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 marking the beginning of the year. Seven Hills selected respect for others and appreciation of diversity as the Seven Hills value that will be a focal point for the year. In his opening address, 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. Representing each division, Doherty fifth grader Eulalie Briquet, Lotspeich fifth grader Kai Vadivelu, eighth grader Eli Kampel, andseniors Grace Dunson and Rex Shaffer each shared their own perspective 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. The boys varsity tennis team was also honored for the state championship win in the 2023 spring sports season.

Ten students named National Merit Semifinalists

Ten seniors were named semifinalists in the National Merit Scholarship Competition. 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. Finalists will be announced in early spring.

Marsha Williams '77 Kicks off Alumni Speaker Series

Marsha Williams ‘77 kicked off this year’s Alumni Speaker Series by addressing the Upper Schoolers in The Schiff Center. The Alumni Speaker Series is in honor of the 50th anniversary of The Seven Hills School and invites back alumni to share their life and career experiences with current Seven Hills students. Williams told the Upper Schoolers about her career in market research, where she specialized in brand and consumer insights and had clients like Nickelodeon and LEGO. “High school is a time to discover who you are. Be conscious and aware of your own self-discovery. Self-discovery is fun and exciting, even if it can be scary,” Williams said.

Williams also visited the Health Occupations Students of America, or HOSA, Club to share her experience as a volunteer domestic and international courier with the National Marrow Donor Programs. She also volunteers for Habitat for Humanity and spoke about her passion for volunteering and wanting to help people. One of her earliest experiences of realizing the joy of volunteering was during an Earth Day litter pickup, when she was a student at CPS.

Freshmen bond at Retreat

The ninth grade retreat took the freshmen class to Camp Ernst in Burlington, Kentucky. The class spent two days getting to know each other and understanding the expectations of the Upper School. The students competed in a series of relays with their advisories and played watersports, climbed a ropes course, and completed team-building activities. Several upperclassmen, who are part of the Beekeepers mentorship program at the Upper School, joined the freshmen retreat to run games and answer questions about being an Upper School student.

Awards Roundup

Upper School students often showcase their talents, academic achievements, dedication to service, and strong character outside of school and receive noteworthy recognition. Here are some of the awards recently our Upper School students recently received:

Youth Poet Laureate of Cincinnati
Senior Gabrielle Walker was named the 2023-23 Youth Poet Laureate of Cincinnati by WordPlay Cincy. A committee of experts chose Walker because of her unique perspective on poetry’s impact on community engagement and the eloquence of her own writing.

Ohio Poetry Awards
Seven Upper School students received awards from The Ohio Poetry Association’s 2023 High School Poetry Contests. Senior Diana Zhang won the first place award for the ethos category. In the same category, Junior Anna Kunkel placed second, junior Ahalya Nambiar placed third, and junior Claire Liu received an honorable mention. In the free verse category, junior Evy LaBare placed second and junior Lauren VordemEsche placed third.Junior Dougie Schecter placed second in the lyric poem category, and junior Shlok Mehta placed second in the nature poem category. Their poems will be published in the Ohio Poetry Association chapbook.

Upper Hosts Club Fair

Upper Schoolers received a sampling of the more than 60 clubs being offered this year at the annual Club Fair over two days in the Hillsdale Commons. Representatives from each club hosted a station and answered questions from potential new members. From backyard games to business and tutoring to fishing, clubs are an excellent opportunity for students to get more involved and discuss their interests at school.