The union celebrated the 40th anniversary of the Success Via Apprenticeship program — begun in 1984 to boost the ranks of career and technical education teachers in New York City public schools — at this year’s CTE Awards Recognition Ceremony.

Teachers seated throughout the ballroom at the Sheraton New York Times Square on Feb. 26 stood when UFT President Michael Mulgrew asked graduates of the SVA program — which provides college coursework, training in technical skills and pedagogical training over a five-year period — to rise and be recognized.

“I have tried to find a teacher prep program that has been more successful anywhere in the United States in the last 40 years, and nobody can find one,” he said of SVA, a collaboration of the UFT, the city Department of Education and CUNY. “So, you are the best, the SVAs of New York City.”

About 1,000 members and guests attended the awards ceremony, whose theme was “Empowering Futures: Celebrating 40 Years.” The UFT and the union’s partners in the CTE industry gave out about 130 awards.

UFT Vice President for CTE High Schools Leo Gordon noted that “CTE is all around us” as he acknowledged K–12 educators who are connecting students to CTE. “Every time that you connect life to school, you have a better chance of ensuring that those young people are successful,” he said.

Linda Key, a theater teacher at Fordham HS for the Arts in the Bronx, received the Stanley Schair CTE Teacher of the Year Award. She began teaching at the school a decade ago, after a career as an actor and director, and uses her connections to give students pathways to Broadway, Off-Broadway and backstage careers, she said.

“It has been a great honor for me to allow my students to realize their dreams,” Key said.

Gerry Pepenella, a teacher at Hillcrest HS in Queens, received the Work-Based Coordinator for Excellence and Innovation Award for connecting students with college and career opportunities and building partnerships with industry. Pepenella said he brought his experience in the engineering industry to teaching and encourages his students to “make their passion their profession.”

Marla Gross, a recently retired business teacher at the Academy of Finance and Enterprise in Queens, received an award from NAF, a national education nonprofit that connects schools and businesses and established a NAF Academy of Finance at Gross’ school. Three colleagues, including business teacher Lorena Izzo, nominated her. “I surveyed all the students and they all talked about how she was understanding, she was caring and that she helped them a lot,” Izzo said.

Gross said she was floored to be nominated and to receive the award. “I was truly touched.”

Mulgrew gave awards to two people — Kathyrn Wylde and Frank Carucci — who fought city and state efforts in the early 2000s to cut vocational education in favor of college preparation.

Wylde, the president and CEO of the Partnership for New York City, received the Citywide Partnership Award for her support of CTE, including leading the business community against a DOE proposal to close most vocational programs.

Carucci, the UFT vice president for CTE high schools from 1995 to 2005, received the UFT Legacy Award for helping reimagine “vocational” education in New York City as “career and technical” education, which “contextualizes” academics into the different shop areas, Mulgrew said. Twenty-three years later, CTE students have the highest graduation rates in city schools, he said.

AFT President Randi Weingarten predicted there would be a national “renaissance” of CTE pathways in junior high and high school “for each and every child who wants it in America.” Earlier in the day, the AFT and the UFT hosted a discussion at the Brooklyn STEAM Center with labor leaders from New York, Massachusetts, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas about expanding CTE student apprenticeships.