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

Discussion of the Cold War

History teacher Eric O’Connor recently presented an engaging lecture on the vast components of the Cold War, including narratives on how it began and ended in several European countries.  O’Connor’s lesson included a number of in-depth looks at Romania, the former German Democratic Republic (GDR), and the former Czechoslovakia, to name a few. The lecture also focused on dictators and despots, the character traits that empowered them, and those that sent them to their downfalls, such as that of Romania’s Nicolae Ceausescu. O’Connor answered a number of questions about the fall of the Berlin Wall and how Hungary’s open borders unofficially brought an end to the divide between East and West Germany. Students were especially interested in the economic aspects of the Cold War, namely, how West Germany rolled a marketing campaign and economic boost into one gesture to give East Germans 100 deutsche marks to spend in West Germany after the wall fell. “Germany’s slogan for reunification was powerful,” said O’Connor. “It changed from, ‘We are the people to, We are one people.’”

Senior Named Candidate for National Merit Corporate Scholarship

Congratulations to senior Catherine Kogan, recently named a candidate of the 2021 Special Scholarship Competition by Schneider Electric North America Foundation. The prestigious application process places Kogan among a select few who will have the opportunity to receive a scholarship award. Kogan was selected based on a number of criteria, including her reading test, writing and language tests, and math test scores on the PSAT. 

Precalculus Honors Students Evaluate Expressions

Students in Sarah Mullan’s precalculus honors class recently used their prior knowledge of special right triangles from geometry class to evaluate expressions involving the six trigonometric ratios of 30-, 45-, and 60-degree angles. “As a class, we generated the sine, cosine, tangent, cosecant, secant, and cotangent values for 30-, 45-, and 60-degree angles using the 30-60-90 and 45-45-90 triangles from geometry,” said Mullan. “Then, we did some examples simplifying expressions containing these various ratios all together.” Mullan said her students continued to practice the concept by working on a worksheet in small groups in breakout rooms.

Senior Talks COVID-19 on local Podcast

Senior Nandini Likki recently tried out her podcasting chops on WVXU’s Democracy & Z, a student-run podcast that airs in conjunction with Democracy & Me, which is an educational outreach project of 91.7 WVXU. The podcast, “Our Pandemic Semester,” featured Likki, as well as students from University of Cincinnati, Central State University, and Howard University students. Likki, a member of the Kennedy Heights editorial board of Tellus Zine, discussed the many aspects of being a student during the pandemic. Likki joined other students in talking about her experiences as a high school student throughout the pandemic. Seven Hills students Erin Finn and Naina Purushothaman also serve on Kennedy Heights’ editorial board. Tellus Zine is a digital publication led by an all-youth editorial board, showcasing visual art and creative writing by young adults from across Greater Cincinnati.

Books for Lunch – Save the Date!

Books for Lunch is going virtual this year. The 2021 Books for Lunch (BFL) committee, co-chaired by Seven Hills parents Dorothy Corbett and Michelle Setzer, is honored to present Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jennifer Egan! Egan, who is also president of PEN America, has a prolific body of work including, “A Visit from the Goon Squad,” “The Keep,” “Look at Me,” “The Invisible Circus,” and the story collection, “Emerald City.” “We are so delighted to have someone of Egan’s caliber to be part of our annual Books for Lunch event,” said Setzer. “I know the Seven Hills community—from our Upper School students to our families and friends—will enjoy hearing from Egan during her virtual visit in February.”

Time: Noon

Date: Feb. 5

Place: It’s Virtual! Register now to receive your Zoom Code!

In its 35th year, Books for Lunch invites noted authors to Seven Hills for enriching experiences with both students and the wider community. This year, the BFL experience will include a real-time, virtual Q&A via Zoom in conversation with author Curtis Sittenfeld at noon on Feb. 5. Tickets are $30. If you would like to donate or register for this Books for Lunch event, go to www.7hills.org/BooksforLunch. A Zoom code will be emailed prior to the event to those who have registered.