seven Hills athletes, coach named All-Stars
The classic post-summer topic, “What I did on summer vacation,” has some pretty amazing responses when it comes to Seven Hills students. Here is just a tiny sample of the summer programs (college courses) in which current seniors participated:
Belated congratulations to our spring varsity athletes and coach who were named to the Enquirer’s All-Star list (published June 28).
s -ONICA "LANCO participated in an Engineering Design course at Columbia University. Serving as group leader, she designed shelters to be assembled in disasters and learned to use software (Auto/CAD and MAYA). s +ALEB "RILL took two courses at Berkeley: Environmental Science and YPlan. He was assigned an analysis of the Climate Action Plan developed by Benicia, a small city in the Bay Area and he presented the results to a panel of governors, legislators and the head of United Nation’s Environmental Programme. s !NNIE 3CHWANDNER created a product and business plan for Ohio Business Week’s Emerging Entrepreneur Project competition at Ohio Dominion College. s )AN 'ROHSGAL did genetic research related to lupus at Children’s Hospital. s *ORDAN 3EIBOLD took a course in coastal marine biology at the University of New England in Maine. s !LEX &ERREE took an online summer course through MIT entitled, “Innovation in Science and Technology,” in addition to a course at Brown University, entitled “Financial Markets and Investments.” Alex served an internship with The Vertical Group, a venture capital company for biopage 5
tech and pharmaceutical start-up companies, in Summit, NJ. s ,EIGH &IDLER participated in the Parsons Summer Program in Fashion. s "ETSY *OHNSON took a course in engineering and a survey course in modern art at Brown University. s 'EORGE ,AWSON a took a three-week freshman honors Intro to Engineering course in civil and industrial engineering at Ohio State. s $EEPAK +UMAR did an INTERalliance internship in data analysis s *ONATHAN 4IAO assisted post-doctoral researchers at Children’s Hospital Medical Center, working on two projects: tracking where DDT is stored in rats and analyzing how knocking out the APOA IV gene affects the expression of chylomicrons in the intestines. s $ANIEL -C+INNON did the Computer Science camp at UC’s College of Engineeering: “Students had hands-on experience writing programs to solve problems in such application domains as sciences, engineering, medicine, and business. They heard speakers from industry and scientific research present problems from their domains that need solutions from computer sciences.” s Junior Evan Werner won the LexisNexis Innovative Leadership Award “for outstanding achievement while participating in the INTERalliance Information Technology Careers camp program.”
Tennis Div. II Coach of the Year—Tim Drew Div. II First Team—Matt Cohen, Joe Soonthornsawad, Rick Tesmond, Jonathan Tiao Div. II Honorable Mention—John Larkin, Henry Head, Alex Markovits Softball Divs. II-IV Honorable Mention—Bethany Buck, Monica Blanco Baseball Divs. II-IV Honorable Mention—Harrison Addy, Ryan Ferrell Track Div. II Honorable Mention 800 run—Alex Ferree
Your Resale Shop is gearing up for another outstanding year with Sandra Shaw as Manager! For more than 50 years, we have been turning your donations into tens of thousands of dollars for our school. You stock the store and we run it... and we make a great team! Your donation is 100% tax deductible to you and a blessing to our customers, and we can even arrange pick-ups for large items.
SEVEN
HILLS SCHOOL
So whether you are cleaning out a closet or moving an entire estate, remember your Resale Shop can help you, our school, our students and our community!
Members of the Class of 2015 start high school careers together with fun & bonding activities at Camp Joy
THE SEVEN HILLS SCHOOL
SPIRIT SHOP
September 2011
SPIR
IT S
HOU HOP RS Sch oo 11:3 0 a.m l Days . - 1: 00 p .m. Visit the Spirit Shop Online
www.7hills.org
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quicklinks
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Spirit Shop Drop by & shop: The SPIRIT SHOP is located in the lobby between Kalnow Gym and Hillsdale Commons. Hours are 11:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. school days, September - May.
Shop from home, office or on-the-go: Visit the SPIRIT SHOP online at www.7hills.org to browse merchandise. Submit orders via phone (728-2424) or e-mail (spirit.shop@7hills.org) to be charged to your Seven Hills parent account (billed monthly, along with lunchroom and other school charges). /, # - - &$0 , .) 2)/, #$& 3- & --,))' ), $0$-$)( )!4 (Please indicate delivery preference in your e-mail/phone message.)
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Go, Class of 2015!
Upper School faculty & staff kicked off the year with community service Upper teachers and staff spent the morning of August 18 doing a wide range of service activities, including delivering meals for Meals on Wheels, cooking meals for freezing at Ronald McDonald House, cleaning brush from the back of an 83-year-old house for People Working Cooperatively, and cleaning and straightening at MEAC, where they also helped clients with their shopping.
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A look at what’s happening at Middle School Congratulations to eighth grader Olivia Silverman! She is one of two Cincinnati athletes earning a position on the U.S. National Soccer Team. She will travel to Carson, CA, in September to play at The Home Depot Center. Olivia is a goalkeeper for the Hammer FC under-14 club league. Two Seven Hills students volunteered as “Counselors in Training” in the Cincinnati Parks Explore Nature! Summer Nature Camp Program this summer. Junior Andrew Berliant (pictured on page 4) volunteered five weeks in the Discovery Days camps, traveling to parks all around the city, and eighth grader Clay Hausberger (at left) volunteered for two weeks at Stansberry Park and California Woods. Students kicked off their Middle School career together with their annual retreat on September 3—the hottest day of the year—aided by plenty of rest and water breaks! Seventh graders played a trust game with blindfolds, plus sports and board games. Pictures from the trust games are on this page. Eighth graders had a good time at their annual fundraising Bowl-AThon at Madison Lanes. The Bowl-AThon benefits The Caring Place. Sixth graders did a great job on their annual service projects helping faculty and staff members in classrooms, offices, and grounds on both campuses. Special thanks to the parent volunteers who joined the sixth graders on this very hot day. Pictures are on the next page. page 8
Three classes of eighth grade math clocked their walking, jogging, and sprinting rates as part of their study of dimensional analysis September 2 on the soccer field. This activity was a result of Tom Betts and Judy Wiesemann’s curriculum grant work in summer, 2010.
Sixth g r a d e s e r v ic e These are just a few images of the service projects performed on both campuses by sixth graders, parent volunteers, and teachers! Thank you to all!
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A look at what’s happening at Lotspeich Congratulations to third grader Benjamin Yoo, who won the Second Prize in the Prince Rookie Tour Tennis Tournament Championship Playoff on August 27. At age 8, he was the youngest in the 10-and-Under category. Hosted by Greater Cincinnati Tennis Association, this Championship Playoff was invitation only for the best players selected throughout the year.
Creative dramatics teacher Russell White reported: “All students pre-K through fifth grade have met for drama class in the Red Barn. After a first class of team building and cooperation challenges, the Lotspeich students were very ready to take on new drama scenes like Robot Lab and Zombie Patrol. These images show some of our fifth graders playing ‘remote control’ where the holder of
Fourth grader and birder Ethan Rising visited alumnus Andrew Vitz (’92) at the Powdermill Nature Preserve in Pennsylvania over Labor Day weekend. Ethan spent two days banding birds and helping collect and enter data. Andrew Vitz, Ph.D.is the Avian Ecologist and Banding Program Coordinator at Powdermill. Best wishes to our SAY soccer teams in grades 1–6 and to our first fifth and sixth grade girls volleyball team. 251 athletes are participating in 20 Seven Hills SAY soccer teams this year! Go, Stingers! Photos of Upper Speech students reading to pre-K and K students are on the next page. page 10
the remote can control the action on stage and switch channels as new acting partners spring up from the benches. Watching the actors on stage pause, fast forward, mute, and reverse their scenes was a joy and the work done this week by all the drama students in the Red Barn inspires new challenges and student ideas that will be incorporated into future acting classes.” First graders continued a tradition of making First Day Fizzies. By carefully following the recipe and working together, they made a refreshing drink to enjoy on the first day of first grade.
See you at Athletic Boosters Fall Spirit Night Sept. 22 and TSHS Family Picnic & Homecoming Sept. 30!
The students in music teacher Tina Groom’s Speech class had the opportunity to work on expression, enunciation and enthusiasm in their delivery while reading children’s books to the welcoming and attentive audiences in the Lotspeich pre-K and K.
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A look at what’s happening at Doherty Best wishes to our SAY soccer teams in grades 1–6 and to our first fifth and sixth grade girls volleyball team. 251 athletes are participating in 20 Seven Hills SAY soccer teams this year! Go, Stingers! Unit II students are enjoying using technology in the classroom, including Mimios. Unit I scientists recently did an experiment using Lifesavers. The children put the Lifesavers in warm and cold water and tried to predict which would dissolve quicker. A fun experiment for all! Photos below at right. Something “fishy” was going on with the afternoon kindergarten group at Doherty! The students created fish in art, heard The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister, played Rainbow Fish Memory in the library, and sang songs about fish in music!
Doherty had a special convocation in remembrance of 9/11 on September 9. Doherty Head Patti Guethlein said, “Our focus was on rebuilding, and we also recognized the heroism of first responders with representatives from the Walnut Hills fire station— Lt. Kyle Stevens, Engine #23, and Firefighter A.J. Florez. The students presented them with thank you cards and cookies.” Mrs. Guethlein read the story Fireboat by Maira Kalman to the whole
group while the illustrations were projected onscreen. There was also a moment of silence to think about the heroes in our lives. Classes followed up with age-appropriate conversations.
Experiments with Lifesavers.
See you at Athletic Boosters Fall Spirit Night Sept. 22 and TSHS Family Picnic & Homecoming Sept. 30!
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The fifth graders enjoyed two days actively involved with science and social studies. With the help of parents, students experienced activities related to light and sound, as well as colonial games, archeological digs, and drilling.
Creative dramatics teacher Russell White gave us this glimpse of drama classes at Doherty: “Follow the footsteps up to the second floor of Faran Hall and discover the actors at work. These early fall classes are a great time to bond with classmates during theater games and challenges. During drama week three, the third grade yellow group used student dreams that were
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shared as mini plays, and classmates loved getting cast in a dream and acting it out. Some other games and activities in drama class included character cross, freeze tag, remote control, gutbusters, ‘That Must Be Charlie,’ three knees and transformers. Plans are in place, student ideas are put into lesson plans and the footsteps will return as we all encounter our next drama week.”