A Brief Word from Chris Garten

SEVEN HILLS The Buzz October 13, 2010

Continued page 3

What a celebration these past few weeks have been! I think, particularly, of three wonder-ful school-wide events, starting with the SAY Spirit Night, which brought a host of our youngest athletes out to the Hillsdale campus to recognize their achievements and to lend support for our varsity teams. It didn’t hurt that it was a beautiful night or that our soccer team pulled o! a dramatic upset against a top-ranked opponent.

"en there was the Family Picnic and all the spirit-raising events associated with Home-coming. Again, the campus was teeming with young people: wol#ng down hamburgers, climbing on the Big Toy, scampering from station to station as part of our sports clinics, and then lending their voices to the chorus of enthusiastic fans at the Bon#re!

"is past weekend we played host to scores of returning alumni/ae, who marveled at the continuing evolution of the campus, recon-nected with former teachers, and shared their expressions of gratitude for all that this school has meant in their lives.

All these events express, in di!erent ways, the unique spirit of this community. Many thanks to all who helped to make them possible!

Chris Garten, Head of School

Seven Hills continues tradition of top percentages of National Merit semi!nalists in senior class

Eleven seniors$16% of the class$have quali#ed as semi#nalists in the 2011 National Merit Scholarship Program. "is continues a tradition for Seven Hills of having top per-centages of semi#nalists in the senior class, including 2009 when Seven Hills had the highest percentage among area schools. In addition to the 11 semi#nalists this year, four seniors were named National Merit Com-mended students, bringing the percentage of the class to receive recognition to 22%.

(Front) Justine Cefalu, Elisse Hill, Sydney Larkin, Sasha Alexander, Haleigh Monaco, Peppar Cyr, Mia Perlman; (middle) Stella Warner, Julianne Bain, Alex Wilt, Victoria Huang , Chase Atherton; (back) Je! Brown, Nathan Markiewitz, Adimu Hunter-Woodard, Gabriel Blanco.

Seven Hills’ National Merit semi#nalists this year are Chase Atherton, Julianne Bain, Gabriel Blanco, Justine Cefalu, Peppar Cyr, Elisse Hill, Victoria Huang, Sasha Lieber-man, Nathan Markiewitz, Haleigh Monaco, and Mia Perlman.

Seniors who were named as National Merit Commended students are Je! Brown, Sydney Larkin, Stella Warner, and Alex Wilt.

In the National Hispanic Recognition Pro-gram, Gabriel Blanco was named a Scholar. In the National Achievement Scholarship Pro-gram, seniors Elisse Hill and Adimu Hunter-Woodard were named semi#nalists.

Fall sports clinics for young athletes, led by varsity play-ers, are a highpoint of Seven Hills’ Homecoming events. Coverage of Homecoming 2010 starts on page 4.

Please help us spread the word!Seven Hills School Open House

for prospective students for grades pre-K–12 & their families

Sunday, October 1712:30-2:30 on both campuses

rsvp 271-9027

What’s new in the Spirit Shop?

Car magnets are !nally available in the Spirit Shop! Choose from the oval black & white SH, the Stinger Bee or the traditional Seven Hills Crest. $2 for any style!

"e Spirit Shop is located on the Hillsdale Campus in the Sports Lobby near the Kal-now Gym. Open school days 11:30–1:00 or by appointment (513-272-5395).

Congratulations to our varsity fall teams!

Varsity golf won the league and sectional championships. Varsity boys soccer won the league. "e entire varsity girls tennis team advanced to district.

Tournament play begins this Saturday the 16th. Volleyball is the Number 4 seed and boys soccer is the Number 2 seed. Tournament brackets are on the school website under Announcements.

"e Seven Hills School again hosted the #rst Cincinnati Scholastic Chess Tournament on Saturday, Oct. 9. "is tournament a%racts student chess players (K-12) from around the tri-state. TSHS was represented by Doherty #&h grader Jonathan Harsh and Lotspeich #&h grader Nate Rising. Congratulations to Nate, who took second place in his section.

Since the last Buzz, we were noti#ed by the College Board that Je! Brown earned four 5’s on the AP Exams, not three as the Board previously reported. Congratulations to Je!, who was previously named an AP Scholar and is now an AP Scholar with Honor.

More news on AP resultsFall varsity sports update

Seven Hills hosts Cincinnati Scholastic Chess Tournmaent

Varsity girls tennis team and Coach Tim Drew at sectionals.

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Varsity golf team and Coach Doug Hu!.

Varsity boys soccer team, Head Coach Terry Nicholl, and Assistant Coaches Sco" Cagle and Ted Sidor.

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Joining together to make a di"erence

“As a member of the East Fork Mounted Search and Rescue, I was the ‘tail’ for 65 riders at the an-nual Ride for the Cure event on October 2,” said Lotspeich art teacher Jody Knoop. “"ere were over 100 horses and riders decked out in pink. "is photo is of my horse Bisco%i and me. He is modeling a spi!y pink Duct Tape bridle made especially for the occasion!”

Below, Seven Hills hosted the Volley for the Cure volleyball match against CCDS on Sep-tember 27, raising money and awareness for breast cancer research. Fans, players, and the Kalnow Gym were decked out in pink, joining teams all over the state who took part in this great event.

What a beautiful morning it was on October 2 as the Seven Hills team set o! on "e Memory Walk to support the Greater Cincinnati Alzheimer’s Associa-tion. Team “Walk for Memory,” captained by Will Graeter, raised $1,350!

At le&, Racing for the Cure were (front) Mona Scheiber, Kate Harsh; (back) Andrea Scheiber, Barbara Scarr, Barbara VanderLaan, Sasha Lieberman, Chris Clark, Alexandra Scheiber, Alyssa Patel, and Beth Hickenlooper.

Fi#h grader Tom- my Robinson, eighth grader Grady Voss, $#h grader Will Graeter, $#h grader Jack Schi!, sixth grader Parker Voss, and third grader Kate Graeter.

#e Hills are alive with SPIRIT at Lower School Spirit Night, Homecoming!

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Perfect early fall weather and the Hillsdale Campus $lled with school families made for a wonderful Homecoming 2010 on October 1-2! Sponsored by the Athletic Boosters, the two-day event included pep rallies; an All-School Family Picnic; sports clinics in soccer, volley-ball, golf, and cheerleading for young athletes conducted by varsity players; a spirited performance by the Seven Hills Pep Band; the

What a great Spirit Night! Over 500 fans came to-gether on September 23 to celebrate Seven Hills SAY soccer players in grades 1-6 and to cheer on the Stingers in their games against rival Summit, as the boys won 1-0 and the girls tied their game.

Boosters concession; the Homecoming bon#re; a pancake breakfast on Saturday by Upper’s Service Club; Upper’s Homecoming Dance; Middle and Upper School soccer games, tennis and volleyball matches, and a cross country invitational. "is page features Spirit Night photos, and the following two pages feature photos from Homecoming pep rallies and Friday night activities.

Lower School Spirit Night

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Homecoming pep rallies

Photos from the Upper School pep rally at the bon#re are on page 9.

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Homecoming Clinics and Bon!re

More photos from the bon#re and Upper School pep rally are on page 9.

“

“"en what did the seal do?” Paper Noise editor George Taliaferro (at right) wanted to know the next plot twist from author and Lotspeich pre-kindergartner Oz Knarr. Our youngest students at Lotspeich and Doherty have great stories to tell, but they need scribes to write them down. Enter the editors of Paper Noise, Upper’s literary publication. "e junior and senior editors recorded the oral stories of the young storytell-ers, some of which will be used in the year-end issue of Paper Noise, which includes creative writing from every grade level.

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Save the Date!!e Seven Hills School’s

25th Annual Books for LunchProudly Presents

Michael CunninghamPulitzer Prize-winning

Author of !e Hours

Lecture Luncheon & Book SigningFriday, Feb. 4, 11:00 AM

Cintas Center at Xavier University

Dinner with Michael Cunningham #ursday, Feb. 3, 6:00 PM

At the Home of Freidoon & Shiva Ghazi

Invitations will be mailed in December. For more information, contact Books for Lunch 2011 Commi%ee Chairs Sarah Johnson at sarah.johnson@fuse.net or Rica Ligeralde at ricaligeralde@cinci.rr.com.

Michael Cunningham gets all the li%le things right in his Pu-litzer Prize-winning novel %e Hours. Rarely missing a telling detail or a larger emotional truth, the Cincinnati native masterfully explores the quiet, private moments of a life. Cunningham’s novels include A Home at the End of the World, Flesh and Blood, and %e Hours, which received the 1999 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the PEN/Faulkner Award. Acclaimed #lms were made of %e Hours and A Home at the End of the World. A senior lecturer in the English department at Yale University, he is currently working on a new novel, By Nightfall.

“Michael Cunningham’s novel !e Hours is that rare combination: a smashing literary tour de force and an u"erly invigorating reading experience. If this book does not make you jump up from the sofa, looking at life and literature in new ways, check to see if you have a pulse.” $USA Today

Young storytellers & their scribes

“Are you sure you got that all down?”

“

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A look at what’s happening at Upper SchoolSee page 10 for Middle School, page 12 for Lotspeich, and page 14 for Doherty

Mrs. Groom’s Speech stu-dents began their dem-onstration speeches on October 8 with demon-strations of self defense by Leah Cromer (above, le&), with the assis-tance of sister Katie, and of how to make cerviche (above)by Ian Grohsgal.

“As part of a unit on personal nar-ratives and memoirs, students in English 12 recently read and dis-cussed Maus: A Survivor’s Tale, by Art Spiegelman,” said Mr. Gleiner. “"e story follows his father’s experi-ences during the Holocaust, and the book, which Spiegelman presents in graphic novel format, was seen as groundbreaking when it was pub-lished in 1986. In 1992, the text won a Pulitzer Prize Special Award. “On October 1, art teacher Jason Knarr visited the English 12 classes to provide students with the historical and social context leading to the publication of Maus. In addition, he talked in detail about the form of the graphic novel, and the many examples he brought and shared helped to put Maus in dialogue with other works in the genre.”

Mr. Gleiner and Mr. Knarr

Mrs. Ford described some recent projects in her Environmental Science class: “Students placed arthropod traps in several locations on campus. A&er one week, they harvested the traps and catalogued the species in order to evaluate the biodiversity of the location.” See page 10 for the students’ visit to the sixth grade math class. Mrs. Ford continued, “Environmental Science students also searched for macroinverte-brates in the small creek that runs through the corner of the Hillsdale campus in order to assess the water quality. "e water scored a ‘22’ which means the water is of good quality. “"ese students spent an entire day at the "omas More College Biological Station on the Ohio River in California, KY. "ey electro#shed, caught 140 #sh of 15 di!erent species. "ey

took chemical and physical data both upstream and downstream of the Beckjord electrical power plant operated by Duke Energy to see if there are any measurable in'uences in the river due to the plant. "ey also collected a zooplank-ton sample at these two sites for later study in the laboratory of the #eld station. "is #eld trip culminated their study on water quality.”

Sidewalk Furniture SaleFriday, Oct. 15 (9 - 3)

(Rain date) Saturday, Oct. 16 (9 - 3)

We’ve had furniture in storage far too long! Please join us with an empty car. Be%er yet, bring a truck! All furniture

will be a!ordably priced to sell!

"e Resale Shop will be open on Friday Oct. 22 (Records Day) and

Monday, Oct. 25 ( faculty in-service) for shoppers, donations and volunteers.

Parents interested in receiving the Resale Shop’s customer newsle"er can email their request to

resaleshop@fuse.net

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Using recycled textbooks, Painting students reproduced a painting in the style of their favorite artist on the surface of the open book. "e back is painted as a textbook cover with the artist’s name and “History of Art,” along with the student’s name. "ese art pieces are on display now in the Young Family Library.

More from the Homecoming Bon#re & Pep Rally!

Above, the varsity captains get ready to light the Bon$re.

A look at what’s happening at Middle School

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Seventh grader Margaret Cox’s independent inquiry bird report, which she wrote last year as part of the sixth grade bird program, was published in the fall 2010 edition of Classroom Birdscope, a publication that is produced through "e Cornell Lab of Orni-thology. "e publication showcases works by students participating in various citizen-science projects from across the country.

Mrs. Licata reported, “Sixth graders will soon be able to identify the most common birds that visit the feeders in the Middle School bird garden. Science classes began to conduct ten-minute biweekly bird counts last week, and they submi%ed the data to eBird, a website run by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Audubon. Students will use the data we collect throughout the year, as well as observations made across the country, to further our study of birds.”

Mrs. Faber described an exciting project in her Global Explorations class: “We began with a simulation of di!erent regions around the globe and some characteristics that apply to each region (population, energy consumption, pollution, GNI, access to clean water, and percentage of agricultural land.) “A&er the simulation, each group (based on region) sat down to analyze data about its particular region. We answered questions about pollution rates per capita and popula-tion growth, among others. “"en each representative from each region was appointed to a ‘United Nations Commi"ee’ charged with researching and proposing solutions to some of the major problems facing the world (population growth, energy consumption/pollution,

"e sixth grade science program is excited to continue to work this year with Drs. Dave and Jill Russell, ornithologists and professors at Miami University and College of Mount St. Joseph. Sixth graders Skyped (pictured) with Drs. Dave and Jill on September 28 while they were banding birds at Hueston Woods. "e students had the opportunity to see several birds that we wouldn’t see on our campus and to ask Dr. Dave a variety of questions. "e sixth graders will get to meet Dave and Jill in person in early November when they come to Seven Hills to band birds.

health, and poverty). As a class, we will decide whose proposals we will accept and whose we will not. “"e point of this activity was to engage students with some of the terms and con-cepts we have been discussing in this #rst unit of geography. ”

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Some photos of Mrs. Heinlen’s seventh grade English students using iTouches to conduct the surveys of students and adults about the wri%en and unwri%en rules of society. Mrs. Heinlen said, “"e skills used were iden-tifying issues with varying opin-ions that could be based on rules we follow (constitutional and/or personal ethics/morals), ask-ing and formulating questions, the social and scienti#c skills of conducting surveys, and the technology components of using iTouches, SurveyMonkey, etc. "ey will be using all of this information to write their #rst ‘big’ paper for me and hopefully coming to some sort of understanding about the creation of rules, who follows them, and why or why not. "is goes well with their study of novels %e Outsiders and Nothing But the Truth and their study of American government.”

Several Environmental Science students came to the sixth grade math classes on October 11 to share arthropod data they collected around the school. "e sixth graders will graph the data and display it on Insect Day.

Donations 2 Dollars is a way for members of the Seven Hills community to donate items to be sold on eBay and receive gi# credit for the proceeds. We handle the complexities of eBay for you. When your items sell, you will receive gi# credit to Seven Hills in your name for the net tax-deductible value of your items. "is is a convenient way to get additional Annual Giving credit.

Drop-o" locations: Doherty Campus

Kemper Bldg., !rst $oor8:30 - 2:30 Monday - Friday

Hillsdale CampusResale Shop

9:00 - 3:00 Monday -Saturday

Questions? Call Lynn Cowles at 513-221-1765 or Margo Kirstein at 513-527-1319.

Donations 2 Dollars is a way for members of the Seven Hills community to donate items to be sold on eBay and receive gift credit for the proceeds. We handle the complexities of eBay for you. When your items sell, you will receive gift credit to Seven Hills in your name for the net tax-deductible value of your items. This is a convenient way to get additional Annual Giving credit. Drop-Off Locations: Doherty Campus - Kemper Bldg., 1st fl.; 8:30 - 2:30, M-F. Hillsdale Campus - The Resale Shop; 9:00 -3:00, M-Sat. Questions? Call Lynn Cowles at 513-221-1765 or Margo Kirstein at 513-527-1319

The Seven Hills School

Donations 2 Dollars is a way for members of the Seven Hills community to donate items to be sold on eBay and receive gift credit for the proceeds. We handle the complexities of eBay for you. When your items sell, you will receive gift credit to Seven Hills in your name for the net tax-deductible value of your items. This is a convenient way to get additional Annual Giving credit. Drop-Off Locations: Doherty Campus - Kemper Bldg., 1st fl.; 8:30 - 2:30, M-F. Hillsdale Campus - The Resale Shop; 9:00 -3:00, M-Sat. Questions? Call Lynn Cowles at 513-221-1765 or Margo Kirstein at 513-527-1319

The Seven Hills School

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A look at what’s happening at Lotspeich

Continued page 13

$ird graders have been studying cave paintings from around the world. "e children went on “virtual #eld trips” to Las-caux, France; Drakensberg, South Africa; the Kimberly region, Australia; and the canyons of the Southwest in the United States. "e

styles found in the di!erent regions were compared and contrasted, then the children created their own “cave paintings,” each from the region they most enjoyed.

Pre-Kindergartners dictated their stories to Upper’s Paper Noise editors. See page 7.

How many kids #t into a ONE MILLION centimeter cube? F#%h graders discovered the answer when they explored “How large is ONE MILLION?” Mrs. Riser explained: “We started with the commercial place value blocks$a li%le place value centimeter cube that represents ONE UNIT, then a TEN UNIT long, a HUNDRED UNIT 'at, and a ONE THOUSAND UNIT cube. “We continued by building a TEN THOUSAND long. We tried to build a HUNDRED THOUSAND 'at, but ran out of blocks. We used meter sticks to represent a ONE MILLION cube. As you can see, a ONE MILLION cube is HUGE! "en we tried to #gure out how big, long, large a million of something was.”

Some activities from the science lab: Ms. Wildfong said, “First graders are busy studying the animals in the science lab. Once we have learned about each one, we will classify them.” First grade scientists are pictured above enjoying a close encounter with the bearded dragon. "e #%h graders used their scienti#c thinking skills to #gure out how fortune teller #sh work (pictured at top right).

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"e #%h grade students of Mrs. Balskus and Mrs. Riser spent the morning of September 30 at art teacher Ms. Knoop’s farm, hiking up a challenging creek bed, gathering tinder and kindling to fuel future #&h

grade dyebaths, and collecting natural dyestu!s, including pokeberries, black walnuts and marigolds. "e students also enjoyed seeing Ms. Knoop’s horses, nubian goat, Lotsheep and Lana Lamb, and O%o the potbelly pig.

Fi%h & First Grade BUDDIES!

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A look at what’s happening at Doherty

$ird graders are studying insects and enjoyed a visit to campus by the Museum Center’s program on insects.

Pre-Kindergartners dictated their stories to Upper’s Paper Noise editors. See page 7.

Fi&h grader Lorelei Robinson will be per-forming with the Cincinnati Ballet in a production of Sleeping Beauty Oct 22-24.

As part of Unit I ’s study of Scienti#c Inquiry, some of Mrs. Kulhavik’s students completed an experi-ment in the science lab to see what happens when

“Students in Unit I are studying about our city,” said Mrs. MacKenzie. “A&er learning the history and about the many neighborhoods, students enjoyed singing the song ‘Cincinnati Dancing Pig’ by Chappell & Co. and danc-ing along. "e students will also be creating a papier-mâché pig as a symbol of our city.”

Unit I readers adapted and performed a reader’s theater for each other, called Wheel Away. It was based on the book by Dayle Ann Dodds. "is relates to their study of cities in social studies.

“On September 14, Evie Taylor (above, right), Director of Open Door Ministry, spoke to the Unit III students about Open Door and how it helps people,” said Mrs. Burton. “Students learned that Open Door is a drop-in shelter for mentally ill adults. Open Door helps its clients by providing food from their food pantry, toiletries, hot meals, help with budgeting disability checks, and a welcome and caring environment. “Evie also talked to the students about how Doherty helps Open Door through our Share a Sandwich program, winter clothing drive, and our Collect and Give. "e students were very surprised to hear just how much our e!orts help others. We are all looking forward to working with Open Door this year!” See photos on next page.

a popcorn kernel is heated. $e students created an hypothesis and recorded the results. "e experiment helped the students determine why things occur when an ele-ment is added.

In preparation for the Doherty Book Fair, students are enjoying mak-ing snakes in the style of Lois Ehlert’s new book Lots of Spots.

Students in Unit I were challenged to build a solid, sturdy, tall structure out of tooth-picks and gumdrops that could withstand a “shake.” "e Unit worked in teams and collaborated with each other to come up with the best design.

Continued page 15

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“Mrs. Daily’s class kicked o! our Share a Sandwich program for the 2010-2011 school year by preparing over 100 bagged lunches for the clients at Open Door,” said

Unit I students loved their visit with popular children’s book author and illustrator Will Hillenbrand.

Mrs. Burton. ”A&er preparing the lunches, Mrs. Daily and her #&h grade students deliv-ered the lunches. All of the clients at Open Door were thrilled to receive a bagged lunch!

In addition to delivering the bagged lunches, the students also delivered a large basket of fruit collected by the Unit II students.”

A highlight of Safety Week at Doherty! “Mr Fitzpatric, a #re#ghter and Doherty parent, brought an EMS truck from his workplace in Sycamore,” said Mrs. Schroder. “He did an informative presentation using a student as his victim and other students as assistants. He showed the students how they demobilize the victim and secure him with their equipment as he is being transported. At the same time, Mr. Fitzpatric made it very funny, so if a child were observing or involved with an EMS run in some way, they might not be so frightened.”

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On Saturday, September 25, fourth graders had their #rst Outdoor Program trip. “Twenty-seven fourth graders along with 17 parents, Mrs. Hickenlooper, Mrs. Wichman, and Mrs. Dawson, biked 27 miles on the Li%le Miami Bike Trail,” said Mrs. Burton. “"ey met in Loveland Saturday morning and biked north to Morrow stopping a couple of times along the way for snacks and to enjoy the scenery and each other’s company. When they arrived in Morrow they had a picnic lunch at a park along the trail. "en they biked back to Loveland and enjoyed a special reward of Hawaiian shaved ice. "e participants should all be very proud of this great accomplishment!”

BUDDIES!