For over two decades, science teacher John Tsai has taught physics to Townsend Harris students. He’s helped coach PSAL teams. He’s also the parent of two THHS graduates. However, he is perhaps most well known to the entire community as the THHS tech coordinator.
“If something is plugged into the wall, someone will ask me to look into it,” Mr. Tsai said, discussing the wide array of technological issues that come to his attention.
Mr. Tsai’s responsibilities include everything from network planning and debugging, managing computer labs, maintaining student devices and smartboards, setting up tech for big meetings, to handling student ID data and more. He also balances decisions about maintaining older computers and their repair contracts with purchasing newer ones.
Although Mr. Tsai is the only teacher in the tech department, he doesn’t work alone. He has a CUNY intern majoring in computer science, Alfred Siby Cyriac, at Queens College, who aids him in his tasks, sorting out any issues that arise while Mr. Tsai is busy teaching a class. On top of this, he regularly collaborates with Assistant Principal of Organization Ellen Fee, giving recommendations on what equipment to buy for the school, based on her priorities and tech requirements.
But even with all the extra help, there are moments when Mr. Tsai directly needs to investigate a tech situation. He said, “In emergencies such as a whole building network outage, Ms. Fee will cover my class while I investigate the situation.” As for the difficulty of the problems he has to fix, Mr. Tsai said, “It’s on a case-by-case basis. Some are resolved quickly but some others may require access to the room when students aren’t there.”
Moreover, when the use of an entire lab or computer cart is needed, his work must be done before or after the school day, which adds challenge to Mr. Tsai’s work. Mr. Tsai also handles digital testing, as he “preps the laptops used for testing […] by prepping 5-6 carts” or setting up a student’s personal device.
When there are no technological emergencies at THHS, Mr. Tsai spends his time teaching regents-level physics.
Sophomore physics student, Farhan Jahin, discussed Mr. Tsai’s teaching style. “Mr. Tsai engages the class by making academic jokes and he does hands-on activities that help us stay interested in learning,” he said. “He is overall a very good teacher and supporter.”
Farhan also spoke about the amusing moments during Mr. Tsai’s class, such as how he might use an air cannon when students’ attention spans drift towards their phones. “ It was a funny way of keeping us engaged,” Farhan said.
“He’s very good at explaining things that people don’t understand and helping others. I really like how he’s able to give live demonstrations of how science works,” said sophomore Adrian Cheung, who is also in Mr. Tsai’s class. Students who spoke to The Classic emphasized his easy approachability and unique strategies to support them throughout the class.
Currently, Mr. Tsai also helps coach two athletic teams: the girls badminton team and the table tennis team.
Sophomore Stella Hwang, a member of the girls badminton team, said, “Mr. Tsai made a really welcoming environment for us. It felt comfortable to be who I am around him and everyone else on the team.” She added that it was good to have a coach she could get close to and said,“Mr. Tsai was still just as welcoming even after our season ended, and he still shows his care for how we’re doing in school.”
Sophomore Harrison Zhu, a manager of the table tennis team, commented on Mr. Tsai’s contributions to the team. He said, “Mr. Tsai does everything Head Coach Mr. Lao does. He supervises practice, assists in training, and gets us to games.”
“Mr. Tsai is one of the unsung heroes of THHS,” said English teacher and Classic advisor Brian Sweeney. Mr. Sweeney said that he finds himself in need of help from Mr. Tsai constantly: for Chromebook cart issues in his classroom, WiFi and Ethernet issues for Classic live streaming, Keepers Day and Reading Initiative tech needs, and more. “Resolving technological issues can be extremely stressful but Mr. Tsai is perhaps the most calm person I know. Dunkin Donuts has the saying ‘America runs on Dunkin.’ Well, our school can’t operate without all of our technological needs, so it’s no exaggeration to say that Townsend Harris runs on Mr. Tsai’s calm and generous nature.”
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