Earlier this month, Townsend Harris High School opened its doors to families of prospective students from the Class of 2029 to take part in an annual open house. The event highlighted the vast range of academic and extracurricular opportunities offered at THHS, ranging from award-winning research programs to top citywide sports teams.
Current THHS students volunteered to guide prospective students and their families on a tour of the school building, showcasing the school’s key facilities, such as different classrooms and science labs, as well as bulletin boards featuring student work. During the tour, guides informed their groups about a variety of things, including THHS’s academic requirements, annual events, and activities such as the Election Simulation.
Coordinator of Student Activities Jaime Baranoff said, “It’s always exciting and fun to welcome people in and show off our school.”
Junior Brandon Pinto, who volunteered as a student tour guide, said, “Judging by what I saw at the open house, I think that the Class of 2029 would definitely fit into our community. The students at the open house were unique and expressive. One of them caught me by surprise by holding a Classic-decorated microphone and ‘interviewing’ me on my experience [at THHS].”
The Student Union was largely responsible for organizing and running the event, stationing members throughout the school to answer questions. SU Club Liaison Elvis Chan said, “The SU’s duty was mainly to send out the form to get volunteers, but also we provided the scripts, food, and flags, and held the orientation for volunteers to learn about how open house is going to function.”
The participation of student volunteers in guiding the tours is a major part of the THHS open house.
“Prospective students can learn from the current students the most and the current students understand the […] students’ point of view since they were in the same shoes only a few years ago and they can answer questions about what it’s like here. It gives a more authentic feel to the tour,” said Ms. Baranoff.
Eighth graders from throughout the city came with their families to tour THHS, some of whom shared their feelings and initial thoughts about the school.
Eighth grader Melvin Zhou said, “Something I haven’t seen as much that I really appreciated was the welcoming atmosphere here at Townsend and the safety that students feel here at this school. Although this school isn’t as big, they make up for it with the community aspect.”
Prospective student Thomas Suarez, who attends JHS 185, shared a similar perspective, saying, “I went to some other open houses, and this one was really welcoming with the band and live singing. That was really nice. I didn’t really see this in other schools.”
Student Susanna Kozyra, who currently attends Middle Village Prep, said, “I liked all the different science rooms they have, and I really want to go here because I want to pursue STEM. I [also] really liked the Harry Potter [decorated] floor; that was cool to see.”
Flor Rosse Bobadilla, an eighth grader from Success Academy Rockaway Park Middle School, said, “All the schools that I tried to search up don’t really focus on humanities; I noticed that overall in the city, it’s more so STEM-related, so when I found out about Townsend and I did my research, it really [interested me], especially how competitive it is. It kind of reminds me of my old school.” In regards to the application process she also said, “It challenges one to think outside the box and become more creative in order to not only help the community, but the world in the future.”
Reflecting on the open house itself, Jenny Tan, mother of a prospective student said, “We toured other schools…[and] in Townsend we saw actual students leading the tours whereas in other schools they just let you wander around, which doesn’t give the most authentic experience. We were hoping from before that you guys would be really organized and have a good tour, and our expectations were definitely met.”
At this year’s open house, THHS began providing translation services in the gymnasium for families to ask questions in languages they felt most comfortable with. Thaseena, who also helped translate in Bangla, said, “I think that having translators for visitors definitely helped the experience for a tremendous amount of people. …I could feel that they felt more open and this made the experience more memorable for them. These moments are what help build a community and offering translations is a stepping stool in building these meaningful connections.”
Commenting on the school community, Elvis also said, “This year, with the new addition of the spirit squad that was outside cheering, and many more volunteers [who were] more enthusiastic, parents and students [left] here with a smile and were able to learn a lot about our school.”
Elvis touched on the importance of the student volunteers, saying “At the end of the day, the volunteers [are key]. If we had no volunteers as tour guides, this event would not have been successful.”
