Happy Holidays from Seven Hills!

Seven Hills sends best wishes to you and your family during this holiday season and in the coming year.

We are truly grateful for all you have done to sustain the school this past year and deeply blessed to have a caring, strong community here at Seven Hills.

We hope you all can enjoy some well-deserved rest over the break.

Warmly,

Christopher P. Garten

Head of School

Carolyn Fox

Head of Lotspeich Lower School

Tracy Murch

Head of Doherty Lower School

Bill Waskowitz

Head of Middle School

Matt Bolton

Head of Upper School

Middle School Families Enjoy Zoom Cooking Class

In early December, the Middle School Parent Community hosted a virtual cooking night! Families logged on to Zoom to learn how to make two different dishes. Seventh-grader Elizabeth Klocek was the evening’s master chef. She taught the virtual attendees how to make steak grain bowls. Mina Lee, mom of eighth-grader Daniel Choi, taught the group how to make Korean meat fritters and taught people about Korean cuisine. Thank you to the Parent Community for organizing this fun event!

Middle School Enjoys Scavenger Hunt Before Break

Middle School students participated in an at-home scavenger hunt, a fun activity before the two-week winter break. On Friday morning, in virtual groups of four to five students, Middle Schoolers completed a list of challenges using an app called GooseChase. Students would complete a challenge, which ranged from finding a yearbook published before the year 2000, sock skating around your kitchen, or flying a kite, and upload the photo or video to the GooseChase app. Students then gathered virtually for an all-school assembly and the winners in each grade level were announced.

Middle School Holds Drive for the Caring Place

The Middle School held it’s annual toy, food, and clothing drive to support the Caring Place, a local agency that provides services for those in need in the Cincinnati community. The drive was held from late November to early December. This annual drive, organized by Head of Middle School Bill Waskowitz, supports the community efforts of The Caring Place, which was established in 1982 by a coalition of churches serving Golf Manor, Kennedy Heights, Pleasant Ridge, and Silverton. This year’s drive, even in the midst of the pandemic, was extremely successful, as parents dropped off these needed items on several drop-off dates in December. In sharing his pride for the Middle School community’s efforts, Waskowitz said that he was most impressed by the outpouring of support form families. “I continue to remain proud and humbled by all that our Middle School families do to support those in need!” Waskowitz said.

Seventh-graders Study Courts

Doug Huff’s seventh-grade history students recently learned about the state and federal courts and the roles they play in the United States. Students learned about the jurisdiction of each court. Huff also used real-world examples of cases, including the wrongful conviction of boxer Rubin “Hurricane” Carter, to teach students about the roles of the courts. “As a culmination of what they learned, students played Court Quest,” Huff said. “Students took a journey through the different levels of the courts.”

Sixth-graders Become Travel Agents

During a recent lesson, sixth-graders in Andy McGarvey’s geography class became travel agents, planning trips to Latin America. McGarvey asked students to work in groups and to choose a country they wanted to visit. Students were given a budget and asked to plan every aspect of the trip, from flights to where to stay, to excursions to cultural sights. He also asked sixth-graders to research travel restrictions for each country on the State Department’s website. McGarvey said the activity gave students an opportunity to “explore a region of a country they chose to visit.” Students learned about places like the meeting of waters on the Amazon River in Brazil and the forests of Bolivia.

Seventh-graders Watch Density Lab via Zoom

Since her students have been learning remotely for the past few weeks, seventh-grade science teacher Kristin Suer found a way to creatively conduct a lab. Suer, with the help of her own children, filmed herself doing a lab explaining density and the earth’s layers. Suer demonstrated how layers of different densities would remain separated when poured on top of each other. Students had the opportunity to create their own density columns at home for extra credit.

Sixth-graders Study Cells

Sixth-graders in Karen Glum and Jennifer Licata’s life science classes recently studied cells. Students learned about the parts of a cell, as well as diffusion and osmosis (movement of molecules). Sixth-graders reviewed the lesson via Google Slideshow and Kahoot, an interactive quiz game, to review the topics for their test.