Students of NYC, a UFT social media initiative to highlight public school students’ stories through interviews with middle and high school students, celebrated its one-year anniversary on April 11. More than 100 educators gathered at UFT headquarters as their students, who were featured online, received certificates of achievement and trophies. “There are so many kids in this school system who exist in their own little sphere of greatness,” said UFT Special Projects Coordinator Emily James, who created Students of NYC and organized the event. Ariana, a student at Fordham HS for the Arts who has a debilitating neuromuscular condition, said it was “amazing to have the opportunity to share the story of someone like me, of someone people don’t see often.” Kelynne Edmond-Oristel, who teaches a “student of New York” at Clara Barton HS in Brooklyn, said highlighting amazing students is important. “We hear all the negative stuff,” she said. “We don’t always get to see the children who are really doing their best.”