It’s Your World sponsors donation drive for Turkey and Syria

The sixth grade It’s Your World classes are sponsoring a relief drive to collect donations for Turkish and Syrian citizens impacted by the Feb. 6 earthquake until March 9. Each division has a donation box available for students to drop off the following items that will be collect for Matthew 25: Ministries and later shipped to Turkey and Syria:

• Cases of bottled water (12 or 24 packs)
• Personal Care Products: antibacterial soap, toothpaste, tooth brushes, shampoo, body wash, deodorant
• Cleaning Supplies: laundry detergents, general cleaner, sponges, bleach (powdered form), mops, scrub brushes
• Paper Products: toilet paper, paper towels, etc.
• Baby & Infant Supplies: diapers, wipes, diaper rash ointment, baby wash & shampoo, baby lotion
• First-Aid Items: bandages, gauze, pads, first aid tape, antiseptic creams, hydrogen peroxide, alcohol, latex gloves, instant cold packs
• Candles & Flashlights: if necessary, please include the appropriate size batteries with any donation
• Clean-Up Supplies: Protective eye-wear, work gloves, trash bags

Students were in charge of creating posters, setting up donation drop-off sites, collecting donations, making announcements, and helping plan social media posts.

Eighth Grader wins Hauck Scholarship

Congratulations to our Middle School Hauck Scholarship winner eighth grader Charleigh Hayes! The award is named after Dr. Frederick A. Hauck, a world-renowned nuclear scientist and philanthropist. He served on the Atomic Energy Commission and worked closely with Albert Einstein. In addition, he was a businessman, explorer, historian, industrialist, metallurgist, nature lover, and humanitarian. Seven Hills established the Hauck Scholarships to recognize students who demonstrate achievement in mathematics or science. Selected students were reviewed by a Middle and Upper School faculty committee that looked at students’ interest in science, math, and their related activities outside the classroom. Winning students entering grades nine through 12 receive a one-year scholarship of $1,000 to be applied to next school year’s tuition at Seven Hills’ Upper School.

Latin students translate longform stories into English

Seventh graders in Latin teacher Katie Swinford’s class are reading longer illustrated stories in Latin and translating them into English. Students gathered in a circle, as they read a historical retelling of what it might have been like to be part of a merchant family in ancient Rome. Students were surprised to learn how much they related to a family from thousands of years ago, and the cyclical nature of societies.

Eighth graders create reactionary art to “Mein Kampf”

For the past few months, eighth graders immersed themselves in learning about World War II, the Holocaust, and Nazi Germany in both their history and English classes. Students read the novel “The Book Thief” by Marcus Lusak and learned from one of the main characters, Max, about the significance of sharing their beliefs and the harm propaganda causes. In the novel, Max is a German Jew forced to hide to survive. While in hiding, Max reuses a copy of Hitler’s autobiography “Mein Kampf” and paints over pages and works to write his own stories, experiences, and political cartoons on the pages. After gaining an understanding of how brave and important Max’s actions were, students were asked to reuse their own pages of “Mein Kampf” in order to either share the struggles of those living and trying to survive during the Holocaust or to express their own views on Hitler and the Nazis.

Upper and Middle School students learn about Chicago Stepping

Upper and Middle School students learned about Chicago Stepping from dancers Elana Elmore and Eugene Jackson on Feb. 28. Students heard about the dance’s history as Elmore explained the logistics of how and why dances evolve over the years.  “Some dances transitioned away from circular, revolving movements and into line formations to fit more people on the dance floor at a time,” Elmore said. Chicago Stepping is an improvisational form of partner dancing with its roots in dance styles like the Chicago Bop, the Lindy Hop and Western Swing. Elmore also expounded on the practice and technique it takes to create a spontaneous routine and students were able to try their hand at a couple of dance moves after a lesson from the talented performers.