HOW TWEET IT IS
ELECTIVE PROCEDURES
FON 2014 INCREASES OFFERINGS
An exploration of THHS’s relationship with the social media platform as it becomes more common for students to share their thoughts in 140-character bursts.
After numerous letters from students, The Classic looks into why there seem to be fewer humanities electives, particularly given the amount of classes offered by the science and math departments.
With over half of the school participating in FON, Townsend Harris continued its annual tradition of holding a cultural dance festival. This year’s FON saw numerous changes that made the performance another memorable one.
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March/April 2014 - Volume 30 No. 7
CLASSIC > SPECIAL FEATURE PAGE 10
> ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT PAGE 16
Townsend Harris High School at Queens College
THE CLASSIC
All bands likely to meet next year, despite divided opinions Suswana Chowdhury and Katherine Maradiaga EDITORS-IN-CHIEF A SURVEY CONDUCTED on a sample of the faculty shows that if a new vote were to be held on the bell schedule, 60 percent would vote for some form of last year’s schedule, while the remaining 40 percent would vote to keep the current one. According to Principal Anthony Barbetta, there are no plans to change the bell schedule at this point in time, though a “few minutes may be added to each band to make sure all students meet the DOE requirements of seating time.” The extension of bands will come as good news to advocates for the previous schedule, as most maintain that the bands are far too short and hinder student learning. Art teacher Margherita Wischerth says the “time constraint does not allow [for students] to fully engage in the art activity or to have an extended practice of a skill.” For band teacher Peter Lustig, practicing is also a problem because after “setting and warming up, and leaving time to pack up, there is not enough rehearsal time left.” Mr. Lustig, however, would prefer to keep this year’s schedule because “it is too disruptive to keep changing.” English teacher Christine Duffy had a block schedule at her former school with 69-minute periods that met three times a week. Ms. Duffy did not indicate a preference, but finds 40 minutes to be “too short to do a variety of activities and go
in-depth on a topic.” “It makes it harder to do group work because there is limited time [and it is also] harder to have engaging ‘do nows’ because I have to move the lesson along,” she added. AP of Humanities Rafal Olechowski agrees, commenting that he “feels our students are capable of really sophisticated thinking and most of our teachers are eager to make it possible, [but] the time is too short to bite into the really real things in the lesson.” However, many of the same teachers agree that having all bands meet every day allows for continuity with classes, while also making it easier to schedule tests. This is the main argument for teachers who would vote to keep this year’s schedule. Math teacher Magda Frankowski commented that “I have more flexibility when planning my tests, and it gives me more time to review before the Regents Exam.” Principal Barbetta agrees that “testing is easier with the current schedule.” He added, “It’s [also] difficult to plan lessons when the classes meet on different days.” After a year, students have adjusted to the new bell schedule but still find the previous schedule to be more appealing. Sherin Shibu, sophomore, who created posters last year in protest of the changes said she’s “getting used to all bands meeting.” She added, “that doesn’t necessarily mean that I don’t miss the older schedule and that I wouldn’t welcome a change back to the older schedule.” Junior Kirandeep Kaur feels “the new
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Remembering Lynne Greenfield Assistant Principal of Humanities Page 2 homework and testing policies have made the work load manageable” but still prefers the block schedule. “Those additional mintues make a
huge difference. It is difficult to give a full lesson in 40 minutes, especially when discussions are held.”
College Board reverts to a 1600-point scale for the SAT, makes writing optional Kseniya Davydova STAFF WRITER THE COLLEGE BOARD recently announced that it is revamping its test format to more closely match that of the high school curriculum and making it similar to its competitor, the ACT. According to The New York Times, the SAT, once the most common college placement exam, had 1.7 million test takers in 2012, as opposed to the ACT’s 1.8 million. David Coleman, the College Board president, was instrumental in the creation of the Common Core standards that are taking over NYC public schools. He came to the SAT board in 2012, immediately expressed dissatisfaction with the current exam, and proposed changes. He states that basing the test off of the high school curriculum will give low-income students more of an advantage because they are typically unable to afford extensive
test prep courses. Senior Mateusz Bruszewski agrees, stating, “It will be easier and less stressful, but will also cause more competition between students. Students will not have to worry about memorizing vocabulary or writing an essay.” The revamped SAT will last three hours as opposed to the original four and will return to the 1600-point scale. A proponent of the old test, senior Rafal Chudzik states, “Long tests build endurance and shortening the exams are not beneficial for students when colleges put emphasis on testing.” The optional essay section of the test will be an extra fifty minutes. Unlike the previous essay which asked for an opinion on an ambiguous quote or idea, this essay will be document-based, requiring evidence and the author’s stylistic elements to prove a point. With the college admissions competition, guidance counselor
Sara Skoda said, “I would still advise all of my students to take the essay because it will not hurt and give students an advantage.” The math section will focus on a specific set of topics from the high school math curriculum, such as real world problem solving, data analysis, and algebra. Calculators will not be allowed for some sections. This does not discourage freshman Anson Wu, who stated, “It should be easy. I mean, I think it’s just basic math.” Coleman’s reason for the change is that, “We are not interested in students just picking an answer but justifying their answers.” Some say the test will get harder, while others believe that it will get easier. Guidance counselor Adrienne Nasser believes that “the new test will be better for students because it will be similar to the ACT, in which students tend to score higher.” The SAT does not plan to add a science section to its exam, but the similarities between the
Photo by Asia Acevedo
Out with the old, in with the new.
two tests are evident. There will no longer be a guessing penalty, a science passage will be incorporated into every reading section, and lastly, students will get to choose whether they want to write an essay. Aside from that, Coleman
proposed to radically alter the vocabulary portion of the reading sections. These will include more common words that are used in college courses, and infamous SAT words such as “munificence,” “obstreperous,” and “pulchritude” will become a rarity.