SEVEN HILLS The Buzz
A Brief Word from Chris Garten
April 5, 2011
Seven Hills is first in the state on OCTM!
One of the best traditions of progressive education is that schooling should have both personal relevance and a societal purpose. With that tradition in mind, Seven Hills seeks to provide a wide array of experiences that foster students’ awareness of the wider world.
(Front) Ian Grohsgal, Brian Hu, Jonathan Tiao, Izzy Arjmand; Alex Markovits.
Before the break, a lively International Dinner exposed students to the food and culture of a vast array of cultural traditions, Lotspeich students researched the homes of people around the world, Doherty celebrated Cultural Connections Week, and Middle School students enjoyed Global Education Day. Over break, while fifth graders from Doherty toured Williamsburg to explore the origins of our democracy, Upper School students travelled to France for an extended cultural exchange with host families from Marseilles. At the same time, another Upper School group travelled to Pike County, Kentucky, for an “alternative spring break.” Working alongside volunteers from Habitat for Humanity, they built a home for a deserving family. Heartfelt thanks to all of the teachers and parent volunteers whose efforts made possible these rich growth experiences for our students.
A team of five Seven Hills students took top honors in the state on the 2011 OCTM (Ohio Council of Teachers of Mathematics) competition. The Seven Hills team placed first in the state among schools the size of Seven Hills and 14th in the state among 98 schools of all sizes. Individually, Brian Hu tied for
eighth highest scorer in the state, and junior Isabel Arjmand tied for 20th highest scorer in the state. Other team members were juniors Ian Grohsgal, Alex Markovits, and Jonathan Tiao. These five students qualified for the Ohio High School Mathematics Invitational Olympiad at Capital University.
Seven Hills celebrates International Dinner & Family Night Article and photos on pages 3-4
Chris Garten, Head of School
Youth in Politics forum April 9 Seven Hills is presenting the community forum, “Youth in Politics: Developing a Voice in Our Youth,” sponsored by SNAAP, on Saturday, April 9, from 11:30 am to 2:30 pm. For more information, go to the Youth in Politics announcement on our website or contact Felicia Bell at 513550-9692 or bellfa30@hotmail.com.
Go to S e v e n H i l l s S u m m e r for information and online registration for the Seven Hills Summer 2011 Program
Top honors on Regional Science Olympiad
Seven Hills students took top honors at the Cincinnati Regional Science Olympiad tournament March 5 at Raymond Walters College. The students competed in a series of 23 events which tested their knowledge of science skills, processes, and applications in a wide range of science disciplines including biology, chemistry, physics, technology, earth science, and mathematics. Congratulations to our medal winners: Peppar Cyr and Nathan Markiewitz, first in Anatomy and Physiology; Peppar Cyr, second in Remote Sensing; Bennett Barr and Izzy Arj-
Congratulations, Team Robinson! The Boys Fifth Grade “Team Robinson� basketball team finished the season as CYO League 59 champions and Bethany School Invitational champions, advanced to the quarterfinals of the CYO city tournament, and finished the season with an impressive 17-2 overall record. The Stingers were coached by Susan Robinson and Paul Gosiger. At right, team members were (front) Emil Balian, Max Routh, Sam Francis, and Charlie Karamanoukian; Sam Gosiger, Nicholas Bean, Tommy Robinson, and Tindar Cyr.
Note about printing the Buzz Some of our readers have expressed a desire to print the Buzz, as well as reading it online. It is easiest to print from the download of the Buzz that is found on the Seven Hills Publications or School News pages. Kathy Deubell, Editor page 2
mand, second in Disease Detectives; Justine Cefalu and Nathan Markiewitz, third in Sounds of Music; Stella Warner and Suhel Singh, third in Chemistry Lab; Suhel Singh and Thomas Carlino, fourth in Protein Modeling; Sarah Vorherr, fourth in Disease Detectives. Other members of the Seven Hills teams were Leah Yuan, Grace He, Michael Bain, Sebastian Hoar, Henry Head, Sara Johnson, Priyanka Parameswaran, Bob Seibel, Lindsay Seibel, Victoria Huang, and John Larkin.
Seven Hills’ International Dinner & Family Night
Seven Hills families came together March 11 to celebrate the rich cultural diversity of our school community at the Third Annual International Dinner and Family Night. Children enjoyed a wide variety of “edu-tainment” activities from different countries and cultures. Performers included the Seven Hills Jazz Band, Seven Hills Mandarin Chinese Students, Indian Dancers, Martial Arts demonstration by seventh grader Andrea Johnston, Seven Hills Aikidio Class demonstration, Irish Dancing by fourth grader Sophia Mulica, Chinese Musical Instuments, Bi-Okoto Dance and Drum, and Pamana Dance Troupe. Many thanks to the divisional Parent Association volunteers who made the event such a great success!
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More photos from the International Dinner & Family Night are at Quicklinks>Seven Hills Today>Photo of the Week. Global Education Day activities took place at Doherty, Lotspeich and Middle in March (Upper’s Global Awareness Day will take place in April). See the divisional pages in this Buzz.
We need your suppor t! Please help The Seven Hills Fund reach its goal! At this time of year, your support is crucial as we work toward our goal of $1.2M by the close of the fiscal year. We have currently raised $880,659 (through March 31), and we need your help over the coming weeks. Make your gift or pledge BEFORE JUNE 30, 2011, by going to www.7hills.org and clicking on Giving. Questions? Please contact Meridith Oberklein Spille ’95, Director of Annual Giving, at 513-527-1306 or meridith.spille@7hills.org. Your participation—at any level that is comfortable for you—benefits current and future students and is truly appreciated!
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A look at what’s happening at Upper School
See page 10 for Middle School, page 16 for Lotspeich, and page 21 for Doherty Congratulations to freshman Andrew Ligeralde, who was awarded a perfect score by the National Federation of Music Clubs on March 4 for his rendition of Sonata No. 20 in G Major by Beethoven and Valse Brillante by Glenda Austin. This is an annual event that is held at Xavier University and the Cheviot United Methodist Church. On March 13, Andrew also received a Gold Medal at the Auditions Festival, sponsored by the Ohio Music Teachers Association, at the University of Cincinnati. He played Valse Brillante by Glenda Austin. Seniors Emily Holloway and Sasha Lieberman were selected to participate in Cincinnati Children’s Hospital’s High School Science Student Symposium on March 10. Designed to stimulate outstanding science students’ interest in pursuing biomedical careers, the symposium gave students the opportunity to learn firsthand about the work of doctors, scientists and allied health professionals who are finding new treatments and cures for childhood diseases and improving the outcomes for children today. Mrs. Marrs said, “On March 7, four P&G engineers, invited by trustee Lourdes Blanco, herself a retired P&G engineer, talked with Upper School students interested in engineering about the working life of an engineer. Speakers were Lourdes Blanco, industrial engineer who also worked in information technology; Alex Blanco, mechanical engineer; Miguel Alemany, chemical engineer; Nick Foltz, chemical engineer; and Amy Staloch, chemical engineer. “They described their educations and careers, which include working in plants and operations, on research and development, developing new products and page 5
Members of the Ramsay Advisory prepared and served breakfast at Bethany House in late January: Lauren Gerhardt, Allie Baretta, Jasmine Cline-Bailey; Lawren Pieper, and Aditi Varshneya. supervising global markets. They highlighted the collaborative nature of an engineer’s worklife (“we work on teams”) and left the very appreciative students with a far better idea of what it means to major in engineering as well as what it means to work as an engineer.” Mrs. Dansereau’s sophomore chemistry classes had visitors from the Shepherd Chemical Company on March 16. “We coordinated this visit with our unit on gases. Shepherd Chemical produces a Mike Colton
key component used in the inflation process of car air bags. Greg Ramminger spoke about the local company and its products. Mike Colton from the Autoliv in Utah discussed how the chemicals are packaged to produce air bags for the auto industry. The representatives brought many props, and they also touched on auto safety.”
Mrs. Scarr said, “My CP Biology students have been researching the lives and contributions to the Biological Sciences of some famous scientists. They then prepared brochures/ pamphlets highlighting major accomplishments and interesting facts about them which they shared with each other and peer reviewed. Earlier in the year, the Anatomy & Physiology students researched and prepared pamphlets on topics of interest in nutrition and healthy living. We had been discussing healthy eating in class and they researched and looked at some of the current trends that have been hitting the general media like antioxidants, teas, supplements, superfruits, etc.”
Ninth graders in Mr. Wabler’s Ancient and Medieval Civilizations course researched and mapped important aspects of the Silk Road trade and the great Medieval travelers using Google Earth, as part of the new curricular unit Global Connections. The new unit was created with a Summer 2010 Curriculum Grant, supported by a generous grant, which gave teachers the opportunity “to design ambitious interdisciplinary projects which engage students in utilizing instructional technology to research global issues of political, economic or environmental concern.” More grants will be awarded this summer.
Chicken dissection in Anatomy & Physiology class.
Spring cleaning? The Resale Shop’s donations are very LOW right now, and our shop needs your contribution of saleable merchandise!
Mrs. Ford’s classes celebrated Linus Pauling’s 110th birthday! page 6
Members of Ms. Slater’s Directing class—Ari Kirsh, Luke Beckwith, John Lewis, Mia Perlman, Chase Atherton, Nathan Markiewitz—gave an outstanding workshop performance of A Rosen By Any Other Name by Israel Horowitz for the Middle School on March 17. The performance— a big hit with the audience— was followed by a Q&A session with the actors.
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Members of Mrs. Ford’s Environmental Science class collaborated with Mrs. Licata’s sixth grade science students to build nests and make eggs to replicate those of the birds that inhabit the Hillsdale Campus. Mrs. Ford described the project: “The goal of this project is to learn more about the common birds that live either on or near campus. Each ES student selected a bird to research from the sixth grade bird project. They learned about the bird’s appearance (male/female/juvenile), size, food, migration range, nest, and eggs from the bird observation database established by the sixth graders and posted on the Life Science 6 wiki. The ES students then gathered the materials needed to make a nest to mimic their bird’s nest type.
More photos next page
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“On March 14, the ES students partnered with one or two sixth graders to share information about the bird, build its nest, and make its eggs from clay. On March 16, the students placed their nests outdoors in an appropriate place for their bird species and photographed it. After spring break, we will retrieve the nests and examine any changes.” Will the birds move into the student-made nests? How will they react to the “eggs”? Stay tuned.
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A look at what’s happening at Middle School David Williams, father of seventh grader Matt and sixth grader Devin and CFO of Chemed, spoke to Mrs. Haskins’ Algebra 1A classes about the stock market and finances. He talked about financial literacy, investing in a company so it can expand and create jobs, supply and demand, profit and debt, and the importance of research and diversification when investing in the stock market. Mrs. Haskins said, “He was great and the kids were awesome. He explained the market so seventh graders could understand it.”
Mrs. Yancey’s Advisory enjoyed their community service at the Madisonville Child Care Center in February. “They played with and assisted in the two- and three-year-old class. They loved this experience!”
The Buzz apologizes to the Middle School cheerleaders for inadvertently omitting their sports report in our last issue. The following is the report from Coach Wendy Kirkwood.
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“The Middle School cheerleaders had a very successful season. This was the first Middle School cheerleading squad for the Stingers in several years. The squad included eighth graders Corie Kirkwood, Sophie Lewis, Liza Randman, Mollie Rouan, Sarah Kanter, Celeste Kearney and Samantha Wolf. The girls worked very hard and learned several sideline cheers, as well as a Hello Cheer and two half-time dance routines. They cheered for the boys and girls Middle School basketball teams, and everyone loved having their support and smiling faces on the sidelines. Many parents and family members stated that the girls added so much to the games. I would like to thank the girls for all of their hard work. They were all A-W-E-SOME AWESOME!”
Students in Mrs. Licata’s sixth grade science classes got hands-on experience in their study of the circulatory and respiratory systems when Dr. Jill Russell demonstrated the inner workings of the heart and lungs of a cow. In addition to being the ornithologist who is working with the sixth grade bird study program, along with Dr. Dave Russell, Jill Russell, Ph.D. is an assistant professor of biology at the College of Mount St. Joseph. Seventh graders in Mr. Huff’s Social Studies class are using the Boinx TV software to create TV newscasts on legal issues regarding technology and the law. Students gain a broader understanding of the applications of the U.S. Constitution today, and they develop their organizational, technical, creative, and critical thinking skills, as they collaborate with their team members.
Day 2 of Cincinnati Shakespeare Company actor/ teacher Billy Chace’s artist residency with Mrs. Maupin’s eighth grade English students.The students in her five classes are working over five full Mondays to adapt and assemble a representative piece from each of the five acts of Romeo and Juliet. Each class is responsible for adapting, performing, and staging its assigned act. The final work will be presented to the Middle School in late April. Bell 5 (Act III, Climax) is pictured. page 11
Middle’s Global Ed Day! March 11 was a great Global Ed Day at the Middle School! Parents and other guest presenters shared their cultures and expertise on global issues, and the day culminated with The Amazing Race’s international-themed team competitions. Photos from The Amazing Race are on the next page. Guest presenters included (above) alumna Cathryn Hilker, world-renowned conservationist and ambassador for the Cincinnati Zoo and for cheetahs. She was accompanied by two magnificent mountain lion cubs.
Parent and alumna Dotty Shaffer , M.D. of Full Spectrum Health Center demonstrated acupuncture on teacher Theresa Keller.
Above, parent Benjamin Pérez spoke about “Mayan Enigmas.” page 12
Brian Gill’s Cool Critters Outreach is always a big hit.
Glimpses of The Amazing Race
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Now, that’s talent! Middle School Talent Show! Middle Schoolers displayed a dazzling range of talent at their annual Talent Show the day before spring break.
More talent next page page 16 14
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A look at what’s happening at Lotspeich Mrs. Beckwith said, “Third graders have been studying Australian Aboriginal Dreamtime stories. These stories either explain the creation of something like ’How the emu got long legs’ or teach a lesson like ’Don’t be greedy.’ The children were asked to collaborate to come up with their own dreamtime stories and then illustrate them using the Aboriginal dot style painting.” Photos are on page 18. The kindergarteners’ annual Kids to Kids project, in which the students make, decorate, fill, publicize, and sell “pots of gold” to raise money for Heifer Project International, was a big success. With their proceeds, they were able to buy five goats for needy families in underdeveloped countries. Photos are on page 19.
Lotspeich celebrated Global Ed with a wonderful presentation on Korea by second grader Benjamin Yoo, who was joined by his parents.
Miss Braun said, “The first grade students visited the Cincinnati Art Museum where Ms. Knoop led them on an adventure to find artwork that represented realistic, abstract, and non-objective types of art. The students studied landscapes, genre, and still life paintings on their adventure. They enjoyed the trip and, when they returned to the classroom, were eager to discuss their favorite work of art.” Photos are on page 18.
Under the direction of Mrs. Wilson and Mr. White, the third graders put on a wonderful production of the musical A Tree in Tappen Wood. More photos are on page 17.
Go to the Lotspeich Corner on our website for many more photos and movies of Lotspeich events and activities. page 16
Students in grades one to five displayed their musical talent in recitals in March. Performers from the first and second grade recital are pictured.
A Tree in Tappen Wood
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Third graders and Australian Aboriginal dreamtime stories
First graders explore the Cincinnati Art Museum
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The kindergarteners had another successful Kids to Kids project, benefiting the Heifer Project International!
Fourth graders enjoy their visits to Rex Ralph Center in Mt. Healthy, where they play with the children served by the center.
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Fourth graders explored simple machines at Green Acres.
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A look at what’s happening at Doherty The prekindergarteners took a wonderful airplane trip to and from Australia as part of their celebration of Cultural Connections Week. More photos are on page 22. Many more photos are at Doherty Corner.
As part of Doherty’s yearlong study of Australia, Unit I students played an online game from ABC kids/Australia. The “Wellie Throwing” game involved science and math skills. Students had to judge the trajectory of a boot that was flung and then their scores were added, with the distance measured in “metres.”
Mrs. MacKenzie said, “The children created paper platypus sculptures in celebration of their Australian studies during Doherty Cultural Connections Week.” Unit II was delighted by a performance of Opera in a Box, a Cincinnati Opera Outreach Program. Photos are on page 25. The Doherty fifth grade Girl Scouts created a special art piece for their friend Reagan, whose cousin Liz has a terminal illness. Liz’s art piece, which was filled with her hobbies, activities, and favorite tings, was created for her to enjoy from her hospital bed. The art piece was greatly appreciated by Liz and her family. Cultural Connections Week culminated for fifth graders with their outstanding production of Treasure Island, under the direction of Mrs. Eynon and Mr. White. More photos are on page 24.
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As part of the new curricular unit, Design Your Own Country, second graders created an original country—the island of Waka Waka—and introduced it to their parents in a special presentation. The students sang the country’s national anthem and described in detail Waka Waka’s location, geography, government, transportation, natural resources, educational system, efforts to be “green,” and national holidays, which included Friendship Day, Hope Day (helping the planet’s environment), Kids’ Day, Giving Day, Ocean Day, Teachers’ Day, and the holiday celebrating the day Waka Waka became a country.
Prekindergarteners’ flight to Australia!
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Librarian Mrs. Wolfe said, “In preparation for our visiting author, Floyd Cooper, who is coming in April, the Doherty Library used On Mardi Gras Day (illustrated by Floyd Cooper)
to learn more about that famous New Orleans celebration. Everyone from PK through the fifth grade had a great time learning about and preparing for the celebration!”
Mrs. Wolfe continued, “My fourth grade group spent the week comparing and contrasting time, weather and activities in Australian cities with that of Cincinnati. At right, each student authored his/her own book based on Mirror by award-winning Australian author and illustrator Jeannie Baker. The artistry and organization demonstrated by each student was amazing.”
Mrs. Burton said, “The Doherty Outdoor Program has been busy. Forty-three fourth and fifth grade students took one last opportunity to enjoy the winter activities at Perfect North and went tubing. Then, last week 24 students from Unit III went rock climbing out at Rockquest Climbing center. The students received instruction on climbing equipment and techniques, and they enjoyed a couple of hours climbing.” page 23
Fifth graders’ dazzling production of Treasure Island
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Cincinnati Opera Outreach presents Opera in a Box!
A big thank you to Unit II student Eli Dauer’s parents, Jennifer and Eric Dauer, who generously sponsored a wonderful program, Opera in a Box. It was a great introduction to opera
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for many of our Unit II students. Eli’s grandparents Jackie Mack and Ted Silberstein also attended the performance at Doherty. A wonderful time was have by all! Pictures tell the story.