Seven Hills graduates 90 students in 48th Commencement

“Each of you must work to the best of your abilities to be a tsunami of goodness. Acts of kindness generate waves of positive change within yourself, your family, your friends, and your community.” The words of commencement speaker Pastor Peter Matthews ’91 charged the Class of 2022 with the responsibility of using their talents to better the world around them. Seven Hills celebrated its 48th Commencement in the Field House on the Hillsdale Campus on June 3. The 90 graduates, clad in caps and gowns, came together to commemorate their myriad achievements and time at the Seven Hills Upper School and to listen to the words of wisdom of several school community leaders, including Head of School Chris Garten, Head of Upper School Matt Bolton, and Board of Trustees Chair Stephen Baggott. Students also heard from classmates Anand Patil, Thomas Murphy, and Mercer Kruzner, history teacher Eric O’Connor, and parent Maureen Hood. Congratulations to the Class of 2022!

Upper Schoolers given end of year awards

Upper School students were honored at the annual Awards Ceremony on June 2. Held in The Schiff Center, students of all grade levels were celebrated by their peers and the Upper School faculty. The ceremony began with the announcement of the following students, who earned a Concentration in Seven Hills’ Experiential Learning program for studying a subject in-depth in the following fields:

Jenny Hu – Global Citizenship
Lucy Schneider – Holocaust Studies
Sebastian Rodriguez – Engineering & Design
Jenna Villar – Interior Design

Junior Annelise Hawgood was presented the Miriam Titcomb Award, the highest honor awarded to a junior, for exhibiting excellence in “initiative in some area, originality in some area, love of fellow man, and courage of convictions.”

Senior Gabrielle Christmon was presented with the Clement L. Buenger Award on behalf of the Fund for Independent Schools of Cincinnati.

Junior Anna Papakirk received the Neil Smith Scholarship, which is presented to a student in grade nine, 10, or 11 who best exemplifies the qualities for which Neil Smith is known. The selected student must “meet the world with optimism and good will; expect the best from themselves and others; and exhibit courage, compassion, integrity, and intelligence.”

The Personal Achievement Award was presented to the students whose contributions have made Seven Hills a better place. Honorees were freshmen Roman Russo and Landen Langhammer, sophomores Isaiah Richardson and Phoebe Rubenstein, juniors Shahnaz Hassan and Ryan Meador, and senior Drake Stewart.

Alice Bachelder and Isabelle Anthony received the Sophomore Scholastic Achievement Award. This is awarded to sophomores who exhibit a scholarly temperament and who have contributed the benefits of learning in a given discipline to the school and/or the wider community. These students exhibit a love of learning and intellectual curiosity and share enthusiasm for the discipline with others.

Junior Rohan Nambiar received the Citizenship Award. This is awarded to the student who takes an active role in school and/or community affairs, and who exhibits mature political and global consciousness and a sense of civic responsibility.

Junior Shanaya Bharucha was given the Creativity and Original Thinking Award. This award is given to a student who is committed to independent thinking, and who has displayed an inquisitive and creative habit of mind.

Junior Jack Ringel was awarded the Community Scholar Award, presented to the student “who has shown exceptional achievement in a given discipline and who has extended that knowledge to benefit the larger community.”

Josh Porter was presented the Carol Brestel Award. The recipient is selected by vote of the faculty “of a senior who combines enthusiasm and talent and who exhibits leadership in school life.”

Jenny Hu received the Florence Fessenden Award, which is given to a senior for outstanding achievement in a certain academic area.

Maya Martinez Diers and Suhani Gupta were presented the Alumni Association Service Award, which is given to seniors who have an outstanding record of service to home and community.

Department Awards

Josh Rising—Andress Art Award

Liam Belluso, Gabrielle Christmon, Grayson Halonen, Cece Hood, Aahana Katneni, Elsa Lick, Jake Messer, Anand Patil, Aditi Sinha, Paris Weems, Lena Wilson, Wendy Woffington—Theater Award

Lucas Wall—Fine and Performing Arts Award

Riley Jones—English Award

Andrew Zhou, Sophia Schuermeyer, Ahalya Nambiar—Kathy Richardson Award

Justin Gao—History Award

Manan Vij—Math Award

Ellie Cain, Logan Bien—Biology Award

Emily Rosenfeld—Chemistry Award

Sebastian Rodriguez—Physics Award

Jerry Hou—Computer Science Award

Sarah Croog—Latin Award

Logan Bien—Chinese Award

Julia Moser, Martina Miquelarena—French Award

Gabriella Khaskelis, Daniella Amadeo-Muniz—Spanish Award

Mackenzie Hartman, Ella Jo Piersma, Alexis Veldhuis—Female Athletes of the Year

Jacob Joffe —Male Athlete of the Year

Ella Jo Piersma—Female Scholar Athlete

Sebastian Rodriguez—Male Scholar Athlete

Caitlin Drew—Female Archie Griffin Sportsmanship Award

Collin Chen—Male Archie Griffin Sportsmanship Award

Will Kersting—Elinor Scherr Mosher Award

2022 Senate Award— Marielle Newton

2022 Senate Award Honorable Mention — Barbara Hepp

May Terms Return

The freshmen, sophomores, and juniors spent their final week of school in May Term intensives, week-long courses focusing on topics like digital storytelling, outdoor adventuring, health and nutrition, science fiction, civil rights, and more. Students in Life Hacking went to Cincinnati State to learn kitchen skills and took part in a cooking demonstration. Students in Animal Behavior had a visit from the Newport Aquarium and learned about penguins. Cincinnati Treasures visited downtown and toured multiple locations while learning about Cincinnati history. Students in Guilty Until Proven Innocent worked with the Ohio Innocence Project, met with exonerees, and took part in their own mock case studies. Civil Rights Through Landmarks traveled to Alabama to tour important sites to the civil rights movement in the 1960s. Each class shared what they learned with their classmates with a presentation in The Schiff Center at the end of the week.

Two Students named finalists for AJC Service Awards

Senior Maya Martinez Diers and junior Jack Ringel were both named finalists for service awards from the American Jewish Committee, which honors outstanding student volunteers of all faiths for their passion for making their community a better place. Martienz Diers was named a 2022 Simon Lazarus, Jr. Award finalist for their passion for promoting equality in all communities. As an tutor, they inspired others to speak their truth and provided a safe space for them to do so. Ringel was named a 2022 Simon Lazarus, Jr. Human Relations Award finalists. While tutoring elementary school students in math, Ringel created customized curriculums focused around student interests, such as food, video games, or famous athletes, to help them better connect with the material. He has tutored more than 200 students and translated some of his lessons into Spanish to reach a larger population.

Students succeed on National Latin Exam

Twenty-six Upper School students received honors for their scores on the National Latin Exam. Junior Erin Finn won her fourth gold medal on the exam and earned the prestigious Maureen O’Donnell Book Award.Sophomore Gabrielle Walker earned her fourth perfect score in a row. On the 12th grade Advanced Reading Comprehension (Poetry & Prose) exam, Suhani Gupta and Naina Purushothaman earned sliver medal maxima cum laude and Robby Ligeralde and Sarah Croog earned magna cum laude. On the 11th grade Advanced Latin Prose exam, Finn earned a gold medal summa cum laude, Julia Tamai earned a silver medal maxima cum laude, and Beau Goldstein, Elisa Buttress, and George Mentrup earned magna cum laude. On the 10th grade Intermediate Reading Comprehension exam, Walker, Anna Kunkel, Lidya Tesfaya, Carter Stevens, Oliver Szabo, and Nora Donovan earned gold medal summa cum laude. Margaret Tenney and Arjun Gupta earned silver medal maxima cum laude and Leo Weller and Kailyn Brown earned magna cum laude. On the nineth grade Intermediate Latin exam, Kavan Vadivelu, Lauren VordemEsche, Evie Ferguson, and Josie Schneider received silver medal maxima cum laude. Rowan Blair, Caleb Hamon, and David Haas received magna cum laude.

Junior places in Top 20 in PhysicsBowl

Junior Jerry Hou placed 17th in the PhysicsBowl Division I. The PhysicsBowl is an international high school competition in which competitors must answer 40 multiple-choice physics questions in 45 minutes. Hou took the Division I exam for first year physics students. Thanks to Hou’s interest, this was the first year Seven Hills competed.