SEVEN HILLS
January 14, 2013
The Buzz
A Brief Word from Chris Garten After 18 months of research and deliberation, the Middle and Upper School faculties have adopted a new teaching schedule for the 2013-14 school year. The principal change is that classes will meet less often, for longer periods of time: two 80-minute and one 40-minute meetings per week instead of five 40-minute meetings. The schedule will also provide more “community time” when all teachers and students are free, which will greatly facilitate students’ access to teachers for one-on-one support. We anticipate that the new schedule will substantially reduce the frenzy of daily life; students will experience fewer transitions during the day and will have fewer homework assignments to prepare each night. More importantly, the longer class meetings will accommodate more discovery-based learning, extended research, and collaboration consistent with the principles enumerated in our Seven Hills Method. In the coming months, the division and department heads will orchestrate a series of in-service experiences for teachers to provide training on how to plan engaging lessons in these longer teaching periods. We will also devote the bulk of the summer curriculum grant resources to enable teachers to design units to take full advantage of this re-configuration of time. Many thanks to the scheduling committees, led by Bill Waskowitz and Nick Francis, who brought this to fruition. Chris Garten, Head of School
Books for Lunch presents award-winning alumna author Curtis Sittenfeld Feb. 7-8 Curtis Sittenfeld ’93 is the author of the bestselling novels American Wife, Prep, and The Man of My Dreams, which have been translated into 25 languages with more than 1.6 million copies in print. Prep was chosen as one of the Ten Best Books of 2005 by The New York Times, and American Photo by Jerry Bauer Wife was chosen as one of the Ten Best Books of 2008 by Time, People, and Entertainment Weekly; both were nominated for the UK’s Orange Prize. Curtis’s non-fiction has appeared in many publications, including The New York Times, The Atlantic Monthly,
Salon, Slate, Glamour, and on public radio’s “This American Life.” A graduate of Stanford University and the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and recipient of a Michener-Copernicus Society of America Award, Curtis has interviewed Michelle Obama for Time, appeared as a guest on NPR’s “Fresh Air” and CBS’s “Early Show,” and been a strangely easy “Jeopardy!” answer. Lecture Luncheon & Book Signing Friday, February 8, 2013, 11:00 am Cintas Center at Xavier University Dinner with Curtis Sittenfeld Thursday, February 7, 2013, 6:30 pm At the home of Nancy & John Silverman For more information, please contact Books for Lunch 2013 Committee Chairs Christine Cho or Kerrin Antonsson at booksforlunch@7hills.org. Make your reservation online at seatyourself.biz/7hillsbanquet.
Lots of Stinger Spirit at Middle‘s Spirit Night! Article and photos are on page 5.
Inside this Buzz Spring semester of Beginnings Upcoming Creating Conversations Upper School News Middle School News Lotspeich News
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Doherty News
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Join us for Doherty’s 2nd Annual Unified for Unifat Pancake Breakfast & Student-Created Art Auction Sat., Feb. 2, 9-11 am. Details on page 3.
PRESENTS Spring semester of Beginnings starts Jan. 23 This year Seven Hills launched Beginnings, a program designed specifically for parents and their children ages 12 to 36 months as a PreKindergarten readiness opportunity. Beginnings is designed and led by Seven Hills’ team of early childhood teacher and counselor experts. Children and their parents work together on a weekly basis as they explore, discover and create in an age-appropriate and stimulating learning environment. Beginnings is rich with experiences focused on developing motor skills, exploring early language and literacy, and encouraging socialization. Parents can gain insight and resources from early childhood experts to help them guide their children at home. “In our first semester, we saw children begin to build confidence, expand their understanding of social cues and work alongside their caregivers to paint, build, bake, read and sing,” said Julie Brackett, Beginnings Director. “Beginnings is a fantastic way to introduce toddlers to a structured learning environment that fosters their already keen and curious minds.” The 12-week Spring semester of Beginnings is starting on Jan. 23. Each weekly session runs from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. at both campuses. For more information, visit www.7hills.org/beginnings or call 513-728-2336. The program is open to the public and space is limited.
cONVerSATIONS
creATING
THE SEVEN HILLS SCHOOL SpEakEr SErIES We invite you , your family and friends
cONVerSATIONS
to join us for one or more of these fascinating sessions. For more information about the free-of-charge series and to register for the events, please call 513.728.2363 or visit www.7hills.org/CreatingConversations.
PRESENTS
Oct. 25,SEVEN 2012 7:00 HILLS p.m. Smart Parenting,SpEakEr Smarter KidS SErIES THE SCHOOL David Walsh, Ph.D., nationally-recognized authority on children, teens, parenting, family life, and the impact of technology on children’s health and development; and best-selling author of nine books, including Why Do They , your family Act Thatand Way?friends A Survival Guide to the Adolescent Brain for You and Your Teen to join us for one or more of theseand fascinating sessions. No: Why Kids—of All Ages—Need to Hear It and Ways Parents Can Say it.
We invite you
For more information about the free-of-charge series and to register for the events, please call 513.728.2363 or visit NOv. 15,www.7hills.org/CreatingConversations. 2012 4:00 p.m. Brain Development
in ChilDren: a Closer look
Dr. Lisa Kuan, Cincinnati area pediatrician.
Oct. Smart Set, Parenting, Smarter KidS JAN. 25, 2012 2013 7:00 8:45 p.m. A.m. Ready, GO! David Walsh, Ph.D., nationally-recognized authority children, teens, What dOeS it Mean tO be Ready fORonSchOOl? FEB. 28, 2013 7:00 p.m.
parenting, family life, and theSchool impactChildhood of technology on children’s and Expert panel of Seven Hills Counselors and health Educators. development; and best-selling author of nine books, including Why Do They Act That Way? A Survival Guide to the Adolescent Brain for You and Your Teen and No: WhyChildren Kids—of All Ages—Need Hear It and Ways Parents Can Say it. Setting Up forto SUCCeSS Ann Anzalone, nationally-recognized consultant on learning styles, educational plans and academic performance.
NOv. 15, 2012 4:00 p.m. Brain Development in ChilDren: a Closer look Dr. Lisa Kuan, Cincinnati area pediatrician. ApR. 18, 2013 4:00 p.m. Building Blocks: language & literacy for life Expert panel including Speech & Language Therapist Nancy Fluharty; JAN. 25, 2013 8:45 A.m. Ready, and SevenSet, Hills GO! School Early Childhood Counselors and Educators. What dOeS it Mean tO be Ready fOR SchOOl? Expert panel of Seven Hills School Childhood Counselors and Educators.
For more information or to reserve your spot, visit
FEB.www.7hills.org/CreatingConversations 28, 2013 7:00 p.m. Setting Children Up for SUCCeSS or call
Ann Anzalone, nationally-recognized consultant on learning styles, educational plans and academic performance.
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The Seven Hills School Speaker Series
ApR. 18, 2013 4:00 p.m. Building Blocks: language & literacy for life Expert panel including Speech & Language Therapist Nancy Fluharty; and Seven Hills School Early Childhood Counselors and Educators. The Buzz is deeply indebted to all of the photographers—faculty/staff and parents—who share with For us their images school events morewonderful information or tofrom reserve your spot,and visitactivities in and out of the classroom. Thank you for generously sharing your time and talent!
www.7hills.org/CreatingConversations or call
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Please send news and images for the Buzz to Editor Kathy Deubell at kathy.deubell@7hills.org. The Seven Hills School Speaker Series
Volunteer service in our local community In addition to the efforts for Unified for Unifat in all divisions, Seven Hills students and teachers reach out to members of our local community with meaningful service throughout the year. Just one example is the preparing and serving of breakfast one Saturday per month at Bethany House by volunteer teams among our students, teachers and their families. Bethany House is an organization that works to provide a full range of housing, education and supportive social services to homeless and disadvantaged women and children. http://www.bethanyhouseservices.org/ This is the fifth consecutive year for Seven Hills’ service at Bethany House. Math Department Chair Anne Ramsay said in an email to faculty at the start of the school year, “We typically prepare and serve breakfast, then play with the children at Bethany House. We arrive at 9:00 and depart at 10:30 am on each date. This is a great opportunity for you and a subset of the Seven Hills community to get together to do some meaningful volunteer work—perfect for your division, department, advisory group, sports team, family, etc. I hope that you will consider joining us for this fun, rewarding service opportunity.” If interested, contact anne.ramsay@7hills.org. Upper’s Service Club recently collected toys for the children at Bethany. Students from Linda Ford’s advisory and Service Club: Zach Abraham, Katie Shen, Emma Uible, Kyle Patel, Mia Samaha, Bethany Buck, and Allie Baretta. Breakfast was followed by play and games with the children. At right, Lotspeich faculty Natalie Williams, Kristen Feeney, Karli Ferone, and Carolyn Fox volunteering at Bethany House.
Evite created by Linley Dawson, Unit III page 3
A look at what’s happening at Upper School
See page 5 for Middle School, page 6 for Lotspeich & page 8 for Doherty Junior Connor Rouan was interviewed by Bill Cunningham on WLW radio on Dec. 21 about his annual outdoor decorating of his home with some 20,000+ lights and music. Connor decided to donate proceeds from the 20-minute light-and-music display to the Newtown CT Memorial Fund. He was also featured on Fox 19 News and Channel 9 News. The Fox 19 interview: http://www.fox19.com/story/20412153/local-teenraises-money-through-light-show On Jan. 7 two Procter & Gamble reps gave a presentation to Tim Drew’s Psychology class about marketing strategies and targeting purchasing groups for P&G products. The presentation by Jason Woods (Puffs Marketing Specialist) and Travis Withers (Charmin Assistant Brand Manager, Puffs Assistant Brand Manager, New ConAgra Brand Manager) showed the Psychology class the use of understanding human behaviors patterns and the links to the business world—the business of cost efficiency and targeting the correct consumer needs. They were high energy, very informative, and put P&G in a positive light. For the first time in Seven Hills history, bowling—the fastest growing sport in the MVC—was offered as a varsity winter sport. Off to a great start, the team won its first match against Summit on Dec. 5. Thanks to biology teacher Barbara Scarr for these images photographed with an iPad during microscope lab: frog blood (left) and amoeba. page 4
We love this example of “pupil paintings”—part of the eye pad/iPad project in Diane Kruer’s Materials & Design class. English 10 Honors and English 12 students are now receiving both visual and audio grading of their essays through teacher Nate Gleiner’s use of the screencasting iPad app Explain Everything, which enables him to provide spoken suggestions and clarification to accompany his written notes. He creates mp4 files for the students to view the oral and visual grading in realtime as a Quicktime file.
Math teacher and Service Club Advisor Barbara VanderLaan shared this photo of seniors Allie Baretta, Rachel White, Elizabeth Young, and junior Jessica Seibold serving lunch at Our Daily Bread on Jan. 4. See page 3 for news of volunteering at Bethany House.
The following is an excerpt from the article, “Seibold Organizes Lunch Time Tutoring Program,” by sophomore Alex Hunter in the Dec. 19 online Canvass (http://7hillscanvass.org/): “On Nov. 8, a group of 40 Seven Hills students traveled to the John P. Parker School in Madisonville during their lunch break to tutor elementary school students. The trip was the second session of the new tutoring program, organized by junior Jessica Seibold, [who] said, ‘From what I have been told, most of these kids have never had any one-on-one reading or math help. The feedback from our contacts at Parker has been very positive. ... My hope is that we can develop a long-term relationship between Parker and Seven Hills. While this year represents a good first step, I think we will be able to build on it in future years.’” To celebrate the end of the first semester, Linda Ford invited us to her Chemistry Honors classes for a very cool demonstration of the intriguing glass curiosity, Prince Rupert’s Drop. It’s a classic spectacular dem-
onstration of both the great strength and the vulnerability of glass that has been rapidly cooled from the molten state. Tension in the glass (and class) with a shattering finish!
A look at what’s happening at Middle School Congratulations to eighth grader Shane DiGiovanna, winner of the Middle School Geography Bee, and to seventh grader Nate Rising, the runner-up. Eighth grade art students are creating stop motion animations with their iPads. Sixth grade Latin students are using their iPads to create podcast infomercials (using music, images, vocal persuasion) to “sell” a Roman god/goddess of their choice; use a flashcard app that lets students quiz themselves on weekly vocabulary; create an e-newspaper depicting life in ancient Rome; and more.
It was a great Athletic Boosters Middle School Spirit Night on Dec. 14! The event included recognition of Middle’s winter athletes and coaches (a big crowd pleaser was the awesome cartwheeling entrance of the gymnasts), JV and varsity boys basketball vs. Cincinnati Christian, lots of spirited support for our Upper School athletes, and Penn Station East Coast Subs!
Senate Heads Charlie Goldsmith and Nate Rising led the Middle School in collecting for the Caring Place Drive, with whom Middle has a long-standing relationship. They collected a large amount of toys, warm clothing, and nonperishable food items from a generous student body. The 2012-13 eighth grade class made a significant donation of $800 to The Caring Place. The proceeds were from their Halloween dance on Oct. 26. Representative Henry Marquardt presented the check to The Caring Place Director Ceal Bellman at Middle’s closing assembly before winter break.
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For the latest Upper School news, go to http://7hillscanvass.org/.
A look at what’s happening at Lotspeich Fifth grader Ethan Rising’s wonderfully detailed article on his experience at the recent Ohio Young Birders Conference was published Dec. 12 on the blog site (The Eyrie) of the American Birding Association. Ethan’s article, bio, and comments on his article are at http:// birding.typepad.com youngbirders/2012/12/2012ohio-young-birders-conference.html#comments
The annual fourth grade Medieval Feast on Dec. 19 was a grand celebration of the novel Door in the Wall by Marguerite deAngeli. The feast included a presentation by NKU professor Margo Jang (above at left). Many thanks to all of our parent volunteers who helped to make it such a successful event!
On Dec. 12 &14, first through third graders enjoyed their lessons in the Kalnow Gym with three karate instructors from Mastin’s School of Martial Arts.
The kindergarten students of teachers Karen Martin and Theresa Cohen invited their parents to an open house Dec. 18. The Celebration of Lights celebrated the winter holidays of Christmas, Hanukkah, Diwali, Kwanzaa, Santa Lucia, Las Posadas, and Chinese New Year.
More photos
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Second graders did a wonderful job of presenting their musical, “December ‘Round the World”!
More images of second graders’ delightful “December ‘Round the World”
Spanish teacher Megan Hayes has high energy classes, using the teaching method TPRS or Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling. Gestures, movement, repetition, and a great deal of energy are crucial components of this holistic strategy. Señora Hayes told us that these kindergartners were “singing our ‘Come and See Our Farm=¡Vengan a page 7
Ver mi Granja!’ song and doing the motions that go with it. Then, we were playing a version of follow the leader in Spanish with actions. ‘Run, Run, Run with Señora.’ In Spanish, ‘Corre, corre, corre con Señora.’ Then, “Dance, Walk, Jump, Fly with Me’ in Spanish.” Lots of energy, fun, and learning!
A look at what’s happening at Doherty Congratulations to fifth grader and CCM Prep Department student Kevin Wang for his outstanding performance at the very competitive Kentucky Music Teacher Association Bluegrass Elementary Piano Competition at Morehead State University. He finished second in this competition and received honorable mention. Kevin is one of the recipients for the Cincinnati Symphony Club Scholarship offered by CCM. Kevin is looking forward to playing keyboard in the Middle School Instrumental Ensemble.
Units I-II Coordinator Elisa MacKenzie said, “Unit I children made scarves for Open Door Ministry, located at the Church of the Advent in East Walnut Hills. Parent volunteers helped them to tie the fringe into knots. As they tied, they thought of adding a little knot of love on each fringe so that the recipient would be warm physically and also in their hearts.” Mrs. MacKenzie continued, “Unit II made blankets for their service project this year. The blankets were delivered to Open Door Ministry. Doherty has been page 8
supporting this organization for a number of years. Unit II would like to thank the parent volunteers that assisted in this special project.” Unit III Coordinator and math teacher Vaishali Sarbhoy told us, “Part of the fifth grade curriculum is a three-day experience at Glen Helen Outdoor Education Center. Each day, trail groups ventured into the 1000-acre outdoor classroom with their naturalist-teachers for biotic explorations. Students learned about the environment and about how to protect it through hands-on teaching methods and authentic experiences. Students searched for macro-invertebrates in the streams to determine water health. They also explored native ecosystems to connect with their natural environment. “They worked together to meet wasted food goals in the dining hall to learn about the importance of conservation. The Glen Helen trip emphasizes cooperation and teamwork and was a great learning experience for all!”
Doherty’s 2nd Annual Unified for Unifat Pancake Breakfast & Student Art Auction is Sat., Feb. 2! Details on page 3.
Mrs. Sarbhoy also told us, “On the morning of Dec. 7, the fourth graders participated in the concluding part of the Friendship unit by learning ethnic games from different cultures. The classrooms were busy with students playing the arrow game (Native American), dreidel game (Jewish American), cat and mouse game (Hispanic American), and the lion dance (Asian American). In the hallway [above], students raced each other while holding a spoon balancing a potato on it (Irish American), while some tried to do the limbo under a jumprope (African American). “The students participated in another interesting new Social Awareness program— ‘The Happiness Project’—inspired by the book by Gretchen Rubin. Unit III teacher Patty Dawson led the students to look at a ‘Happiness Declaration‘ and discussed the meaning of being happy and how you can do things to achieve even more happiness in life. The students were asked to choose three ‘tools’ for their toolboxes from the following options: what inspires them, making a resolution, finding a personal value, a to-do list, ‘secret of childhood’ (what they have learned so far) and ‘happiness hack’ (share a tip). The students will be working on a journal assignment for a week to write one sentence daily on what they are thankful for and a positive event in their lives.”
Next page Winter Program!
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Librarian Linda Wolfe hosted the Beginnings group of toddlers and parents in the Doherty Library with the help of Mrs. Claybourn’s second grade class. The students presented the book All Kinds of Kisses by Nancy Tafuri with stick puppets that they enjoyed handing out to small ones after the presentation. Unit I student Zanele IvanschitsCortes and her mother spoke to students about living in South Africa. Zanele and her mother shared photos and memories about people, animals, and the way of life in this beautiful part of the world.
On the afternoon of Dec. 6, 24 Unit III students ventured out to Rockquest Climbing Center with the Doherty Outdoor Program to go rock climbing. The students received instruction on the equipment, techniques, and the safety of rock climbing. Some students attempted to reach the top of their 40-foot walls, while others mastered the task of bouldering and were able to boulder over the top of their center rock wall. A wonderful time! To gear up for their unit on geometry and to celebrate the holidays, Amy Kulhavik’s first grade math students iced and decorated cones to look like Christmas trees. They enjoyed eating them, too! Kirby Schuchter’s first grade class is studying U.S. symbols and incorporating math and graphing into their Social Studies unit. They are making predictions on whether the students (if they stood shoulder to shoulder) would be longer, shorter or equal to the Statue of Liberty’s foot, which is 25 feet long. They tried it and then graphed their results. Her toes, themselves, are 59 inches long!
A Storybook Holiday Season!
Doherty’s 2012 all-school holiday musical program, “A Storybook Holiday Season,” was spectacular in sight and sound! Students in Pre-K through Unit III performed 26 songs! Bravo!
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