SEVEN HILLS The Buzz

March 14, 2013

Inside this BuzzCreating Conversations: Ann Anzalone 2Upper School News 4Middle School News 6 Lotspeich News 8Doherty News 9Kindness Retreat 10

Celebrating the rich diversity of our school community at annual International Dinner

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Seven Hills families came together March 8 to celebrate the rich diversity of our school community at the Fifth Annual International Dinner. Families enjoyed a wide variety of food and edu-tainment activities from different countries and cultures.

Our students and faculty presented outstanding musical performances from the Spanish, Chinese, Indian, African, and Celtic cultures.

Congratulations to Nate Gleiner, English teacher and Equity and Justice Coordinator, and Upper parent Florine Postell, Chair of the International Dinner Planning Committee, who organized the event! Special thanks to Rica Ligeralde and Lalitha Chunduri, who coordinated the potluck dinner; Xiaolan Cui, who coordinated the performances; Allison Head, who coordinated the activities for the younger students; and all of our wonderful volunteers!

Congratulations to Middle/Up-per Latin teacher Brian Sebastian (right), who will be graduating from the Univer-sity of Florida in April with a Ph.D. in Clas-sical Studies. Part of the fund-ing for Brian’s tuition came from Seven Hills’ Brodie Family Faculty Betterment Fund.

Brian is pictured with Head of Upper School Nick Fran-cis at one of the gatherings (including cake) of Middle and Upper faculty in his honor.

Congratulations, Dr. Brian Sebastian

Congratulations to junior Jessica Seibold, who will receive the Youth Leader-ship Award presented by the United Way of Great-er Cincinnati in a cer-emony honoring commu-nity leaders on April 30. This prestigious honor is given to one high school student in the region each

year. As part of the ceremony on April 30, Jess will address the audience of 1,000 invited guests.

Junior wins Youth Leadership Award

The past few weeks have been filled with wonderful events at Seven Hills, and the next Buzz—right after spring break—will feature special events including Everybody Counts, Global Ed Day, Cultural Connections, Upper and Middle Talent Shows, Pi Day, Joust!, and more!

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On Thursday, Feb. 28, nationally recognized education expert Ann Anzalone shared practical tips for raising successful children with an audience of nearly 200 parents and faculty members. The event was the fourth in this year’s Creating Conversations parent educa-tion speaker series.

Ann’s enthusiasm and practical strategies for fostering eager, atten-tive learners are based on the proven theory that movement wires the brain. She indicated that all children can be successful with focused attention, a positive attitude, aspiration and the eager-ness to ask questions. For parents who have children with attention concerns, she encouraged them to introduce cross-lateral exercises,

Creating Conversations Ann Anzalone: “Setting Up Children for Success”balance activities such as yoga and concentration games like play-ing cards, chess, scrabble, puzzles, swinging and spinning. She also said nutrition factors, such as protein for breakfast and limiting refined sugars, and sleep habits, such as eight or more hours of deep sleep in a dark room, help children boost their immune sys-tems and support human growth hormones.

Parents attending the event enthusiastically participated in her exer-cises and many indicated they were ready to implement her strate-gies with their children. To learn more about Ann Anzalone, visit www.annanzalone.com.

International Dinner!

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A look at what’s happening at Upper SchoolSee page 6 for Middle School, page 8 for Lotspeich & page 9 for Doherty

Seven Hills Upper and Middle Latin scholars have continued their tradition of outstanding results at area Certamen events. In late January, for the third straight year, Seven Hills hosted a local Certamen event in which 27 teams from 10 public and private schools participated. Middle/Upper Latin teacher Brian Sebas-tian reported, “Seven Hills had another terrific result, with a team from each level making the finals (each level had 9 teams): The Level 1 team of Matisse Pep-pet and Jack Lane finished second. The Level 2 team of Tigar Cyr, Clay Hausberger, and Ben Nordmeyer also finished second. The Upper Level team of Claire Romaine and Anne Stuart Bell finished third.”

On Feb. 16, four teams from Seven Hills competed at the Lakota West Certamen, the last local event before the state tournament at the OJCL Convention March 8-10. Brian reported, “One of our (eighth grade) Level 1 teams finished first: Piper Spooner, Jack Lane, Matisse Peppet, Jacob Weinstein. Our other Level 1 team just missed making the final, finishing fourth: Calvin Arbenz, Shane DiGiovanna, Nina Lubeck. Our (ninth grade) Level 2 team finished second: Clay Haus-berger, Ben Nordmeyer, Tigar Cyr, Bennett Smith. Our (12th grade) Upper Level team finished fourth (a very respectable finish, considering they were shorthand-ed): Claire Romaine, Anne Stuart Bell.”

Watch for our next Buzz, right after spring break, for big news about our Latin scholars at the OJCL State Convention!

A new program in the Upper School is the Career Café. It occurs once a month during lunch and offers students the op-

portunity to interact with parents and alumni in a vari-ety of professions and careers. February’s speaker was Marielle Kabbouche, a child neurologist at Cincinnati’s Childrens Hospital. Marielle is shown with her daugh-ter, Mia Samaha, and Grace He, Co-coordinators of the Career Cafe program.

As a result of their outstanding performance on the AMC math competition administered on Feb. 5, senior Allan Loeffler, junior Brian Hu, and sophomore An-drew Wilson qualified to participate in the next round, called the AIME. This is for the top 2.5% of partici-pants nationally.

Eight Seven Hills students competed at the OCTM Math Competition at Xavier University on Feb 23. The Seven Hills team placed first at the XU test site, ninth in the state among schools of any size, and second in the state for schools the size of Seven Hills. Locally, Brian Hu came in first; Tigar Cyr, fourth; Alex Jiang and Gregory Sun, fifth; and Ganlin Liu, 14th. Statewide, Brian came in 21st, Tigar 60th, Alex and Gregory 70th. Brian, Tigar, Alex and Gregory have been in-vited to represent Seven Hills at the OHMIO statewide competition on March 30 in Columbus.

Since junior Kayla Kavanaugh’s Science Fair project won awards at the regional and state competitions last year, she was invited to submit an abstract for a poster presentation at the annual Ohio Academy of Science meeting April 6 at the University of Findlay. She was also invited to become a Junior Member of the acad-

emy. Since this is by invitation only, it is a great recognition for Kayla and Seven Hills. Kayla’s abstract was accepted, and she will be giving a poster presen-tation at the April meeting, along with researchers from many universities. Her abstract has also been published in the

proceedings of the academy, Ohio Journal of Science. Most researchers do not get their first publication until they are in grad school! Congratulations!

Senior John Rowe attended the U.S. Pony Club Midsouth Quiz Rally on Feb. 16 in Franklin, Tennessee, where he placed first in his division in the individual overall com-petition, and his team from Greenacres Pony Club also placed first. He will be representing the Midsouth region at the national competition this summer.

Senior Cullen Deimer reported in the article, “Varsity Academic Team Ends Perfect 8–0 Season,” in the online Canvass (http://7hillscanvass.org/: “Since November, the Seven Hills Academic Team has been competing in regional matches against teams from local schools. On Feb. 9, a tournament was held at Cincinnati State to determine which teams will move on to the regional competition in April. The Varsity Academic Team recently wrapped up a perfect 8-0 season and earned a bye through the local tournament, securing a spot in the regional tournament in April. Varsity players are seniors (below) Anne Stuart Bell, Jay Panandiker, John Rowe, Chris Baggott, Cullen Deimer, and Katie Shen.

Matisse Peppet, Jack Lane; Anne Stuart Bell, Claire Romaine

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The Upper School’s Science Olym-piad teams had outstanding results at the regional Ohio Science Olym-piad Tournament, and Seven Hills qualified to compete at the Ohio Science Olympiad State Tournament on Apr. 27 at Ohio State University.

Sponsored by Ohio State Universi-ty, the Ohio Science Olympiad is an academic, interscholastic competi-tion designed to increase student interest in the STEM disciplines of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics and to improve the quality of science education. In order to win, teams competed indi-vidually or in groups in a series of 23 events testing members’ knowl-edge of science skills, processes, and applications in a wide range of science disciplines including biol-ogy, chemistry, physics, technology, earth science, and mathematics.

Dr. Lenore Horner shared these great results:Second Place:Experimental Design - Leah Yuan & Angie LiTechnical Problem Solving - Grace He & Michael Bain

Third Place:Circuit Lab - Lin Liu & Steven ShiForensics - Sara Johnson & Zach Abraham

Fourth Place:Designer Genes - Angie Li & Phoebe UmWater Quality - Joanne Li & Lindsay FinnDisease Detectives - Ashok Dheenan & Ellen CoombeDynamic Planet - Nicole Tiao & Roshni Bagli

Fifth Place:Write It Do It - Zach Abraham & Phoebe Um

Sixth Place:Astronomy - Lin Liu & Steven ShiDisease Detectives - Chauyie Wei & Phoebe UmDynamic Planet - Kayla Kavanaugh & Chauyie WeiDesigner Genes - Chichi Xie & Roshni BagliRemote Sensing - Allie Baretta & Henry Head

Academic Teams continued

“This is the first perfect season for Seven Hills, and the first time a Seven Hills team has finished first in the league. After several blowout matches, including a 60-24 win over Finneytown, the season came down to a last minute comeback against a tough CHCA team.

“After a slow start, the Reserve Team (pictured at right) ended its season 5-3 and competed in the recent tournament. The Team, consisting of freshmen Fatima Anwar, Matthew Clayton, Tigar Cyr, Alex Jiang, Andrei Savu, Bennett Smith, and Kathy Wang, handily defeated Wyoming and Read-ing in the early rounds of competition, but was edged out by Cincinnati Country Day and missed the finals.”

At right, Kathy Wang, Fatima Anwar, Andrei Savu (front), Bennett Smith, Tigar Cyr, and Alex Jiang.

The Seven Hills Science Olympiad Teams

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This year the Seven Hills varsity swimming and diving team had 21 individuals who really pulled together as a team and went on to have one of the Stingers’ most accomplished seasons! Among the accolades achieved were three All- Ohio award recipients; seven swimmers represented at the Ohio State Meet; six Seven Hills records broken; our diver placed 10th at the District Meet; and nine swimmers made the MVC First Team. The team was coached by Katie Forster and assisted by Meredith Jack-son.

In its first season as a varsity winter sport at Seven Hills, the bowling team had a 3-12 record, beating Summit twice and Sycamore. Freshman Corey Wilson advanced to districts with qualifying scores of 239, 189, and 205. He finished 74th out of 150 bowlers at districts. The team was coached by Robin Wilson and assisted by Glenn Shil-linger.

The varsity boys basketball season (11-15) was book-ended by games against two extremely tough opponents (Top 10 team in the State of Kentucky and the top Division IV team in the State of Ohio). In between these two games, the team showed tremendous resilience and determina-tion, culminating in several hallmark wins, including a sectional championship! Highlights of the season include

an overtime win against Cincinnati Hills Chris-tian Academy, where Pauley Gosiger and T.J. Robinson led the Sting-ers on the offensive and defensive ends, and three tournament wins. After defeating Gamble Montessori in the first round of the tournament, the Stingers were able to avenge an earlier loss to rival Cincinnati Coun-try Day in the second round. The Stingers carried the momentum from this 24-point rout of CCD into the sectional championship, where they were able to defeat Fayetteville-Perry—the team that knocked them out of the tournament last year. Roderick McFarland (pictured)knocked down crucial free-throws down the stretch to secure the 66-62 overtime victory for the Stingers. Play-ers earned All-League and All-District honors. The team was coached by Willie Hill and assisted by Nick Bascom, Brian Phelps, and Greg Burkett.

The junior varsity boys basketball team finished with a 16-6 record. Some big wins included Summit, Purcell, Highlands, Wyoming, and Cincinnati Christian. The JV team played with a great intensity and their success stemmed from an “in-your-face” pressure defense. The team was coached by Brian Phelps and assisted by Nick Bascom and Greg Burkett.

The freshman boys basketball team overcame injuries and illness to have a good season capped off by a thrill-ing come-from-behind victory over a Wyoming freshman team that went into halftime with a 20-5 lead. The team dedicated themselves to being better basketball players and better teammates. Most improved during the season

Vars i t y Win te r Spor t s was team defense, holding opposing teams to about 30 points. The team was coached by Greg Burket and assisted by Nick Bascom.

The varsity girls basket-ball team finished with a 7-15 record after a tough schedule and many inju-ries. The girls worked hard throughout the season and improved greatly. Toward the end of the season, the team really started to click and showed what they were capable of as they defeated CHCA in overtime and gave the con-ference champion Summit a big scare. The Stingers topped off the season with a huge upset win in the sectional tournament against Miami Valley. Lauren Weems (pictured) scored her 1,000th career point as a junior! She and two other play-ers earned All-League and All-District honors. The team was coached by Tyler McIlwraith and assisted by Cary Daniel.

Varsity gymnastics started the season with a bang at the Anderson Invitational, scoring a 115. The team had a lot of highs and lows this year, including injuries after win-ter break. The Stingers competed as individuals—Reena SenGupta was given the District Sportsmanship Award and Sarah Williamson was presented the District Scholar Award. The team was coached by Sue Bone and assisted by Keri Rizkallah and Megan Watson.

The varsity cheerleaders had a busy, spirited season—they were on the go each week up until the final game in March. The team had a strong group of senior leaders this year whose work ethic and creativity kept up with the fast-paced season. Jasmine Cline-Bailey was named to the All-League First Team. The team was coached by Natalie Wildfong-Williams and assisted by Melissa Woodard.

For a complete list of winter athletic awards, click Athletic Awards.

Seven Hills swimmers and coach at state

Basketball images by Keith N

eu

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A look at what’s happening at Middle School

Doherty fifth grader Kevin Wang and seventh grader Natalie Choo com-peted in the Scripps Ohio District II Regional Spelling Competition at the Freedom Center on Feb. 23. English teacher Mandy

Hayes said, “Both Kevin and Natalie were poised and focused, and they did a wonderful job of representing Seven Hills at this event!”

Eighth grader Shane DiGiovanna was in-terviewed on WLW’s Sunday morning news program on Feb. 24. Shane is the Make A Wish Family (Kid) of the Year for this area’s Make a Wish. He was on TV to describe

his Zero G wish and to promote the Mar. 2 gala. Shane is pictured with Channel 5 news anchor and Seven Hills alum Jonathan Hawgood.

Students in Jennifer Licata’s and Bridget Ancalmo’s sixth grade science classes got hands-on experience in their study of the circulatory and respiratory systems

on Mar. 7 when Dr. Jill Russell demonstrated the inner work-ings of the heart and lungs of a cow. In ad-dition to being the ornitholo-

gist who is working with the sixth grade bird study program, along with Dr. Dave Russell, Jill Russell, Ph.D. is an assistant professor of biology at the College of Mount St. Joseph.

Seventh grade social studies teacher Doug Huff told us, “After the events that occurred at Sandy Hook Elemen-tary, we decided to dig a little deeper into the Second Amendment and gun rights in the U.S. The students read an article in a student magazine called Upfront (NY Times for kids). We watched several speeches from pro- and anti-gun lobbyists. We did an activity in class called Vote With Your Feet where students had to walk to opposite sides of the room based on if they supported gun rights or not. Once they chose a side, we held a debate. The students were assigned to cre-ate a bumper sticker about their viewpoint on guns in the U.S. and we hung the bumper stickers up in the classroom.”

At right, the Young Family Library was the location of a Cupcake Celebration during fruit break on Feb. 19 to thank students for donating to a local literacy chari-ty. Senior and master cupcake decorator Rachel White did a beautiful job of decorating the cupcakes.

In their P.E. classes, Middle Schoolers got lessons in martial arts from mixed martial arts instructors from Fighter Inspired Training.

At the Cincinnati Chapter MATHCOUNTS compe-tition on Feb. 23, the Seven Hills team captured first place and qualified for the State Competi-tion in Columbus! Team members were Calvin Arbenz (fifth place), Matisse Peppet (19th place), Daniel Grass (32nd place), and Curtis Sun (44th place). Also competing for Seven Hills were Michael Barresi, Charlie Goldsmith (not pic-tured), Jack Lane, Calvin O’Brien, Mary Grace Ramsay, and Sarah Zhang.

At the MATHCOUNTS State Competition on Mar. 9, the Seven Hills team placed sixth, and Calvin Arbenz placed 21st. Congratulations!

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The Sixth Grade Boys Basketball “Team Hill” completed an undefeated season with a 15-0 overall record and CYO Division II City Tournament Championship! Pic-tured are (first row) Brandon Dinan, Michael Karama-noukian, Ben Walker, Michael Glum, Drew Vecellio; (second row) Andrew Brown, Brice Hill, Coach Willie Hill, Brennan Callow, and Coach Joe Callow.

Seventh graders had the opportunity to explore some of the issues facing young adolescents when Youth Frontiers, Inc., a national educational leader in char-acter development, conducted a Courage Retreat on Feb. 26.

Youth Frontiers seeks to teach students how to incor-porate the values of kindness, courage, respect and integrity into their personal and school lives. The nonprofit organization aims to strengthen core values, confront negative behaviors, and enable students to recognize the consequences of their actions. Youth Frontiers’ high-impact retreats use interactive games, music, small discussion groups and gripping stories to break down walls between young people and to help them to see each other differently.

Middle School Winter Sports

The Middle School boys A basketball team had a fantastic and spirited season. The boys practiced ex-tremely hard and made a true effort to focus on basic fundamentals to compete in a very tough A division. Intensity, determination, hustle and an aggressive style of play were displayed throughout the season. Eleven players came together every day as a family to prepare and improve their basketball skills. They accomplished that feat with a true team-first attitude. Highlights on the season include wins over North Col-lege Hill, Clark, Lockland, and CHCA. The Stingers were coached by Ed Wiseman and Mario Kirkendall.

The boys B basketball team set the goals of improv-ing individual skills as well as playing well as a team within a very competitive league. Despite suffering key injuries at several points in the season, the team adapted and overcame these challenges to meet both goals. Each game saw the team improve and play much better. Tough defense became the B team calling card as opponents struggled to score at the levels they did against other teams. Several players stepped up during each game to contribute significantly and the B team formed a cohesive unit that supported each other while eliminating mistakes on the court. Every single player on the team became better and a more com-plete player which will serve them well as they take the next step in their Seven Hills basketball experience. The B team was led by Coaches John Krauss and Ma-rio Kirkendall.

The boys C basketball team had a very successful 2013 season. With 15 regular season games and an MVC Tournament, the players received a lot of experi-ence against very good competition. With each game, the boys improved tremendously and played with a lot of heart and hustle. The team was competitive in every game and managed wins over league rival Summit and a tough St. Vivian. Every player on the team had a role and contributed significantly. The Stingers were coached by Ryan Butler and Andrew Mazza.

The Middle School girls basketball team had a terrific season that reflected tremendous improvement by all players. The girls finished the season with a record of 9 wins and 7 losses, and they had a strong showing in the post-season tournament. The team upset the #2 seed team and lost in the semifinals by 1 point. The seventh grade girls played a number of games as well and were very competitive by the end of the season. Everyone contributed greatly to the team’s success. The team was coached by Linda Clark and assisted by Sally Leyman.

The Middle School gymnastics team had a fabulous season. The team placed third overall at the champion-ship meet. The season was filled with enthusiasm to learn new skills and compete with them. The girls met season goals and competed well. Practices were great and coaches were very happy with this team. The team was coached by Keri Rizkallah, Megan Watson, Sue Bone, and Todd Tveita.

Seventh graders participate in community building activities at Courage Retreat

The Courage Retreat at Seven Hills included communi-ty-building activities and presentations on “Fear—Fol-lowing the Crowd” and “Courage—Following Your Heart.” The day concluded with the activity, “The Pebble in the Pond,” in which participants committed to take action based on their retreat experience.

The Courage Retreat was organized by Middle/Upper Guidance Counselor Vicky Hausberger. Upper School students who helped with the retreat were Amanda Shepherd, Andrew Berliant, Pauley Gosiger, Katie Hickenlooper, Bob Seibel, Blair Brinker, Caleb Dan-iel, Jasmine Cline-Bailey, Hannah Silverman, Rachel White, John Rowe, Alanna Quinlan, Henry Head, and John Larkin.

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A look at what’s happening at Lotspeich

“Using rhythm instruments, fourth graders learned to play the song, ‘The Boatman,’ which was a popular American song from the 1800s that celebrated the riverboat workers

on the Ohio River,” said music teacher Robin Wilson.

Librarian Marcia Snyder said, “Thanks to the many parent volunteers headed by Brandi Patchan and Megan Sprigg, Betsy Schram and the staff at The Bookshelf in Madeira, and excited students, the Lotspeich Book Fair was a great success. The

students eagerly anticipate Book Fair each year and they enjoyed shopping for books for themselves and for gifts for their families. The fourth graders earned money and bought books for their Buddies at Mt. Healthy North Elementary Pre-school. Thank you for all your purchases and for supporting our Lotspeich Library!”

Counselor Judy Arnold told us, “Under the guidance of art teacher Jody Knoop, Lotspeich students in grades 1–5 created bracelets which they sold to benefit Glad-ys, our Unifat student. The bracelets were made of wood and elastic, and they were painted in a variety of bright colors. We sold them for $1 each, and we made $230.”

Science teacher Natalie Wildfong-Williams hosted Breakfast with the Animals on Mar. 8 to honor the fourth grade Junior Zoologists. She explained, “The Junior Zoologiosts come in early to the science lab one morning a week to care for an animal and make general health observations.”

Crochet Fever in the Lotspeich art studio!

Lotspeich and Doherty fifth grad-ers participated in the high-ener-gy, interactive Kindness Retreat, led by Youth Frontiers, in the Hillsdale Commons on Feb. 27. See page 10 for photos.

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A look at what’s happening at Doherty

Fifth grader Kevin Wang repre-sented our school at the WCPO Region II Spelling Bee on Feb. 23. Unit III Coordinator and math teacher Vaishali Sarbhoy said, “Kevin performed really well and managed to almost

reach the final round. He was eliminated in the fifth round. We all are so proud of him! Here is his photo on the WCPO Spelling Bee website.” Seventh grader Natalie Choo also did a great job in the Spelling Bee.

Units I-II Coordinator Elisa MacKenzie told us, “Mrs. Vanoy’s first graders read several books in the Elliot’s Park series. The Wal-nut Cup has a healthy apple and granola recipe for soccer play-ers. The students fol-lowed the recipe then munched away.”

“Anne Vanoy’s first graders study penguins as part of both Antarc-tica and bird units,“ said Coordinator Elisa MacK-enzie. “When

they presented a finger puppet show to the Beginnings students, one little boy liked their poetry rhythm so much, he started to dance along to it.”

Third grader Julia Moser, first grader Riley Moser, and kindergartner Ryan Brackett helped Beginnings members make bird feeders with soy nut butter, pine cones, and bird seeds. “Beginnings fami-lies have the opportunity to do messy art at school, allowing their children to explore materials to the full-est while keeping the mess at school,” said Beginnings Director Julie Brackett.

about what it takes to make journalism a career, and she used interactive role-playing to teach interviewing skills. She also emphasized the importance of work-ing cooperatively and talked about the significance of using reliable sources for information. The students learned a lot from their time with Mrs. Sunberg!”

Unit III Coordinator Vaishali Sarbhoy told us, “Doherty parent and journalist Hagit Sunberg spoke with Tracy Hickenlooper’s class about news reporting. The stu-dents have been working with newseum, a current events website, and they are learning the nuances of writing news! Mrs. Sunberg shared her experiences

Mrs. Sarbhoy shared news of more special events in Unit III: “As a part of our Cultural Connections year, Unit III students had the wonderful opportunity to spend time with famous chef Jean Robert DeCavel, who came in on Feb. 7 to talk about France. Mr. DeCavel shared funny stories about French customs and brought in interesting symbols of France such as a replica of Na-poleon Bonaparte’s hat and the Eiffel Tower! Relating USA and France geographically, he talked about how the weather affects the food and culture of the country. He shared his love for cooking and how that led him to his career choice. The best part of the presentation was the delicious crepes that he made, with fillings of Nutella, honey and preserves! Everyone had a lip-smacking time!”

Sam Bloom, a member of a recent Newbery Award Committee, spoke to the fourth and fifth grade students in the Doherty Library about the process of choosing a Newbery winner, and about some of the best New-bery winners.

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Since November, Unit III and art teacher Mimi Stricker have had an extra helping hand in their art class-es. Visiting artist Neil Dignan has been com-ing in once a week to work with Mrs. Strick-er and the students, as part of a Visionaries

and Voices program that helps to break down barriers with people with disabilities. Neil is Mrs. Stricker’s stu-dent teacher and he comes in to observe her teach art. He has also started teaching lessons of his own. Neil’s first lesson was in ceramics when he and the students researched and created hens and roosters out of clay. At the end of his training, Neil will receive a teaching certificate, and the artwork created by Doherty stu-dents will be displayed in April at a V&V art show.

Doherty and Lotspeich fifth graders participated in the high-energy, interac-tive Kindness Retreat, led by Youth Frontiers, in the Hillsdale Commons on Feb. 27. The students danced and played games as a whole group and met in small groups to discuss topics like friendship, bullying, and ways that they could be kinder to each other. The students learned the importance of using the I.C.I strategy to (I)nterrupt the bullying by talking to the person be-ing bullied, (C)ompliment the person being bullied, and (I)nvite them away from the situation. The fifth graders had a wonderful time getting together as a team to address these important issues.

The Kindness Retreat was organized by Counselors Judy Arnold and Mitzie Moser. Upper students who helped at the retreat were Sarah Shim, Reena SenGupta, Miguel Alemany, Tess Renusch, Devin Garrett, Conner Rouan, Sam Ellis, Zach Abraham, Hannah Berger, and Jonny Fisher.

Units I-II Coordinator Elisa MacKenzie told us, “Kirby Schuchter’s first grade class recently experienced “broadcasting”! The students were divided into groups and each group was assigned a planet to research. They used books and Internet articles to gather infor-mation. The students learned about bullet points and how to take notes rather than copying everything word for word. They met with their teacher numerous times and once they finalized their information, it was adapted into a script for each group. The students then chose whether they wanted to be the weatherman/woman from that planet or the news anchor. Art teach-

er Mimi Stricker helped students create backdrops for each of their planets. Each group presented the news and weather from its assigned planet.”

Extended Day Pre-Kindergar-ten students cel-ebrated Mardi Gras with mask-making projects, crown making, dancing, and Kings cake.

We love Unit I’s impressive poet-ry presentations in which students memorize poems and present them in small groups (fall and winter presentations) or alone with props (spring presentation) on the stage in the cafeteria before an audience of students, teachers, parents,and grandparents! Bravo, Unit I!

Doherty & Lotspeich Fifth Grade Kindness Retreat