SEVEN HILLS
December 15, 2011
The Buzz
A Brief Word from Chris Garten
Seven Hills to host regional Roundtable on Innovation in the Classroom
On Wednesday morning, I spent some time attending the fourth grade’s Medieval Feast at Lotspeich. It is difficult to convey adequately the level of excitement felt by students who experienced a glimpse of medieval life in this rich simulation.
Seven Hills will host “New Directions in Assessment: A Roundtable on Innovation in the Classroom,” sponsored by Independent Curriculum Group, on January 11 from 9:00am to 3:00pm. New Directions in Assessment will draw on ICG’s National Assessment Project, in which schools across the nation are examining classroom assessments that touch on critical inquiry, creative problem solving, oral communication, and collaboration. Five such Roundtables will take place across the country, and Seven Hills is hosting the Roundtable for Midwestern independent schools.
Served by parent volunteers (very good sports!) in period costumes and regaled by their teachers, students also heard from a visiting expert, dressed as Chaucer’s Wife of Bath, who answered many of their questions about the nuances of medieval life. Learning in this experiential way fosters one the principal goals of our history and social studies curriculum, helping students to develop an empathetic understanding of lives, past and present, so very different from their own. And, it was a lot of fun! I will hope to see many of you at a host of other events this week. All the best to you and to your families in the holiday season! Chris Garten, Head of School
From its website: “Independent Curriculum Group is a
national organization of schools dedicated to promoting student-centered, future-ready education that is studentcentered not test-centered. ICG schools are guided by research about how students learn, and by an ongoing effort to align practice and theory more fully. ICG schools create learning that is authentic and connected to the world. ICG schools put students at the center of the education process by providing opportunities for them to initiate, analyze, manage, create, and collaborate. ICG schools place particular emphasis on the development of middle school and high school courses that maintain the spirit of lifelong learning so often begun in the elementary grades.”
Senior Linnea Head is recipient of 2012 YMCA Character Award Congratulations to senior Linnea Head, one of 40 area teens who are recipients of 2012 YMCA Character Awards for demonstrating outstanding qualities of leadership and character and for working to strengthen their schools and communities. The teens will be honored at the 15th Annual YMCA Character Awards on April 17. Susan Marrs, Director of Studies for Grades 6–12, Assistant Head of School, and Director of College Counseling, wrote in her nomination of Linnea, in part, “Linnea is a rare young woman. In fact, I don’t know that I’ve ever encountered a student more happily, warmly, whole-heartedly and infectiously involved in making her world a better place. Her
influence on the community of this school is already legendary, but her energies extend far beyond our walls—to abused women and children in Cincinnati, to cancer patients in any number of communities, even to villages in Africa. In large ways and small, Linnea lives her wonderful values every day, and she inspires others to do the same. Continued next page
Inside this Buzz Upper School News
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Middle School News
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Lotspeich News
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Doherty News
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