Staten Island

Parent coordinators from various Staten Island schools hand out backpacks at the UFT tent during the UFT’s third annual Back-to-School BBQ on Aug. 14 at PS 21.

PS 78 Chapter Leader Randi Leibson welcomes families to the event.

Eight-year-old Angelica shows off the backpack she received.

The PS 21 schoolyard is packed with parents and students.

Students with their new backpacks line up to get hot dogs and hamburgers.

A family picks up school supplies from one of the event’s partners.

Parents Hanan Abdelsayd (left) and Marian Soliman, who’s also a substitute paraprofessional at PS 78, and their children holding backpacks full of supplies.

Kaelly Torres, a 3rd-grader at PS 21, beams as she shows off her new backpack.

Sylvanie Phanthachit and daughter Meana, a PS 45 kindergartner, at the UFT tent.

Marie Rodriguez, the UFT Staten Island parent and community outreach liaison who organized the event, and UFT Staten Island Borough Representative Sean Rotkowitz are thrilled with the turnout.