SEVEN HILLS
January 13, 2012
The Buzz
A Brief Word from Chris Garten
Seven Hills to launch individual iPad program for Middle, Upper in 2012–13
Dipping into classrooms since our return from break, I’ve been struck anew by the importance of rituals and routines. In our first few days back together, our Division Heads and a great many teachers took pains to reintroduce the protocols of civility and mutual respect on this campus.
Starting in the 2012–2013 school year, Seven Hills will equip every student in grades 6–12 with an iPad 2 to use at home and on campus during the school year.
In morning meetings and assemblies, students practiced greeting their classmates and teachers, listening attentively and respectfully to one another, organizing their lockers, their learning spaces, and their time. It seems like a small thing, I guess, but watching this unfold reminded me that the values of this school don’t emerge spontaneously; they are reinforced each day in a thousand intentional ways. Welcome back! Chris Garten Head of School
Chess Grandmaster returns to Seven Hills Seven Hills will host International Chess Grandmaster Gregory Kaidanov for the 2012 Seven Hills Chess Expo on Friday, February 10. The daylong event will include a Chess Simul in which the Grandmaster will simultaneously play 50-70 students from all grades. This is the Grandmaster’s third Chess Expo at Seven Hills. The Expo is in conjunction with Seven Hills’ hosting a Cincinnati Scholastic Chess Series tournament on Saturday, February 11.
Providing the iPads to every student in Middle and Upper will enable teachers to place even greater emphasis on inquiry-based learning. Students can conduct extensive electronic research and gather live data to answer complex questions. Students will have immediate and portable access to e-textbooks and note-taking software that even more fully develops individual study habits and productivity. During the current school year, a pilot program in grades six and nine and in individual classes school-
wide enabled students and teachers to explore the learning opportunities of the iPad 2. Valuable feedback from participants in the pilot program led the School to expand the individual iPad program. Head of School Chris Garten said, “At Seven Hills we place a great deal of emphasis on inquiry-based learning, critical thinking and real-life problem solving. We believe this type of learning not only prepares our students for future academic successes, but also helps them build the leadership and workplace skills they will need throughout their lives. Putting powerful educational tools, coupled with creative and innovative curriculum, in the hands of our teachers and students broadens horizons and truly brings classroom lessons to life.”
It was a great Middle School Spirit Night, Hoops for Hope charity event! Pink was the color of Middle School Spirit Night January 6, as the school community came together in Stinger Spirit to cheer on the girls and boys teams vs. CCD, to celebrate Middle’s winter teams, and to raise funds for Susan G. Komen for the Cure. The successful Hoops for Hope awarenessand fund-raiser was organized by senior Katie Cirulli and junior Madie Aichholz as their Personal Challenges. The event raised $2000! Continued next page
Inside this Buzz Upper School News
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Middle School News
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Lotspeich News
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Doherty News
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Middle Spirit Night
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At left, all of the varsity players wore Hoops for Hope t-shirts.
Alumni Overtones sing National Anthem at Bengals vs. Ravens game Members of the acapello group Overtones—Beau Garrett (’08), Brian McNamara (’09), Ian McNamara (’11), and friend Will Kippins (‘08 Mariemont) sang the National Anthem at the Bengals vs. Ravens game on New Year’s Day. The Overtones’ performance of the Anthem was accompanied by fireworks and cheers from a packed stadium. page 2
The varsity cheerleaders did a great job of leading the crowd in Stinger Spirit!
At right, Upper’s outstanding PEPSPLOSION, playing from above the basketball action, greatly enhanced the celebratory feel of Middle School Spirit Night!
A look at what’s happening at Upper School
See page 5 for Middle School, page 6 for Lotspeich, and page 8 for Doherty In college counseling news, 61 seniors have filed 468 applications to 268 colleges. To date, of those who applied Early Action or Early Decision, 77% have been accepted. The awesome new online version of Upper’s Canvass can be viewed at www.7hillscanvass.org. Quoting from the Canvass article by Managing Editor senior Kate Harsh, “Sixteen members of the Seven Hills Junior State of America chapter participated in Fall State the weekend of November 19. They spent two days at the Cincinnati Marriott North Hotel debating political, economic, and social issues with JSA chapters from schools in the Ohio River Valley State, which consists of Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, and parts of Indiana and West Virginia. ... “This year, three Seven Hills students won Best Speaker gavels. Senior Suhel Singh (top photo) won two gavels: one as the main con speaker in ‘Resolved, the Standard’s and Poor’s downgrade of the US credit rating was justified’ and one as the main pro speaker in ‘Resolved, that a parliamentary form of government is more efficacious than the US two-party system,’ in which he debated against fellow Seven Hills student, junior Anu Vora (middle photo). Vora won her own gavel as the main pro speaker in ‘Resolved, that the American popular culture is a threat to civilized values,’ and senior Kate Harsh (bottom photo) won a gavel as the main pro speaker in ‘Resolved, that an independent Palestinian state be established in Gaza and the West Bank.’” page 3
Physics teacher Tim Drew said, “We use Physics Olympic events to review all the major concepts from the first semester. During the daily events, teams work collaboratively to defeat other classmates. “Pictured at right, the project was to build a vehicle that stores mechanical potential energy that can be released into kinetic energy and therefore move the vehicle down the science hallway. The individual vehicle that travels the farthest distance wins the individual challenge. For all the Physics students involved, junior Laura Gonzales took gold with 45 ft., junior Michael Conroy came in second with 40 ft., and junior Madie Aichholz came in third with 33 ft. The projects showed imagination, determination, and percolating, critical thinking skills.
“Pictured above, the goal of the egg drop event was to build a device, from a limited supply of material given to each group, that would increase the impact time and lower the impact force on a raw egg. The team that survived the highest drop, without breaking, won the competition.”
Service Club Heads Allie Scheiber, Izzy Arjmand, Sharon Liao, Ginger Johnson, and Advisor Barbara VanderLaan organize the monthly preparation of sandwiches for Our Daily Bread by Upper advisory groups.
We loved the beautiful Winter Choral Concert and the much-anticipated return of the chorus alumni!
At the Winter Instrumental Concert, Director John Rising introduced the performance of “Proclamations” by Rob Romeyn, “Hold on to your seats—this will be a roller coaster ride.” It was breathtaking! After the performance, he said, “That was the most difficult/challenging piece I’ve ever done at Seven Hills.”
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At right and far right, art installations designed and created by artists in Diane Kruer’s Materials and Design classes.
A look at what’s happening at Middle School Congratulations to Middle for its very successful gift drive for The Caring Place! Sixth Grade had 100% participation; Seventh Grade had 94%; and Eighth Grade had 87%. Congratulations to the winner and runner-up of Middle’s Spelling Bee: respectively, eighth grader Tigar Cyr and sixth grader Mary Grace Ramsay. Congratulations, too, to the winner and runnerup of Middle’s Geography Bee: respectively, Wil Morriss and Samantha Chun.
Art teacher Elissa Donovan said, “Students are creating a 90’ Chinese dragon kite with local artist Debbie Von Bokken in class this week. It will be hung in the Commons in honor of the Chinese New Year and Year of the Dragon.” Much more on the Chinese dragon kite in the next Buzz. page 5
Eighth graders explored the principles of compression and tension in the Spaghetti Tower Team Survival Challenge in which teams had to design and construct a free standing tower as high as possible using spaghetti (members) and marshmallows (joints). The tower had to stand for at least 3–5 minutes before its height was measured. Each team had a budget of $40 (spaghetti $1 per piece; miniature marshmallow, $1 for 2; large marshmallow, $1 each). Teacher Judy Wiesemann announced the winners of the Survival Challenge: Bell 8 winners: Ada Huang and Nicole Tiao—height 99 cm (pictured) OVERALL WINNERS Bell 5 winners: Catherine Bain and Michael Chamberlin—height 91.5 cm Bell 2 winners: Matt Williams and Charlie Krejsa—height 85.0 cm Bell 3 winners: Camille Williams and Andrea Johnston—Height 85.0 cm
A look at what’s happening at Lotspeich Lotspeich’s Mitten Tree yielded four bags of mittens, hats, and gloves for the children served by MEAC (Madisonville Education and Assistance Center). Congratulations to the winner and runner-up of Lotspeich’s Spelling Bee: respectively, fourth grader Ethan Rising (above left) and fifth grader Max Lane. First grader Isabella Beaver was selected as a finalist for the “Artist of the Week” award from Artsonia.com, the website on which art teacher Jody Knoop posts the work of her students. Congratulations to fourth grader Kate Dunham, who was named the 2011 Champion in the Small Pony Hunter Division for both the Ohio Hunter Jumper Association (OHJA) and the Kentucky Hunter Jumper Association (KHJA). Kate was also named 2011 KHJA Reserve Champion for the 11 and Under Equitation Division. Kate worked hard not only to improve her own skills as a young rider but to train new skills into her inexperienced pony, Fox In Socks. page 6
First grade teacher Marilyn Braun wrote, “As part of the ongoing study of India in the first grade, the children have been comparing the Hindi alphabet to the English alphabet. Rekha Chaudhary, Jai’s Mom, came for a visit and introduced the first graders to the Hindi alphabet and also explained the basics of writing in Hindi. She then presented the students with a word puzzle written in Hindi and challenged them to translate it into English. “This was followed by a visit from Shalini Urankar, Sheil’s mom, who showed the children their names in Hindi and then assisted everyone in writing their names using Hindi letters. After some practice the first graders were soon able to write their own names as well as the names of some of their friends using this new alphabet.” Many thanks to our international families who share their cultures with our students!
Images from fourth grade Medieval Feast are on the next page
Feasting in medieval style!
See many more images at Lotspeich Corner News on our website.
The annual fourth grade Medieval Feast on Dec. 14 was a grand celebration of the novel Door in the Wall by Marguerite deAngeli. The feast included a presentation by NKU professor Margo Jang (pictured at top right).
We’re looking forward to seeing all members of Lower School Winter Teams and their many fans at Lower School Spirit Night on Friday, January 20! Recognition of Doherty and Lotspeich winter teams, exciting boys basketball vs. CHCA, great food, performance by Upper’s PEPSPLOSION, cheerleaders, and LOTS of Stinger Spirit! Go, Stingers of all ages! page page 77
A look at what’s happening at Doherty
Art teacher Mimi Stricker’s fifth grade artists created metal embossing, making book covers for a cross-curricular project with language arts/creative writing. Be sure to come to Doherty’s Pancake Breakfast and Student “Art for Africa” Sale on Saturday, February 4, 9–11am in the Doherty Cafeteria. Doherty students and teachers will be cooking and serving! Cost for breakfast is $5/person or $20/family. Proceeds benefit Doherty’s service project, Unified for UNIFAT, which is part of Seven Hills whole-school effort to help students who attend UNIFAT, an elementary school in Uganda.
Units I-II Coordinator Elisa MacKenzie said, “Unit II third graders visited the Rumpke Landfill and the Trailside Nature Preserve. The day consisted of an in-school presentation about the history and structure of the landfills, then a bus ride to the nature center for a program about natural recycling. “The day concluded with a tour of the Rumpke facility in Colerain Township. Students also packed a garbage-free lunch in keeping with the theme of the day.”
Unit II’s annual holiday performance at The Beechwood Home is a treasured Doherty traditiion. page 8
Images from Doherty’s wonderful Winter Program are on the next page.
All grades shine in Doherty’s All-School Winter Program!
It was a wonderful program, under the direction of music teacher Maria Eynon, and a great treat for the families who filled the Doherty Gym for the performances! See many more images of the Winter Program at Doherty Corner News on our website.
We’re looking forward to seeing all members of Lower School Winter Teams and their many fans at Lower School Spirit Night on Friday, January 20! Recognition of Doherty and Lotspeich winter teams, exciting boys basketball vs. CHCA, great food, performance by Upper’s PEPSPLOSION, cheerleaders, and LOTS of Stinger Spirit! page 9
Go, Stingers of all ages!