“You make us all so proud,” UFT President Michael Mulgrew told the 12 New York City public school teachers named Big Apple Award winners for their teaching excellence at a June 19 celebration on the lawn of Gracie Mansion. Family members and colleagues of the honorees joined the salute to those who Mulgrew said accept the challenge to teach in the largest city school system with the highest percentage of student diversity and need. Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña applauded the winners as “real rock stars.” April Yee, a 1st-grade bilingual teacher at PS 105 in Borough Park and one of the winners, said, “I feel like Cinderella going to the ball.” The honorees were chosen from 3,000 nominations made by families, students, colleagues, administrators and community members. Now, as Big Apple Fellows, they will provide insight on educational policies and programs.
Big Apple Awards
The winners are (front row, from left) Phyllis Berk of PS 188 in Queens, Irina Gonzalez of JHS 123 in the Bronx, Yee, Doreen Donnelly of TAG Young Scholars in Manhattan, Ramil Buenaventura of the Renaissance Charter School in Queens and Jacqueline Stokes of the Richard H. Hungerford School in Staten Island, and (back row, from left) Joseph Pesqueira of the Bronx Center for Science and Mathematics, Nekesha Bynum of PS 310 in Brooklyn, Laurence Minetti of the Collegiate Institute for Math and Science in the Bronx, Jessica Russo of PS 55 on Staten Island, Margaret Boyd of the New York City Lab Middle School for Collaborative Studies in Manhattan and Kathryn Vitale of Frederick Douglass Academy VIII MS in Brooklyn. More photos >>
Mulgrew congratulates Gonzalez while Stokes looks on.