Despite what we hope, students will often measure their success against that of their peers. Combine this with being at Townsend Harris, where the desperation to get into selective colleges is all but tattooed on our foreheads, and competition can raise both grades and stress levels. However, the chance for every student to get an equal opportunity for a higher grade is hindered when collaterals, extra credit, and tests are not consistent among classes. So why not level the playing field?

Hawknet24 is Townsend Harris’s main WiFi network. As the main Internet source in a high school full of kids with laptops, tablets, and phones, it isn’t uncommon to hear, “Do you know what the WiFi password is?” echoing through the halls. Connecting to the school WiFi network in the past few years has been easy, but this is no longer the case. After Hawknet24 was hit by a virus last year, stricter guidelines have been issued regarding connecting to the school’s WiFi network.

It has happened to many of us. You just received your new schedule for the spring semester and you’re sitting in your language class. Your eyes are staring wide open in confusion at the teacher and the board when you notice someone you had class with last semester. The anxiety, hopelessness, and ad nauseam are mirrored as you silently mouth to each other, “Do you understand this?” It’s the same class, but not the same teacher.

Toddlers learning to walk fall many times before they learn to balance their body weight and hold themselves upright. Imagine if every time the toddler toppled over to the ground, his mother picked him back up. The toddler would never learn to get back up. He wouldn’t have experienced the struggle of trying to push himself up after enduring a painful fall. He wouldn’t have learned what it meant to “get back up.” As Thomas Wayne stated in the movie Batman Begins, we fall “so we can to learn to pick ourselves up.”

Townsend Harris’s Festival of Nations (FON) is a chance for students to highlight the diversity in this school and share a part of their culture through either song or dance. Just as in the past, this year students will join groups, either those they have a personal connection to or just have an interest in, and for a few hours will transport audiences all around the world. However, before students can take center stage, they should know that they are in store for a few changes.

The textbook has long been the teacher’s best friend. Not only does it serve as a rich well of knowledge, it also provides a ready source of homework assignments: outlines. By assigning outlines, teachers seek to reinforce the subject material in compact, one-to-two page documents. In theory, rigorous teaching and an arsenal of outlines are a potent weapon for learning. However, teachers often rely on textbooks too much, and ignore the importance of in-class learning.

Townsend Harris gym. The mere thought of it could make almost any Harrisite cringe. We’ve all been there—that initial disbelief when we first heard the rumors. Despite our desire to quit, we endured...