With another school year over, the English department at Townsend Harris High school has undergone a plethora of changes during the 2024-2025 academic year, including the emergence of a new assistant principal, an initiative to move the English regents into sophomore year rather than junior year, and new tactics related to artificial intelligence and writing assignments.
The English Regents change, which came about after junior English teachers raised concerns about juggling Regents preparation with the AP English curricula, started with a pilot.
Sophomore English teachers Brian Sweeney and Ryan Dunbar prepared their classes to sit for the exam this past January. After those sophomores were successful, the plan expanded to include all sophomores for the June exam.
Sophomore Denyce Ordonez, who took part in the pilot initiative, said,“I was glad that I wouldn’t have to bear the burden of stressing my junior year knowing how notorious that year is for its levels of work, yet I was worried on how to properly prepare for this exam and what the outcome would be.”
Sophomore Amelia Zara said that she was “pretty happy” with the change. She recounted her differing experiences with test prep prior to taking the exam, explaining her ease with multiple choice questions and her concerns for the two essay-prompts. “I remember when we were doing full-period essay writing, I kept looking at the clock, thinking to myself ‘what do I say next?’ I remember my mind being completely frozen and slowly losing focus, and I was scared that that was how I was going to end up on the test,” said Amelia, explaining how her concerns disappeared as soon as she saw her grade on the exam.
Mr. Dunbar said the success of his students was through the help he received from junior English teachers was essential to preparing students for the exam. “I have to shout out junior teachers that have been preparing juniors for years,” he said. “Teachers like Ms. Lipinski, Ms. Frank, Ms. Duffy, and Ms. Garklavs were all willing to share their materials and provide help for sophomore teachers so that we could confidently prepare sophomores before the Regents Exam.”
Mr. Dunbar, who became assistant principal of English earlier in the spring semester, reported on how his new role allowed him to “look a little bit deeper beneath the hood and get an understanding of what’s happening in the department.” From being a supportive figure within the English department as a teacher leader to becoming the assistant principal of English, Mr. Dunbar said that he continues to be amazed by the developments within the department. “I remain impressed by what’s happening in this department. We really are an incredible department, and I’m so proud of the work that all the teachers are doing,” he said.
With the ongoing departmental ambition to improve and progress comes the need to acknowledge a common concern amongst teachers and students alike: the usage of artificial intelligence, and how it will be dealt with in our school community in the future.
Several English teachers said they have seen a rise in the usage of AI in even the most minor of assignments.
English teacher Kevin McDonaugh, said that AI is “everywhere,” and that “it’s inescapable.” He said that he tries to lessen how heavily weighted written assignments are so that students can gain confidence in their writing abilities. “My hope is then, that the students think that they don’t have to be perfect and that they trust their own thinking more, like, ‘I trust my own thinking, and I’m not gonna use AI,’” he said.
When asked about the ways in which plagiarism and AI use will be dealt with, Mr. Sweeney, Mr. McDonaugh, and Mr. Dunbar all suggested the return of handwritten assignments. “When you add in the coming cell phone ban, I think there will have to be a lot more pen and paper next year,” said Mr. Sweeney.
“I think that’s not even necessarily like combating AI alone as much as it is just good practice to ensure that students can write on demand in class, because that’s the best way to prepare them for these sorts of exams. It even goes beyond the exams. We want students to be able to think critically on their own and on the fly. By pushing students to continue to write on demand in class, we feel that we will be able to ensure that we’re providing proper preparation to them for what lies ahead,” said Mr. Dunbar.
