The Seven Hills Buzz - December 9, 2010

SEVEN HILLS The Buzz

A Brief Word from Chris Garten

December 9, 2010

Seven Hills Chorus on Fountain Square, WSTR!

At their festive convocation, the Doherty community celebrates its long-standing relationship with the Open Door; students unveil scarves, blankets, and hats they’ve been crafting for weeks. Some Lotspeich students perform a holiday musical at a retirement home and distribute home-made gifts to the residents. Others lead the annual Mitten Tree drive to benefit families in Madisonville, decking a holiday tree with warm clothing for needy children. Middle School students conduct a Hunger Banquet, simulating the deprivation of the Third World. They host developmentally-challenged visitors from Starfire University and the Director of the Caring Place, and inspired to “pay it forward,” they plan an elaborate drive for food, toiletries, coats, and toys. Upper School students cultivate facial hair to raise awareness of prostate cancer and plan an “alternative spring break” to build homes in Appalachia. These projects provide a host of opportunities for our young people to lead and to devote their talents to bettering the lives of others. We have a great deal to celebrate! Chris Garten, Head of School

Seven Hills named one of Top Five Academic Schools in Ohio The Seven Hills School was named one of the Top Five Academic Schools in Ohio in a study published this week by Gerber Analytics, LLC. This is the third year in a row that Seven Hills has achieved this distinction. This annual study identifies the best schools in Ohio based on each school’s performance on the Ohio Graduation Test (OGT). Continued next page

See page 6 for photos of chorus members making their awesome new scarves!

Watch for the Upper School Chorus on the “WSTR-TV Holiday Carols” program this holiday season. The chorus, Director Tina Groom, and Accompanist Lynne Miller gave a beautiful performance of two songs—“Joy to the World” and “Al Shlosha D’Varim” (translated from Hebrew to mean “The world is sustained by three things: by truth, by justice, and by peace”). The Channel 64 (cable channel 11) will air the program at these times: Sunday, Dec. 19, 8:00–10pm; Friday, Dec. 24, 10pm–Midnight; Saturday, Dec. 25, Noon–2pm; Sun, Dec. 26, Noon–2pm. This is the Seven Hills Chorus’ third year to perform on the program.

Three juniors launch environmental action website MyActions.org Three juniors are responsible for an environmental action website whose results are reaching as far as the Arctic. Michael Young, Jack Tyndall, and Daniel McKinnon created the website, MyActions.org, to encourage people worldwide to track the environmental impact of their actions and train themselves to develop environmentally sustainable habits. Michael Young said, “We started this project because of our concern for climate change and its effect on polar bears.” The project grew from Michael’s lifelong passion for polar bears and his participation in the Polar Bears International Teen Leadership Camp in October in Churchill, Manitoba, Canada, the polar bear capital of the world. The camp empowers teen Arctic Ambassadors to educate others about the effects of climate change on

Jack, Michael, and Daniel

polar bears and to organize conservation projects in their communities to work toward reducing the greenhouse gases that are shrinking the bears’ habitat. Michael enlisted the support of fellow

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