Ten Students Named National Merit Finalists

All 10 Upper School seniors named semifinalist in the National Merit Scholarship Competition have been named finalists. Congrats to Alice Bachelder, Dhanush Bearelly, Nicholas Cohen, Arjun Gupta, Timothy Jordan, Ed Li, Carter Stevens, Oliver Szabo, Leo Weller, and Mikul Wyer. The National Merit Scholarship Program is an annual academic competition that honors academically talented U.S. high school students. Students qualify for recognition in the National Merit program with their scores on the PSAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. To be considered for the Merit Scholarship award, the semifinalists must fulfill several requirements. Winners will be announced in late spring.

Two Students Awarded Hauck Scholarship

Filmmaker Deborah Garcia H’67 Returns for Alumni Speaker Series

The Upper School welcomed filmmaker Deborah Koons Garcia H’67 back to campus as part of the Alumni Speaker Series celebrating the 50th anniversary of The Seven Hills School. Garcia has made fiction and nonfiction films, with a focus on documentaries about agriculture and the food system. She shared with the environmental club and film and animation and creative writing classes about how she got into filmmaking, her interest in environmental issues, and her writing process.

During an all-school assembly, she shared with students how a speech writing contest and a science project about plants during her time at Hillsdale helped her in her later film career. “I learned to not take the superficial way out and to dig really deep into something and distill it and present it in a way people can understand it and are moved by it,” Garcia said.

“I wish that you continue to be so well-educated and appreciate your education as much as I did,” Garcia said.

Also in March, Graeme Harten ’11 returned to campus to speak with students about economics and finance. Harten is an analyst at a financial services company in San Francisco. He told students about his experience and answered questions about emerging markets and the impacts of agricultural.

Freshmen perform “As You Like It”

As part of Meredith Brown’s freshman English class, students performed selected scenes from William Shakespeare’s “As You Like It.” Performing in groups, the students gained a better understanding of the work and put their own spin on their scenes through costumes and props.

Black History Month Visitors to Upper

Two Upper School clubs brought visitors to campus in February in honor of Black History Month. Paws 4 A Cause Club hosted Dr. Kamaria Maseru-Catalan, or Dr. Cat, a Black veterinarian and the owner of Rover the Rhine, a veterinary hospital in Over-the-Rhine, in honor of Black History Month. Dr. Cat and her associates shared what daily operation is like at a veterinary hospital and the different types of jobs in the vet field.

“No job is too small or too insignificant, and it is not too early to start working,” Dr. Cat told the students gathered in the Young Family Library.

The African American Awareness Club hosted the Soul Lunch with food donated and served by the Seven Hills Network for African American Parents for all Upper School students in Founders Hall on Feb. 27.

Teachers Defeat Students in Stinger Day Basketball Game

The Upper School was full of activity for a Stinger Day, hosted by Student Government, on March 1. There were activities, games, pizza, and karaoke during an extended lunch period followed by the annual students vs. teachers basketball. The students tried their best, but, thanks to an excellent performance by history teacher Dr. Eric O’Connor, the teachers came out on top!