Townsend Harris alumna Eleni Sardina has joined the social studies department as a new AP United States History and AP Research teacher.
Ms. Sardina has been an educator for the last two years, previously teaching at Boys Prep Bronx Elementary School as a seventh-grade English teacher. She then began to focus on her master’s degree, student teaching at the High School for Law Advocacy and Community Justice at the Martin Luther King Jr. Campus.
This past May, she graduated with her master’s degree in adolescent social studies education. As she was looking for new teaching opportunities, Townsend Harris High School came to mind. “It was really exciting when I heard that there was a position open at [THHS]. I would love to stay in Queens and serve my own community,” she said.
During her time at THHS, Ms. Sardina was one of the sports editors for The Classic. English teacher and Classic advisor Brian Sweeney said, “Ms. Sardina was in the first class of students I taught at THHS, and she set the standard for what we want to see in young people at THHS: she cared about her work and conscientiously got it all done, but she was clearly just an inquisitive person who cared about the world around her. That made her an excellent person to have in a class but also just an admirable person in general.”
Regarding her return to THHS, Mr. Sweeney said, “I strongly campaigned for the school to hire Ms. Sardina because I am confident that she will be a strong addition to our staff and to our school overall. I have kept up with her through the years, and she’s continued to impress me from graduation to today. Ms. Sardina’s educational experiences since leaving THHS have been unique, and I think she is coming back with a lot to offer as an educator. Moreover, as a THHS alum, she joins a long and meaningful tradition of students returning to our school to teach, and I think her experiences here will help her work well with our students.”
Ms. Sardina’s passion for teaching began at a young age as her mom was a social studies teacher for 20 years before becoming a principal. “Growing up around [my mom] and seeing her love and enthusiasm for the classroom always stuck with me,” said Ms. Sardina. Moreover, studying international studies as an undergraduate at Yonsei University in South Korea also helped her grow a love for learning about history from a global perspective.
She’s most excited to work with the AP Capstone program as she never had the opportunity to take those classes when she attended THHS. She said, “I’m so excited to teach them because when I think about what is the most exciting thing as a student, it’s when you get to choose what you study. So I’m excited to be a part of that process with students during AP Research.”
In regards to the AP Research class, junior Vivian Oksenhendler said, “She brings a structure to the classroom that makes it more engaging and productive to learn.”
Then in regards to her AP U.S. History Junior Victoria Truchel, said, “Ms. Sardina is a very good teacher who does her best to teach the class what they need to know for the class and [the] AP exam. She supplies us with materials, like articles and sheets, to organize our information and use it to easily learn and study from.”
Adding on to Ms. Sardina’s classroom structure, Junior Ramisa Sharif said, “The way [Ms. Sardina] lays out her lessons and takes the time to give us primary sources and explain historical events is so efficient and it really covers everything we need to know. You can really tell she knows her stuff, and she seems so passionate about what she teaches. I’m honestly so impressed that this is her first year teaching history at Townsend, mainly because she really seems like a natural.”
Outside of teaching, Ms. Sardina loves to visit different museums and galleries, watch international films, and spend time with her loved ones. She said, “I’ll usually watch a criterion collection film and enjoy the evening with friends and family.”
