News

Guidance Department welcomes newest staff member: Nafiza Tarannum

Morgan Whittingham, Dihali Perera, and Jubaidah Tasnim • January 6, 2026

Guidance counselor Nafiza Tarannum sitting in her office, room 312K, in the guidance suite

Nafiza Tarannam joined the Townsend Harris High School Guidance Department at the start of the 2025-2026 school year.

Ms. Tarannam said, “Townsend Harris had such a great spirit, all the students were so passionate, [and] so dedicated— I knew it was one of my top choices [when I was] applying.”

She did her bachelor’s degree in corporate communication and publishing. Later, she worked at Penguin Random House for a year, and at Madison Square Garden in human resources.

Ms. Tarannam said she always wanted to work in a field relating to education since high school; however didn’t fully know her career path until after completing her master’s degree in school counseling.

For her master’s degree, she “worked at the Career Services at Columbia University at Teachers College” and interned at “Brooklyn Tech and a local middle school near [her] house.” She is also the regional director of a non-profit organization called MIST, Muslim Interscholastic Tournament, and has always worked with high school students.

Guidance counselor Nafiza Tarannum standing in front of the college banners in the guidance suite (Ryan Chen)

Junior Aki Benjamin said, “I think her kindness, her enthusiasm, and her excitement to meet with us [for the interview] was what drew me in to consider her seriously. And then her full knowledge and ability to critically think in response to our questions all made her fit for the role.”

Guidance Counselor Sara Skoda said, “I think that she is very warm and friendly. I think she comes from a great background. She did some interning at Brooklyn Tech, and […] she was also a student there too, so she definitely understands our population of students, [who are] high achieving students.”

As of now, Ms. Tarannum is working with freshmen in helping them adjust to their first year emotionally and academically. “I have two caseloads of students, freshmen. I am [also] meeting with a lot of mandated students who require a group or individual counseling. So, in terms of that [counseling], a lot of my day-to-day work is meeting with students in groups or even individually to talk about emotional or even academic support.”

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About the Contributors

Jubaidah Tasnim, Copy Editor

Jubaidah is a sophomore at Townsend Harris High School. She aspires to achieve a career in the medical field. In her spare time, she likes to sketch, read books, and watch true crime. In terms of work showcased in The Classic, her favorite part is the artistry and creativity shown by others when it comes to the thumbnails. And one of her favorite pieces she worked on in The Classic is “City Council resolution calls for supporting student journalism in all NYC public high schools.”

Ryan Chen, Editor-in-Chief

Ryan is a junior at Townsend Harris High School, and he plans to pursue a career in business/finance. He enjoys taking photos but wants to improve at “making” photos. His favorite Classic project he worked on is the 2025 FON Saturday night live stream. He will forever remember the moment the song “Dynamite” started playing during the intro segment. After technical difficulties on Friday night, hearing that intro song and knowing that things were working came as a huge relief. His favorite Classic piece created by others is the video “High School Teachers Define Gen Z Slang.” He genuinely didn’t know half of the terms going into the video, and it helped him understand conversations during high school.