The crowd at the union’s New Retiree Luncheon clapped and cheered as union leaders ticked off the things they no longer have to worry about: hall passes, lesson plans, permission slips, fire drills and waking up at 5 a.m.

The roughly 350 new retirees assembled at the New York Hilton Midtown on Dec. 5 for the UFT Welfare Fund-sponsored gathering to toast their life after retirement.

UFT President Michael Mulgrew encouraged them to let go of any stress and frustration they experienced during their careers and think about the impact they had on “thousands and thousands of children’s lives.”

“Despite all the challenges from the crazy school system we work in, you did that and nobody can take that away from you,” he said.

The retirees also had the chance to peruse a vendor fair to learn about health care benefits, including the Supplemental Health Insurance Program, and other union programs for retirees, such as the Si Beagle Learning Centers.

Mulgrew and UFT Secretary LeRoy Barr asked attendees to join the Retired Teachers Chapter if they had not already done so and remain advocates in their retirement. They said retirees can help with campaigns like Fix Tier 6 and respond to the threats to Social Security and Medicare that are expected to come from the new administration.

Retired Teachers Chapter Leader Bennett Fischer also urged the new retirees to stay involved, saying they have the ability, experience and know-how. “We show up and we play an important part in the political activities of our union and an important part in the politics of our nation,” he said.

Two alumnae from the class of 1987 of the HS of Graphic Communication Arts in Manhattan cried out and hugged each other when they crossed paths at the luncheon. Laura Schembri, who retired from PS 18 on Staten Island, and Renee Airhuoyo, who retired from PS 304 in the Bronx, had kept up on Facebook over the decades but had never seen each other in person since high school. They did not know that the other would be at the event.

“Isn’t that crazy how the world works?” Schembri said.

Retired payroll secretary Cristina Vargas-Moya, who worked for the last 13 years of her career at PS 8 in the Bronx, carried a bag that read, “THE QUEEN HAS RETIRED” in pink letters.

Vargas-Moya retired on July 1, but returned to work part time. “They needed me back at my school,” she said. But she has plenty of time, she said, to do other things, such as help care for her infant granddaughter, visit her native Dominican Republic and “explore other countries” with her husband.

Retired high school math teacher Jean Anglade was excited to see his former student Alonso Rivera working at the event as an American Sign Language interpreter. Anglade taught Rivera at Central Park East HS about a decade ago and didn’t know he had become an interpreter.

“When one of my students is doing well, it makes me so happy,” Anglade said.

Gina Ricci retired in August from P188, a District 75 school in the Bronx, after a 34-year career. She now lives in South Carolina and was visiting New York.

Retirement has changed her sense of time. “I don’t know what day of the week it is anymore,” the former teacher said. “It’s so funny.”

Ricci teared up when she talked about her plan to visit her “babies” at P188 the following day. “The most difficult part of retirement is missing my students,” she said.

Maria Laidlaw-Covey, who retired in January from PS 12 in Brooklyn, said, “I feel like I did my part to contribute to society.” Over the course of her teaching career, she said, she helped turn out “a lot of good citizens who will now go out and create social change for their generation.”

The former chapter leader has relocated to Florida with her husband and is enjoying reading, swimming and visiting national parks.

“I was always very active,” she said. “I just kind of want to exhale. I have no plans for now.”