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UPPER SCHOOL PERSONAL CHALLENGE PROJECTS Four Stories of Discovery
Designing a Softball Field Drainage System Class of 2023
Graduate JULIA TAMAI
Project Descriptio n: Julia designed a drainage system for the Seven Hills softball field.
Project Process: Julia noticed that even on days when it did not rain, the softball field was unplayable because it did not well in the outfield and behind home plate to catch runoff from the infield. She built two demos to test her design. The first was a dirt permeability test to see how water permeated the dirt to determine proper drain placement. The second was a demo of the French drain-dry well in boxes filled with soil, which confirmed the effectiveness of the drain system. team and became interested in the topic of her project after 11 games were canceled during the 2021-22 season because of rain. Once the rain finally stopped, Julia and the softball team went on a nine-game win streak.
Creating a
Guidebook for Students
Coming to Seven Hills from Overseas Class of 2023 Graduate
OLIVIA POHL
Project Description: Olivia created a guidebook for students coming to Seven Hills from outside the country.
drain. She got the idea for a drainage system and talked it over with Upper School physics teacher Lenore Horner and structural engineers from Schaefer Engineering. She studied topography and utility maps of the field to see if a drainage system was feasible and could be added safely. Using multiple sources, Julia researched different drainage options, such as French drains, dry wells, water gardens, and crowning the field. She landed on a combination of crowning the infield, to create a gentle slope to aid water runoff, and a French drain-dry
Julia: “The most challenging part was making the French drain-dry well demo. I had to go through three iterations to obtain the results that I wanted. In my first iteration, I just used potting soil, which I found out does not absorb water, which resulted in both the demos floating. The next dirt that I tried was top soil, which worked a lot better since it actually absorbs water.”
Quick Fact: Julia was a member of the varsity softball
Project Process: Olivia created a guidebook for students coming to Seven Hills from other countries based on her own experience transitioning to the school after living in China. To continue her Chinese language education outside the classroom, she decided to translate the book into Chinese. Olivia interviewed several students who came to Seven Hills after living in a different country and used information and tips she learned from them for the basis of her guidebook. Many of the Chinese vocabulary words Olivia needed for the translation were outside of the common words she had learned in her study of
Chinese in the classroom. She worked with Upper School Chinese teacher Nanyue Zhu to proofread the book. Olivia combined her
Chinese language skills, graphic design, research, and writing to create something she hopes can help the Seven Hills community for years to come.
Olivia: “I enjoyed learning about other students’ experiences and how they differed from mine. It was interesting to see how one place could have so many different effects on students and how they dealt with the different issues they experienced.”
Quick Fact: Olivia came to Seven Hills after living in China for six years and chose to translate the book into Chinese because of the rising number of Seven Hills students coming from China.
Animating a Web Series Trailer Class of 2023 Graduate SKY STEINM AN
Project Description: Always willing to push creative limits, Sky used the Personal Challenge to learn the basics of animation and how to design a movie trailer.
Project Process: Sky began the challenge project during freshman year, and began crafting the story's narrative and heart. Going into sophomore year, Sky quickly realized the incredible amount of work required to produce a completed trailer, usually helmed by a production company, where this was a solo project. Sky scaled down the project to accommodate the timeline and transitioned toward character design and proof of concept to share with the project defense panel.
Sky: “I’ve always leaned toward the arts as a kid and love learning more about movement dynamics and how to design humanoid figures. I’m still in the process of completing the trailer. I will continue working on it even after my project is officially completed because it’s part of my larger goal and dream of being an animator.” continued on page 40
