SEVEN HILLS ON THE GO! International and Stateside

After being put on hiatus because of the COVID-19 pandemic and travel restrictions, the world language department’s trips abroad returned this year. During the week of May Terms, from May 22-26, Seven Hills Upper School students traveled to Italy, France, and Spain.

World Language Department Chair Teresa Bardon said the trips are part of teaching Seven Hills students about the world so they can truly become global citizens.

more tolerant and more compassionate toward people who are different, toward people who have other points of view,” Bardon said.

Bardon and fellow Upper School Spanish teacher Kathryn Rosenberg accompanied the Upper School Spanish students’ trip to Spain. They toured the famous bullfighting ring Las Ventas, where they learned about the history of bullfighting and tried it for themselves using a virtual reality system.

In Criptana, the students visited the windmills that are featured in Cervantes’ “Don Quijote.” They visited Toledo, the capital of Castilla-La Mancha and learned about the blending of Christian, Jewish, and Arabic cultures throughout Spanish history. They also visited the geographic center of Spain and the Palacio Real, the largest royal palace in Europe.

The Upper School Latin students went to Italy with Latin and history teachers Katie Swinford, Marcie Handler, and Brian Wabler. They explored ruins, museums, and cultural sites, including Pompeii, Mt. Vesuvius, Herculaneum houses, the Capitoline Museums, and the Colosseum, which they have been learning about throughout their time in the Middle and Upper Schools.

Each student prepared a presentation on a monument, and they presented them onsite.

“Our students were thrilled to be able to walk in the footsteps of ancient Romans as we toured ancient cities, temples, houses, public fora, and gardens,” Handler said.

The students also visited a local dairy to see buffaloes and learn how mozzarella is made. In Rome, they explored the city, took a pizza cooking class, and visited a neighborhood that dates back to the earliest days of Rome.

“At its core, the Italy trip brings to life both the Latin language and ancient Rome for our students,” Handler said.

The Upper School French students and teachers Meghan Stevens, Jacky Kalubi, and Françoise Galopin reunited with their French exchange counterparts from La Croix Blanche in Bondues, France. In October, the French students spent a week in Cincinnati and at Seven Hills. The Seven Hills students stayed with their host families and attended school with their exchange students.

“This trip is so important because it gives our students an opportunity to do more than see the sites, as anyone could do. Thanks to the exchange component, our students live and breathe the topics they have been studying and have the opportunity to apply all of the language skills they have spent three or more years acquiring. It is both a great culmination to all they have done and motivation for further study,” Stevens said.

They went on an excursion to Ghent, where they visited the Castle of the Counts and went on a historical boat ride. After saying goodbye to their host families, the students spent the last leg of the trip in Paris, where they visited the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, and the Arc de

Triomphe. They also spent a day at Versailles, touring the palace and its grounds.

Also during May Terms, the Gullah Geechee Cultural Immersion Trip took students to South Carolina to learn about the history and cultural impact of the Gullah Geechee people. Led by Upper School teachers Amaris White and Kyla Morgan Young, the students visited the Avery Research Center and received a crabbing lesson from a Gullah native in Charleston.

They toured the McLeod Plantation to learn about plantation life from an enslaved perspective and Sol Legare Island to learn about Gullah culture, food, and the art of basket weaving.

“Our students were so fortunate that locals from the historically Gullah community of Sol Legare joined us for a traditional meal of Frogmore Stew. It was truly such an amazing experience,” White said.

In May, seventh graders journeyed to Washington, D.C. for an incredibly in-depth look at our nation's capital Students visited countless monuments and memorials, discussing the history and meaning behind each one. Students met with Director of the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History Kirk Johnson and Congressman Greg Landsman, discussing the nature of museum curation and what it means to work as a representative. The new

Greenfield Village. As they explored museums, fifth grade teachers Danielle Levine and Laura OGrady's students studied their exhibits to better answer the essential question of their final social studies unit, "How can we design an interactive museum exhibit to teach others about the expansion of liberty and justice in America?"

Students collected stories about how different people and groups worked to secure rights and freedoms. They were also tasked with examining exhibits through the eye of annual tradition enables students to gain a stronger understanding of America's history and how they can shape its future.

In May, during the annual trip to Dearborn, Michigan, Lotspeich fifth graders toured the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, the Arab American National Museum, and The Henry Ford Museum and a museum curator, critically analyzing ways that museums can effectively and engagingly share information.

In April, Unit III students from Doherty took part in the annual trip to Glen Helen Nature Preserve in Yellow Springs, Ohio, where they spent three days and two nights. The students investigated the 1,000 acre preserve with naturalists, whom teachers Bill Schmidt, Katey Parks-Goad, and Robin Taylor-Fabe worked with beforehand to tailor their curriculum for the trip. There were themed hikes, animal encounters at the on-site raptor center, outdoor games, and songs and skits by the campfire.

BOOKS FOR LUNCH AUTHOR MIN JIN LEE TRAVERSES GENERATIONS AND NUANCED ISSUES THROUGH HER CHARACTERS. THE AUTHOR AND PROFESSOR SHARED COMPELLING STORIES WITH STUDENTS, PARENTS, AND COMMUNITY MEMBERS WHO ATTENDED SEVERAL BOOKS FOR LUNCH EVENTS IN FEBRUARY ABOUT HER MYRIAD EXPERIENCES AND INCREDIBLE RESEARCH AND INSIGHT INTO THE HUMAN CONDITION. LEE’S LATEST BOOK IS “PACHINKO,” NOW A BLOCKBUSTER SERIES ON APPLE TV.

Lee began her Seven Hills adventure by sharing personal stories about her writing process for “Pachinko” and her teaching style for undergraduate students during a private dinner party at the home of Seven Hills parents Reena and Yash Patil on Feb. 2.

“Refugees are not an abstraction. I am the child of a refugee, and I am here. I am here today in Cincinnati, Ohio, because America allowed me to have sufficient peace to read and to write books. Through literature, we cross borders, and we become united with the selves that we did not know we could be and reunited with the selves that we had lost. And I believe that this is how you and I can approach peace with our arms held wide open, our hands carrying cans of orange juice and bananas to welcome children into our lives. I want to thank you for considering this as we live in an era in which there is so much violence, and I really hope that each of us will fight for one thing and that we'll fight for peace,” Lee said during her assembly at The Schiff Center.

Lee then shared a presentation with members of the school community during a luncheon at The Summit Hotel in Madisonville.

and empathy by loving others and caring for them throughout our lives,” Lee said.

Books for Lunch is now in its 36th year. Thank you to our event co-chairs Amber Hassan and Nupur Anand and committee members Laura Leigh Hahn, Sandhya Shenai, Michelle Setzer, Amy Wall, Missy Schade, and Lalitha Chunduri for organizing this wonderful event!

Dozens of Seven Hills and Cincinnati community members listened enraptured as Lee wove life lessons and the importance of fiction together.

The next day, Lee spoke to Upper School students during a special assembly at The Schiff Center and casual discussion in the Young Family Library about the necessity for research, the importance of speaking up, the value of understanding their identities, and the necessity for peace.

Head of School Chris Garten introduced Lee to an eager and waiting audience. Lee shared her life journey with the audience and how it inspired her book “Free Food for Millionaires,” along with the arduous road she traveled to grapple with the complex and nuanced history her characters embody in her novel “Pachinko.”

“I’m going to tell you what your super power is, what all of our super power is, and that is to love. We grow our ability