Seven Hills Buzz for April 4, 2013

SEVEN HILLS

April 4, 2013

The Buzz

A Brief Word from Chris Garten

Spring break offers world-broadening experiences

Over Spring Break two Upper School groups embarked on excursions that, to my mind, express, in different ways, the unique spirit of this community.

Seven Hills in France

First, 25 French students travelled via Paris to our sister school in Marseilles as part of our biannual exchange program. They lived with host families, attended classes, toured the city and the breathtaking coastline, and immersed themselves in the language and culture of a truly diverse city. Friendships were kindled, romances bloomed, and, most importantly, horizons were broadened.

This Sunday, we will welcome our new friends from the Lycée Paul Mélizan for their return visit, a twoweek visit that will include hosting them at Prom!

At the same time, seven freshmen devoted the first week of break to a school-sponsored service trip to Shawnee State Park. Students built new hiking trails, visited a working farm and a nature conservancy center, and volunteered at a homeless shelter, an afterschool program, and a community church. Two very different experiences with one concerted goal: to broaden students’ understanding of the wider world beyond these walls!

Chris Garten, Head of School

Over spring break, many Upper School students had world-broadening experiences in France and closer to home in Scioto and Adams Counties. As reported in Chris Garten’s column (at left), 25 French students and teachers Wynne Curry and Ann Griep had a wonderful experience attending Lycée Paul Mélizan and living with host families in Marseilles, France, as well as visiting beautiful, historic sites.

As noted in Chris Garten’s article, seven freshmen gave up a week of their spring break to commit themselves to community service and environmental educa-

Parents, join us Apr. 18 for Languge Therapist Nancy Fluharty on “Languge & Literacy for Life” The last event this school year in Seven Hills’ Creating Conversations Speaker Series will feature “Building Blocks: Language & Literacy for Life,” presented by an expert panel including Speech & Language Therapist Nancy Fluharty and Seven Hills Early Childhood counselors and educators. The program will be held Thursday, Apr. 18, at 4:00 pm in the Doherty Library.

To RSVP, visit www.7hills.org/creatingconversations or call Guidance Counselor Judy Arnold at 513.728.2363.

tion in Scioto and Adams Counties.

Photos from the service trip are on page 3.

State Championship in Latin for Level 1 Certamen team and more on page 2.

Robotics class for grades 3–5 coming to After the Bell enrichment program. Info on page 8.

Inside this Buzz Upper School News

Latin, Math, & Tech honors Middle School News

Lotspeich News

Doherty News

Robotics class coming to After the Bell

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A look at what’s happening at Upper School

See page 4 for Middle School, page 6 for Lotspeich & page 8 for Doherty Ohio High School Math Invitational Olympiad At the Ohio High School Mathematics Invitational Olympiad (OHMIO) on Mar. 30, junior Brian Hu placed third in the individual competition and 10th in the individual ciphering competition, and he was a member of the second place team in the team pressure round. Brian placed seventh overall. The OHMIO competition was created to give recognition to the students in Ohio who enjoy and excel in mathematics. The Olympiad involves students who ranked in the top 124 on the OCTM Competition or are from the top team in each of the five school divisions.

TechOlympics Expo 2013 At TechOlympics Expo 2013, Feb. 22–24 at the Millennium Hotel, Seven Hills had two students participate—freshmen Mehul Patel and James Coyle—and three students—seniors Evan Werner and Anu Vora and junior Gregory Sun—serve on the INTERalliance Leadership Council, involved in running the event.

Presented by the INTERalliance of Greater Cincinnati and The Kroger Company, TechOlympics is a collaborative effort of Greater Cincinnati regional businesses and educators interested in exposing local high school students to college and career opportunities in high technology fields.

Seven Hills finished in 13th place out of some 30 schools, using only the scoring of Mehul Patel and James Coyle. Team Coach Brian Arnold said, “Seven Hills’ attendees found TechOlympics to be a very valuable experience, and they look forward to returning next year with a larger Seven Hills team.”

Gregory Sun, James Coyle, and Mehul Patel. Not pictured: Evan Werner and Anu Vora.

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Ohio Junior Classical League State Convention Thanks to Latin teacher Brian Sebastian for this report.

Here are some of the (many) highlights from this year’s Ohio Junior Classical League State Convention (Mar. 8–10) in Columbus in which 710 students from 28 schools participated.

Our club finished second in Academic Per Capita (academic points divided by number of students). We also finish second in APC in 2010, so we tied for our best such finish in 15 years. Only three schools had more academic points than we did, and each of them had at least 13 more students than we did.

Our club finished fourth in Overall Sweepstakes, which is total points from academic tests, creative arts, graphic arts, and club projects—everything, regardless of club size. This was our best finish in my tenure of 13 years. The schools who finished ahead of us had many more students. Our group was relatively small but definitely mighty.

The Level 1 Certamen team won the State Championship! Team members were eighth graders Jack Lane, Matisse Peppet, Noelle O’Neal, and Piper Spooner.

This was our second Certamen state title. I now have to keep a promise that I have been making to my state Certamen teams for several years that if any of them won state, they would get to dunk me in Gatorade.

[Watch for this not-to-be-missed event in a future Buzz.]

Every Seven Hills student who attended earned at least one Top 10 ribbon. This is only the second time in 13 years this has happened.

Senior Claire Romaine came in second in the state in Overall Sweepstakes (total points earned)—second out of 710! She was second in Academic Sweepstakes and

first in Creative Arts Sweepstakes. As Best In Show for Latin Recitation, she performed her Latin Recitation at the last General Assembly. Let me tell you, it took my breath away. I’ve judged that category before, and I’ve never seen anything like it. She placed at least fourth in 12 of the 13 tests/contests that she entered (she placed sixth in the other).

Claire turned in the best individual performance at Latin Convention in school history.

Speaking of Best In Show, before this year we had never had a Best In Show in any category; this year we had two. Claire earned Best In Show for Latin Recitation and Abby Schneider earned Best In Show for Dramatic Interpretation (a particularly impressive feat considering she is in eighth grade and was being judged against all students, grades 7–12).

Our top individual performers were senior Claire Romaine—110 points (by comparison, one independent school totaled 119 points with 10 students’ scores; another totaled 126 with 14 students’ scores); eighth grader Shane DiGiovanna—61; senior Chris Baggott—54; eighth grader Matisse Peppet—53; senior Anne Stuart Bell—49; ninth grader Tigar Cyr—41; eighth grader Piper Spooner—41.

Jack Lane, Piper Spooner, Noelle O’Neal, Matisse Peppet, and Brian Sebastian.

Dr. Lenore Horner’s AP Physics B and Physics Honors students were given the assignment of working with a partner or alone “to build a musical instrument on which at least one of them could play a 1-octave major scale. This instrument had to be a wind instrument (lip reed like trumpet, single reed like saxophone, double reed like oboe, air reed like flute) or a string instrument (fretted or unfretted; bowed or plucked or struck). Students could use commercial reeds or strings intended for musical instruments but not commercial mouthpieces or bows or electricity in any form to make their instrument play. At least one student on the team had to be able to play the instrument.” The results were amazing!

Barbara Scarr told us, “My ninth grade CP Biology students extracted DNA from strawberries, then made DNA models using beads. They got carried away and joined their DNA molecules together.”

On the ninth grade service trip over spring break, one of the projects was installing bird boxes equipped with a camera monitoring system.

The trip also included excursions to a working farm and the nearby Eulett Nature Conservancy Center.

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For the latest Upper School news, go to http://7hillscanvass.org/.

A look at what’s happening at Middle School Global Ed Day at Middle

Global Ed Day on Mar. 8 was filled with engaging, fun Amazing Race activities in the afternoon and the following presentations in the morning. Special thanks to all of our presenters for sharing their expertise!

Learning in a Third World Country Dr. Frank Wray China’s First Emperor and His Terra Cotta Army Ryan Meyer, UC International Program Come Scrum Sue Bone Food from Around the World Elissa Donovan Exploring Wildlife & Their Adaptations Naturalist from Hamilton County Parks How Can We Responsibly Power the Future?

Ron DeLyons Ubuntu! It’s Not Just An Operating System. Or Is It? Ann Dinan Concrete Canoes & High Wind/Earthquake Design Mindy Moser Barber Madagascar Exploration: From the Tops of the Rainforest Canopy to Vanilla Orchids Jeff Peppet Cool Critters Outreach Brian Gill Sweden: A Country Full of Bearded Vikings Who Drive Volvos? Lars Mattgard

Congratulations to eighth grade Latin students Jack Lane, Matisse Peppet, Noelle O’Neal, and Piper Spooner, members of the Level 1 Certamen team who won the State Championship at the Ohio Junior Classical League State Convention! See page 2 for photo and more Latin honors. page 4

Get A Taste of Israel Chaverim M’Israel/Friends From Israel Kids’ Festivals in Japan Japanese America Society of Greater Cincinnati Acupuncture: East Meets West Dotty Shaffer, M.D. Tie Dye Around the World & Through the Ages Victoria Carroll Slash & Char as Alternative to Slash & Burn Ken Revell Reporting from Guatemala Jenny Wohlfarth

Middle School Talent Show!

Seven Hills swimmers and coach at state

Just a small sample of the awesome performers showcased at the Middle School Talent Show!

Marine biology trip to the Florida Keys

Thirty-two Middle School students and four faculty members traveled Feb. 14–18 to the Newfound Harbor Marine Biology Institute on Big Pine Key in the Florida Keys. Over the course of the trip, students snorkeled near coral heads, swam with nurse sharks, kayaked near mangrove islands, dissected algae to discover the biodiversity of life living within the algae, and learned about near-shore ecology. Students also visited The Turtle Hospital to learn about various species of sea turtles and what is being done to help them survive after being injured by boats, fish nets, water pollution, etc.

Students were able to meet some of the patients of the hospital. It was an amazing experience for everyone involved!

At left, fish dissection. page 5

Middle’s Intramural Badminton Tournament had 64 participants this year with eighth grader Tyler Zmich taking second place and seventh grader Sam Gosiger winning the championship.

Congratulations! At right, Tyler and Sam with teacher Roger Schnirring.

Congratulations and best wishes to eighth grader Shane DiGiovanna, who is one of the semifinalists eligible to compete in the 2013 Ohio National Geography Bee April 5 at Grandview Heights High School.

A look at what’s happening at Lotspeich Congratulations to fifth graders Ethan Rising (right), winner of the Lotspeich Spelling Bee, and Jack Rauh, who was runner-up.

Pi Day on March 14 (3.14) is a much-anticipated event for the fifth graders! Pi Day is filled with both pi and pie activities, including solving math problems involving circumference and area of Moon Pies, pizza pies and homemade pies; competing to see who could write the most digits of pi from memory; and performing pi skits and songs. Everyone enjoys the pie-ing and creating a Pi sign!

As part of the first graders’ yearlong study of nutrition, focusing on the Five Food Groups, they tasted a variety of dairy products.

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Rohan Patel won the Gold Medal for memorizing an all-time high of 410 digits, and he pied Sunbal Javaid. Shiv Malhotra won the Silver Medal with 155 digits of pi, and he pied Drew Logan. Andrea Stancescu won the Bronze Medal with 148 digits of pi, and she pied Eric Gerhardt.

Rohan Patel, Shiv Malhotra, and Andrea Stancescu.

Thank you to the parents who volunteered to be pied by the winners!

The Lotspeich kindergarteners’ annual Kids to Kids project, in which the students make, decorate, publicize, and sell “pots of gold” (Rolo candy) to raise money for Heifer Project International, was a big success!

Teacher Karen Martin said, “Thanks to the generous donation of Rolo candies and the students’ hard work, we raised over $550, enabling us to purchase four goats and two hives of bees for needy families around the world. The goats will provide nourishment and income for families,helping them to afford education, clothing, and other essentials.”

Just a few of the talented first and second grade performers at the Instrumental Recital on Mar. 11.

Lotspeich and Doherty skiers had a great winter season at Perfect North Slopes!

Robotics class for grades 3–5 coming to After the Bell enrichment program.

Info on page 8.

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A look at what’s happening at Doherty

Unit I held its annual recital on Mar. 7 for students who take lessons outside of school and wanted to share their talents with their classmates. Congratlulations to all of the performers!

Robotics class coming to After the Bell The After the Bell enrichment program will offer a Robotics class for students in grades 3–5 on Thursdays 4:00–5:00 PM on the Doherty Campus on April 11, 18, 25; May 2, 9, 16, 23 (parent demonstration on 23rd 5:00–6:00 PM).

The After the Bell Robotics class will be taught by Dr. Mike Richardson, a U.C. professor and creator of computer programs for robots. Students will learn how to build and program a robot. They will learn basics of robotics, including how to use battery-powered microcontrollers and other electronics components to design, build, and program various types of robotic systems and toys. Best of all, the students get to keep what they build! Cost of the class is $200.

To register or for more information, contact Julie Brackett at 513.728.2336 or julie.brackett@7hills.org. page 8

Unit I teacher Anne Vanoy said, “Carroll Wallace, a former Doherty student and 2004 Seven Hills graduate, has worked for over three years in Paraguay with the Peace Corps.

She visited her old first grade classroom and shared her South American experiences with the present first graders. They learned about foods, like tropical fruits and the starchy mandioca. They learned what school is like where Ms. Wallace has been teaching. Their favorite things were learning about the children of the school and dancing traditional dances.”

The Everybody Counts disability awareness program, which took place at Doherty Feb. 19–21, included parent presentations in Units I and II classrooms; speakers Jan Danner with her guide dog in Unit I and Charles McDonald in Unit II; Starfire U presentations in Unit III classrooms and lunch with Unit III students; and a Special Olympics assembly for K–5 presented by Seven Hills eighth grader Micah Bachrach and his partner athlete. Unit I focused on visual impairment, Unit II learned about motor and orthopedic impairment, and Unit III learned about developmental disabilities.

Eighth grader Micah Bachrach and his Special Olympics partner athlete.

We are grateful to the event’s organizers—Terry Betts, Dorothy Corbett, and Blair Barter—our special guests, and all of our parent volunteers who made Everybody Counts such a meaningful experience for our students.

More photos next page

Ever ybody Counts

continued from page 8

Cultural Connections Week celebrates France with special visitors, activities, cuisine, arts, & more!

All of Cultural Connection’s Pre-K–5 events and activities would fill many pages in the Buzz!

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Pre-K flight to France!

Outstanding fifth grade production of Joust!

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