Between mid-September and mid-October, Seven Hills celebrated Hispanic Heritage Month. As usual, our approach was comprehensive. The month-long series of activities included presentations by business leaders from the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, a daily slide deck of fun facts on artists and political leaders from the LatinX community, a field trip to the Human Rights Arts Exhibition at Xavier University and to Art Space for the “Ballet Folklorico” at the Aronoff. There was also a lunchtime broadcast of an inspirational movie “McFarland USA”, a very popular campus visit from Jorge’s Tacos food truck, and a weeklong music competition featuring snippets of contemporary Spanish language songs.

In a similar vein, this past Monday, Seven Hills staged a community-wide celebration of Diwali, the Hindu Festival of Lights, in all four divisions. Activities included parent-led assemblies and cultural activities in classrooms, Rangoli chalk drawings created both by student artists and parent volunteers, a visiting henna artist, Diwali songs in music classes, lobby and classroom decorations, and (thank you, parents) a much-appreciated catered Indian lunch for the entire faculty. 

We are very proud of the rich diversity of our school community, and, throughout the year, we devote this time to celebrating the heritage and faith traditions among our families, not only to enrich our students’ understanding of the world around them, but also to help our students, particularly those from underrepresented communities, feel known and valued here at Seven Hills. As one student put it to me last week, “I really appreciate that Seven Hills takes time to acknowledge something that matters so much to me and to my family.” 

Mounting events like these takes a great deal of time, energy, and planning, as well as the generous support of a great many teachers, staff members, and an army of student and parent volunteers. Many thanks to all who help, throughout the year, to provide these enriching experiences for our students.

Christopher P. Garten
Head of School