Opening Ceremony kicks off school year

On the first day of the 2023-24 school year, fourth through 12th grade students from both campuses came together in Kalnow Gym for the annual celebration of the beginning of the year. Respect for others and appreciation of diversity was picked as the Seven Hills value that will be a focal point for the year. Head of School Chris Garten encouraged students to learn about the world and seek out different perspectives to better their own understanding.

“Respect for others and appreciation of diversity means we remain open, even eager, to learning about other people’s cultures and beliefs and their lived experience. It means we make a sincere effort to understand and respect the emotional experience of those in our school who are different from us,” Garten said.

Doherty fifth grader Eulalie Briquet, Lotspeich fifth grader Kai Vadivelu, eighth grader Eli Kampel, and seniors Grace Dunson and Rex Shaffer spoke about how respect and diversity makes Seven Hills a welcoming community for everyone.

“At Seven Hills, we do not only learn from books and in the classroom, we learn from each other too. Diversity is all around us, in our classmates and teachers,” Briquet said.

Sixth Graders Become Energy Hunters

In a cross-curricular exercise, sixth graders became energy vampire hunters and discussed the importance of energy efficiency while gathering data from around the Middle School. The activity is directly related to their summer reading book, “Two Degrees” by Alan Gatz, which follows four students who encounter different forms of climate change from melting polar ice to wildfires. 

“Understanding climate change can be overwhelming for anyone, much less an 11-or 12-year-old. Our goal with this activity is to help ground the students’ knowledge in what their ability is as individuals to fight climate change. Students begin to understand how ‘energy vampires’ or things that use energy but are currently unused, can impact more than their own environment,” sixth grade science teacher Jennifer Licata said.

In discussion, students labeled running tap water, electronics at 100% but still plugged in, and leaving the car running when no one’s inside as energy vampires.

Seventh Grade Builds Community During In-school Retreat

Seventh graders enjoyed a day filled with community-building activities on Sept. 1. Students competed as teams with their advisories to perform original musical skits in The Schiff Center and trivia relay races on the Upper Field. Students also watched a movie in the Donovan Arts Center and enjoyed pizza in the Pavilion. Students loved every minute of their in-school retreat and developed new connections with their peers.

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Eighth Graders Explore Inverse Proportions

During math teacher Ed English’s eighth grade class, students learned how the pitch of a guitar’s note varies inversely to the length of its string. After calculating the differences between frequencies, students utilized the app Desmos to visualize the relationship and see the data curve on a graph.

Sixth Grade Retreat

The sixth grade retreat was filled with fun, adventures, and strengthening the grade-wide community. Students spent an afternoon at Main Event in West Chester where they bowled, played laser tag, completed a ropes course, and played in the arcade.

“It’s a time to connect with peers and form friendships,” sixth grade teacher Jennifer Licata said. “Students get to challenge themselves, make wonderful memories, and have a blast. It’s a great time for everyone.”