Seven Hills Buzz for April 6, 2012

SEVEN HILLS

April 6, 2012

The Buzz

A Brief Word from Chris Garten

Students earn top honors on Ohio High School Mathematics Olympiad

One of the special joys of Seven Hills is the opportunities we provide for our students to learn through direct experience. Over the past several weeks, dozens of students availed themselves of these opportunities.

Congratulations to sophomore Brian Hu (at far right) and senior Suhel Singh for their high honors on the Ohio High School Mathematics Invitational Olympiad (OHMIO)! Teacher Dr. Lenore Horner said, “The OHMIO is a strictly invitational competition: students must either have ranked in the top 100 in the state on the OCTM or been on the top OCTM team in one of the divisions.

Fifth graders from Doherty participated in the annual excursion to Williamsburg, an experience which enriches immeasurably their study of the origins of freedom in our nation.

Over the long weekend in February, 30 Middle Schoolers travelled to Newfound Harbor to explore the wetland habitats of the Florida Keys.

A group of high school language students spent two weeks in Spain, reciprocating the fall visit to Cincinnati by students from our sister school in Burgos.

Meanwhile, ten upperclassmen participated in an “alternative spring break,” working alongside Habitat for Humanity on a construction project and then interfacing with naturalists in Scioto County.

Finally, our varsity baseball team got a jumpstart on their season, playing a robust schedule of pre-season games against strong teams from schools from Pennsylvania and Washington DC (and winning all of them!).

How fortunate we are to be able to provide these opportunities for growth through “real-life” experience.

Chris Garten Head of School

“Brian and Suhel were eligible and spent Mar. 24 taking a timed individual test, the ciphering test (another individual competition but each problem is timed and no calculators are allowed), and a team competition with students randomly selected from the invitees to the competition.

“Brian earned 15th place in Ciphering and 9th place on the individual test.

Suhel earned 15th place in Ciphering and 3rd place in the Team/Pressure Round.”

Ten Upper students spend spring break with Habitat for Humanity Others participate in Spanish Exchange Program Upper School students headed in many different directions over spring break, including a foreign study and travel program to Spain and a community service trip to Scioto County, Ohio.

Ten students and their chaperones spent part of their break making a difference in a Scioto County community. From March 19–23, on Upper’s second community service spring break trip in two years, the team of students and faculty volunteered with Scioto County Area Habitat for Humanity, located approximately two hours away. Student participants were Adeline Sawyer, Sebastian Hoar, Kerry Hoar, Bob Seibel, Luis Visoso, Margaret Cummins, Alex Smithers, Erik Smail, Ned Dawson, Jeff Maggio, with assistance from Upper Head Nick Francis; and chaperones were teachers Linda Ford and David Brott.

Linda Ford said, “The kids finished the total insulation of the house and 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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Our spring calendar at Seven Hills is filled with special events and arts performances. Please check the school calendar on our website for dates and times. See you there!

A look at what’s happening at Upper School

See page 3 for Middle School, page 5 for Lotspeich, and page 8 for Doherty Congratulations to Stingers (from left) Hillary Goldsmith, Lauren Weems,and Claire Duncan, who earned All-District First Team honors. They are pictured at the district ceremony at St. Bernard High on March 21.

Congratulations to all the talented perfomers and crew who made Upper’s Talent Show such a success, including junior emcees (above) Henry Head and John Larkin and (left) senior Broti Gupta.

For the latest Upper School news, check out the online student publication, Canvass, at http://7hillscanvass.org/. page 2

Habitat for Humanity

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helped to build the frame of the front porch.

They also helped with some soffit under the roof line.” Their efforts in the area included creating rock paths in a new trail near a creek. The students also had the opportunity to experience farm life first-hand, thanks to the hospitality of a local family.

The experience included a visit to the Eulett Center in Adams County. Mrs. Ford continued, “We met two great naturalists who gave us some background on the Edge of Appalachia Preserve System, then took us to a wonderful lab to show us specimens and to tell us their significance. Very impressive! The students were full of curiosity and questions.

Then we went outside for a walkabout, talking about the special plants of the area and looking for snakes under roof tins placed on the ground. We found two terrific black racer snakes and a fine-looking garter snake.

“It was a wonderful trip made very special by the ten terrific students who were game for anything and conducted themselves with such maturity. The night desk fellow at the lodge told David and me that they were the most well-behaved group of teens he had ever witnessed at the park!”

Spanish Exchange Program

The latest in Seven Hills’ foreign study opportunities took 23 Upper students to Spain over spring break as part of the Spanish Exchange Program. Following a three-day stay in Madrid, the students spent

eight days in Burgos where they each lived with a Spanish family and attended Colegio La Salle High School with their exchange partner, sitting in on classes conducted in Spanish.

Participants were Allie Baretta, Rachel White, Marisa Steele, Leah Yuan, Priyanka Parameswaran, Bethany Buck, Lauren Driskell, Shea Renusch, Olivia Koster, Allie Scheiber, Blair Brinker, Andrew Ligeralde, Evan Werner, Cole Wilger, Ian Grohsgal, Brian Collette, Deepak Kumar, Devin Garrett, Jake Fisher, Armand Ghazi, Carson Quimby, Luke Miller, and Henry Head.

Chaperones were Spanish teachers Teresa Bardon and Ismael Godoy.

A look at what’s happening at Middle School

Middle School students and teachers brought their hula-hooping skills—some of which were truly amazing— to the Hula-thon on March 14, sponsored by the Roots & Shoots Club to raise money for the victims of the recent tornadoes.

In addition to the money raised through sponsoring the hula-hoopers—$1049.50—Middle collected non-perishable food, cleaning supplies, and personal care items for the tornado victims which students delivered to Matthew 25 Ministries. Congratulations and thanks to everyone who contributed to this important effort! More photos on the next page.

Congratulations to Sixth Grade Boys Basketball Team Robinson, who completed a perfect season with a 19-0 overall record! Along the way, their achievements included a CYO League title, First Place in the Bethany School Tournament, and a season-ending CYO Division II City Tournament Championship! The Stingers were coached by Susan Robinson and Paul Gosiger. » page 3

Congratulations, Middle School competitive swimmers!

Congratulations to our Middle School swimmers on a great season of swimming! Thanks to parent Linda Cyr for the following report.

“Congratulations to our Middle School students who swam in the Ohio State Junior Olympic Swim Meet March 9–11. In the 13–14 Age Group, Matthew Marquardt finished 7th in the 200 Fly and 100 Backstroke, qualifying for Top 16 finals in four events.

Tigar Cyr finished 12th in the 200 Fly, and swam on five relays which finished top 8. Claire McDonald finished 14th in the 1650 Freestyle. In the 11–12 Age Group, Henry Marquardt finished 8th in 500 Free, 200 Free and 100 Back, qualifying for Top 16 finals in six events. Tindar Cyr finished 9th and 10th in the 100 and 50 Breaststroke, qualifying for finals in three events, and swam on three relays which finished top 8. Lucy Callard finished 13th in 50 Fly and 100 Back, qualifying for finals in four events. Samantha Eng finished 36th in the 100 Fly. “Tindar, Henry, Matthew, Lucy and Claire qualified to compete for the State of Ohio Swim Team in the Central Zone Championship Swim meet in August swimming against swimmers from seven other states—a meet for which only the top 3-4% of swimmers in the

Debbie Marquardt

Eighth grader Nicole Tiao performed at the National String Teachers Association Conference in Atlanta over spring break. Nicole plays with the Starling Program at CCM. Music teacher John Rising said, “Not only is Nicole an outstanding violinist, she recently received an Honorable Mention in a piano concerto competition. The Starling Orchestra is incredible, and the fact that she is performing at such a high level on two instruments is amazing.”

Henry, Matthew, Tindar and Tigar

nation qualify. Tindar qualified in the 50, 100 and 200 Breast, and the 200 and 400 IM. Henry qualified in the 200, 500 and 1650 Free, and the 100 Back. Matthew qualified in the 100 and 200 Back, 200 Fly and 400 IM. Lucy qualified in the 50 and 100 Fly, 100 Back and 200 Free. Claire qualified in 50, 100 and 200 Free.

“Tindar posted a AAAA time in the 200 Breaststroke this season—the fastest in Ohio for the 11–12 Age Group.”

Team Robinson: (front) Sam Francis, Michael Barresi, Max Routh, Matthew Cook, Sam Gosiger; (back) Tommy Robinson, Brett Miller, Nick Bean, Charlie Dwight, Jerron Gray, and Coach Susan Robinson.

Not pictured: Coach Paul Gosiger.

Never a dull day at Seven Hills: Glass blowing demonstration at Middle, sheep shearing at Lotspeich!

Teacher Elissa Donovan’s art students, whose wide range of art media includes kiln-formed glass for their glasswork unit, had the opportunity to watch a demonstration of the amazing process of glass blowing when Neusole Glassworks’ Mobile Glass Hotshop spent April 5 on campus.

Hula-hooping to raise money for tornado victims page 4

Info on page 3

As an indication of the diversity of exciting happenings at Seven Hills in spring, across from the glass blowing demonstration, over on the Lotspeich lawn, it was art teacher Jody Knoop’s annual shearing of the fifth grade sheep, Lotsheep and Lana Lamb, as part of the students’ colonial studies. The fifth graders will card, spin, dye, and weave the wool. More photos of the shearing in our next Buzz.

A look at what’s happening at Lotspeich A big congratulations and thank you to third grader Eli Perlin, who raised and donated $1170 for Tornado Relief by selling lemonade and cake with his younger brother, preKinderartener Gabe! Eli donated the funds to Matthew 25 Ministries.

Teacher Danielle Necessary said, ”Second graders have been studying measurement and probability. Remember the saying, ‘Don’t step on a crack. You’ll break your mother’s back!’ Second graders measured the probability of stepping on a crack on their way from the classroom to the big tree outside of science. Working with partners, students counted their own total steps taken while a partner tracked the number of cracks stepped on. Together, we compared results.

Although it’s not certain backs will be broken, it is probable!”

Fifth grade scientists from Doherty and Lotspeich collaborated on a science project as part of the unit, “Future Inquiries.” The unit was designed by Doherty Unit III teacher Regina Daily and Lotspeich science teacher Natalie Williams with a 2011 summer curriculum grant. Students Skyped with one another throughout the unit and came together to share their projects, creative hypotheses, and scientific findings at an impressive science exhibition in the Doherty science lab on Feb. 28. Their exhibition at Lotspeich took place on Nov. 1. Photos on page 9. page 5

Pi Day 2012!

Congratulations to the fifth grade winners of Pi Day medals for memorizing digits of pi (and thank you to the Dads who volunteered to be pied by the winners)! Jonas Keller (above, left) won the Gold Medal for memorizing 236 digits of pi, and he pied his Dad, Dennison Keller. Max Lane (center) won the Silver Medal with 118 digits of pi, and he pied Drew Logan. Neil Badlani (right) won the Bronze Medal with 110 digits of pi, and he pied Jonathan Theders.

Second graders were visited by a presenter from Art Reach, who provided an educational session and simulation about the life of Harriet Tubman and her role in the Underground Railroad. Students were thrilled to learn new things about a significant historical leader, while also trying their hand at acting out her life and the hardships faced on the road to freedom.

The annual Book Fair was a great success, offering students of all ages a wide range of books from The Bookshelf, owned by alumna and former Seven Hills parent Betsy Schram.

Teacher Pegi Leonard’s second grade reading group researched seven different countries—Vietnam, Barbados, India, Haiti, Italy, Puerto Rico, and China—as part of their non-fiction unit.

They also read the book, Everybody Cooks Rice by Norah Dooley, which was inspired by everyone bringing a different rice dish to a neighborhood potluck dinner. At the conclusion of the unit, each student brought in a rice dish that represented the country they researched, including pigeon peas and rice, and share it with the reading group! Mrs. Leonard said, “A delicious cultural exchange!” page 6

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, raising $637! They were able to buy six goats and assorted chicks and more for families in underdeveloped countries.

Spanish teacher Megan Hayes has high energy classes, using the teaching method TPRS or Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling. TPRS helps students achieve proficiency in Spanish through reading and telling interesting stories that the class invents together as the teacher asks students repetitive questions. Gestures, movement, repetition, and a great deal of energy are crucial components of this holistic strategy. Megan’s classes engage and delight her young students, all of whom enthusiastically participate in inventing and acting out their stories in Spanish.

Music classes with our youngest students at Lotspeich and Doherty are lively and fun, and lessons are coordinated with the themes the children are learning in their other classes.

In one recent class, the Kindergarten students of teacher Robin Wilson learned what the terms “coda” and “interlude” mean, as they followed cues on a MimioStudio Notebook, accompanying the “William Tell Overture Finale” with hand drums, maracas, and jingle bells.

Students research, experiment, & calculate ways to save water usage with sink aerators at Lotspeich Teacher Liz Lorenz sent us the following information on an after-school project some of the Lotspeich fourth and fifth graders participated in for eight weeks.

“The students who participated in the project are Katie Remaklus (4th grade), Hannah Levin (4th grade), Laynie Gerhardt (4th grade), Avani Seshiah (4th grade), and Neil Badlani (5th grade). The students researched sink aerators and completed various calculations in order to determine how much money and water could be saved if the aerators were installed in the sinks in Lotspeich and the Wuerful building.

“The students tested some of the sinks to see how much water is currently being used per minute, in order to compare the current amount of water usage with that which would be used with the low flow aerators and to determine how much money and water could be saved. The students used a Cincinnati Water Works bill in order to determine how much water costs per gallon. They used an iPad to record their data, write a report, and create their presentation.

“The students estimated that by adding aerators to the 37 sinks in Lotspeich and Wuerful that do not currently have them, the school would save more than 69,000 gallons of water and about $277 per year, based upon the estimated current usage. After completing the project, writing a report, and preparing their presentation, the students shared their findings with Mr. Garten, Mr. Horne, Mrs. Fox, and Ms. Romerill. Mr. Horne and Mr. Garten felt that based on the students’ work and findings, the students could have a trial run with a sample of aerators in the Lotspeich sinks to ensure they can withstand the high usage! If all goes well with the trial run, aerators will be installed in the 37 sinks recommended by the students.

“During the project, the students utilized their mathematical skills and knowledge to complete the numerous calculations needed to complete the project. They relied upon their knowledge of fractions, decimals, page 7

multi-digit multiplication, long division, estimating, rounding, averaging, creating tables and charts, data analysis, and measurement.”

Congratulations to Mrs. Lorenz and her critical thinking investigators!

The pre-Kindergarteners are pretending they’re astronauts walking on the moon, then they become rodeo cowboys, then robots. It’s part of Character Quick Change, a favorite exercise in creative dramatics class. Pre-K children thrive in drama class, where they are invited to use their imaginations and pretend—a challenge they meet with enthusiasm! They love creating characters in groups and mini plays, with teacher Russell White taking part and guiding the action.

A look at what’s happening at Doherty

Congratulatons to fifth grader Andrew Santamarina, who won a Gold Medal for his age group and division in the Nastar Giant Slalom National Championships in Winter Park, CO, March 23–24! About 1200 skiers participated in the event in all age groups.

Unit III students had a wonderful experience when presenters from Starfire U visited Doherty. Here is a sample of the students’ thank you letters to the presenters. To Carole, who taught pastels, from Sydney Painter: “I hope that you come back next year and I will be looking for your name in an art museum. You taught me a lot and encouraged me to be creative and think outside the box.” To Craig, who talked about the history of video games, from Ben H.: “I loved designing my own video game.” To Shane and Robert, who talked about giving, from McKenzie: “Thank you for teaching us all those nice things we can do to make people’s day better.”

Unit I pupils study animal classifications as part of their nature curriculum.

To help bring back rare bluebirds to Cincinnati, they reused milk cartons and built homes for the bluebirds. page 8

At the annual Unit I Recital on March 8, students who are taking lessons outside of school shared their talent in music, dance, and other areas with their classmates.

Librarian Linda Wolfe told us, “Second and third grade families gathered after school in the Doherty library to participate in the Bridges program.

The theme for this meeting was Buddhism. After learning some of the basic principles of Buddhism, then listening to a book about people practicing Buddhism in the U.S., each student created a miniature Zen garden.

“A big thanks to Susan Routh, who attended each meeting with her daughter Caroline, and who scheduled the refreshments for each program. Another huge thanks goes to the parents, grandparents, and students who took the time to explore the major world religions together.”

Unit III Coordinator Vaishali Sarbhoy told us, “Fourth grade students took a guided tour of some exhibits at the Underground Railroad Freedom Center. The students studied a patchwork exhibit created

by Aminah Robinson, an artist who has been working on it for the last 35 years, telling the story of her ancestors who came from Timbuktu, Mali, by adding a piece a year!

“The students visited an authentic slave pen that was discovered on a farm in Ohio and learned how the slaves lived, before they were sold by William Anderson, a slave trader.

They also experienced the Escape Gallery, where they learned about the important role played by John Parker, John Rankin and others from Ripley, Ohio, who helped the slaves on their journey to freedom. They met an actor who portrayed a Colored Infantry soldier and talked about the importance of education.”

Art teacher Mimi Stricker told us, “The second and fifth graders worked on an art project that was based on the artistic style of Tammy Smith (at left).

Tammy was a guest speaker at our Everyone Counts Convocation. She is a member of Visionaries & Voices (www.visionariesandvoices.com), a nonprofit organization that page 9

Continued next page

Fifth grade scientists from Doherty and Lotspeich collaborated on a science project as part of the unit, “Future Inquiries.” The unit was designed by Doherty Unit III teacher Regina Daily and Lotspeich science teacher Natalie Williams with a 2011 summer curricu-

lum grant. Students Skyped with one another throughout the unit and came together to share their projects, creative hypotheses, and scientific findings at an impressive science exhibition in the Doherty science lab on Feb. 28.

Their exhibition at Lotspeich took place on Nov. 1.

Students in Patty Dawson’s class made lunches for clients of the Open Door Ministries for their visit in February.

Unit III Coordinator Vaishali Sarbhoy said, “The students toured the pantry and gained knowledge as to how the Open Door gets donations from local companies and supply houses. The students took with them 110 cans of food collected and counted by the Kindergarten as part of their 100th day of school celebration.”

provides a studio to make, market, and celebrate artists with disabilities. Tammy, who is visually impaired, taught our students how to paint awesome architectural buildings and structures with black, white and gray colors. Our students had a blast learning how to create cool buildings and also gained great insight from Tammy: just because you have a disability, it doesn’t stop you from pursuing the things you love. There are so many ways to overcome obstacles in life and truly shine. We look forward to working with more artists like Tammy Smith.�

During Cultural Connections Week, Unit I students had a wonderful time learning from a member of the Cincinnati Ballet in a Creative Movement workshop that focused on Spanish dance.

In the most realistic airplane-trip-in-a-hallway experience ever, pre-Kindergarteners took a wonderful airplane trip to and from Spain as part of their celebration of Cultural Connections Week.

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Bravo to the fifth grade cast and crew of The Princess and the Pea and to Directors Russell White and Maria Eynon and Assistant Director Vaishali Sarbhoy!

The very impressive production and performances were simply wonderful!