Spooktoberfest!

Upper School students and faculty enjoyed fall festivities during Spooktoberfest on Oct. 30. The Upper School community met in a socially distanced fashion at the Upper School quad to get some fresh air, hold costume competitions, and go “trick-or-treating.” Click here for photos from the event.

Click here to see more photos from Spooktoberfest!

Latin Honor Society

Four students were inducted into the National Junior Classical League’s Latin Honor Society: senior Daniel Goldfeder, juniors Jenny Hu and Ella Jo Piersma, and alumna Madeleine Magruder ’20.

National Latin Exam & Latin Honor Society

Congratulations to the students who took the 2020 National Latin Exam (NLE). Upper School Latin teacher Katie Swinford said students, who took the exams in the spring of 2020, were recently recognized this fall because school closed due to quarantine in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Swinford, who added that the mission of NLE is to promote and support the learning and teaching of the Latin language, said awards were given to the following students:

National Latin Exam 2020:

9th grade

Nora Donovan – level I gold medal summa cum laude

Alex Krol – level I gold medal summa cum laude

Gabrielle Walker – level I gold medal summa cum laude

Margaret Tenney – level I gold medal summa cum laude

Frances Schlueter – level I gold medal summa cum laude

Oliver Szabo – level I gold medal summa cum laude

Kailyn Brown – level I silver medal maxima cum laude

John Corbett – level I silver medal maxima cum laude

Arjun Gupta – level I silver medal maxima cum laude

Susie Stahl – level I silver medal maxima cum laude

Leo Weller – level I silver medal maxima cum laude

Lidya Tesfaya – level I cum laude

10th grade

Elias Buttress – level II gold medal summa cum laude

Erin Finn – level II gold medal summa cum laude

Beau Goldstein – level II silver medal maxima cum laude

George Mentrup – level II silver medal maxima cum laude

Maya Parikh – level II gold medal summa cum laude

Julia Tamai – level II silver medal maxima cum laude

11th grade (nota bene: Jenny Hu and Ella Jo Piersma took level IV)

Sarah Croog – level III gold medal summa cum laude

Jack Fechter – level III magna cum laude

Suhani Gupta – level III silver medal maxima cum laude

Grayson Halonen – level III silver medal maxima cum laude

Jenny Hu – level IV gold medal summa cum laude

Riley Jones – level III magna cum laude

Robby Ligeralde – level III gold medal summa cum laude

Ella Jo Piersma – level IV gold medal summa cum laude

Aditi Purushothaman – level III magna cum laude

Naina Purushothaman – level III gold medal summa cum laude

12th grade

Alex Frohn – level IV magna cum laude

Daniel Goldfeder – level IV silver medal maxima cum laude

Robert Jeon – level IV magna cum laude

Laxmi Namboodiri – level IV silver medal maxima cum laude

Reva Namboodiri – level IV cum laude

2020 graduates

Alex Grass – level V gold medal summa cum laude, won the Maureen O’Donnell Book Award for four gold medals on the NLE 

Madeleine Magruder – level III magna cum laude

Matt Wabler – level V silver medal maxima cum laude

Kevin Wang – level V gold medal summa cum laude, won his SECOND Maureen O’Donnell Book Award for FIVE gold medals on the NLE 

Seven Hills Upper School Students to Serve on Local Magazine Editorial Board

Sophomore Erin Finn, junior Naina Purushothaman, and senior Nandini Likki were recently selected by the Kennedy Heights Arts Center to serve as members of the 2020-2021 Teen Artists for Change Editorial Board. The students will write articles for the Tellus Zine magazine, as well as participate in the student podcast, Democracy & Z. The Kennedy Heights Arts Center chose the students because of their writing and speaking skills, creativity, and desire to make an impact on the world through communication and collaboration. The students’ first board meeting took place via Zoom in late October. Purushothaman, also a reporter for Seven Hills’ Canvass newspaper, said she is excited to return to Tellus Zine for the second year. “Tellus gives me an opportunity to be a part of a group of others like me who are excited and passionate about art and reporting,” said Purushothaman. “Without it, I probably wouldn’t have had the chance to experience the independence that comes with leadership positions or the responsibility that comes with working with a team. Also, most importantly, I am looking forward to this year’s issue of Tellus hopefully addressing the hardships that the world has faced this year in a creative way that gives local youth a voice.”

History Students Zoom Denmark to Discuss Presidential Election

Eric O’Connor’s Upper School history students recently discussed the U.S. Presidential election with high school students at Odense Katedralskole in Odense, a city on the island of Funen in Denmark. Some students found socially distanced corners in the Upper School hallways to set up with their iPads. Others sat outside to host their Zoom calls. The Danish students asked questions ranging from political party preference to the tone and pulse of politics among Upper School students. Most students’ Zoom calls lasted for about 20-30 minutes. O’Connor said he arranged the calls because the opportunity to reflect upon one’s socio-political state through the lens of someone who lives outside the country is always a revelatory experience. The educational Zoom call was made possible via Upper School English teacher Caleb Paull and Danish teacher Anne Louise Sølvtoft Ottosen.