THE CLASSIC
Summer 2016 - Volume 32 No. 8
TOWNSEND HARRIS HIGH SCHOOL AT QUEENS COLLEGE Summer 2016 1
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Science Teacher Philip Porzio
AFTER YEARS OF SERVICE TO THE SCHOOL COMMUNITY, MS. KRAMER, Mr. Porzio, and Ms. Rizzuto share their thoughts on moving on from THHS AT THE END OF THIS TERM BY Katherine Chan, rabia hasan, and Aly Tantawy
Students might notice a few familiar faces missing from the halls next fall. Science teacher Philip Porzio and guidance counselor Cheryl Kramer are both leaving the school next year Guidance to begin new chapters in their lives. Counselor However, while they may no longer Cheryl be physically present, the mark they Kramer have left on the school will live on. CONTINUED ON PAGE 3
WHEN ‘RETIREMENT’ ISN’T... As those of us here at Townsend Harris well know, news–whether actual or apocryphal–travels quickly, which is why I waited to share mine. I’ll be leaving Townsend Harris at the end of this school year, after a long and rewarding career that started many years ago, among scholars and master teachers, at Newtown High School. I’ll be leaving Townsend Harris and The New York City Department of Education, but as my students of the last almost three decades will know when they hear this news, I will not be retiring. One doesn’t stop doing that which one loves, simply because one leaves a particular institution or system, and my students will attest to the fact that I am passionate about teaching. I cherish my students and the honor it has been to make this journey together. I’ve also been blessed with incomparable colleagues -
By Helen Rizzuto
warm, generous, supportive and inspiring, and I thank all of them, all of you—our irrepressible custodial staff, our secretaries, aides and support staff in all its forms, and of course, my close friends and fellow-teachers. In spite of the fact that there are those who would have us forget, have us doubt, have us believe otherwise, we belong to the oldest and noblest of professions, and we have earned our rightful place. We have been in the trenches and climbed the heights, and every June, as Mr. Lustig lifts his baton, and the first strains of Elgar’s Pomp and Circumstance fill Colden Center, we silently take pride in our students and in what we have been blessed to impart, knowing that we have provided them with the instruments that will enable them to navigate the seas ahead. I’ll miss all of you, more than these simple words can convey. Instead
of bunking down in Room 115, as I have since we moved into this building, I’ll be out ‘on the road’ – an itinerant teacher – recasting my ‘wares’ and sharing them in their new incarnations, but I shall always take my Townsend Harris family with me. Thank you all for a lifetime of joys. Until we meet again… Ms. Rizzuto does not belong to Facebook, but can be reached at helenmorrisseyrizzuto@gmail.com Note: Ms. Rizzuto asked The Classic to publish this letter in lieu of a formal article reporting on her legacy at Townsend Harris. Though we would have reported fully on her service to the school over many years, we have respected her request.