Helping students learn to cope with anxiety experienced during and after the COVID-19 pandemic was the key takeaway from the UFT's seventh annual Social Workers Appreciation Day event on March 10, which attracted about 900 UFT members both in person at union headquarters in Manhattan and remotely.

Shanker Hall at UFT headquarters was packed on March 11 for the 19th annual School Counselors Conference — the first fully in-person conference the chapter has held since school buildings closed during the pandemic — and members relished the opportunity to connect in person and share their experiences.

At their 41st annual Paraprofessionals Festival & Awards Luncheon on March 25, members celebrated the many rights they have gained since their chapter's founding and the trailblazers who led the way while acknowledging there is much more to do.

A capacity crowd attended the UFT Asian-American Heritage Committee’s annual Lunar New Year Banquet at House of Joy restaurant in Chinatown on March 10 to mark the Year of the Rabbit.

The UFT's HERstory celebration, held during Women’s History Month on March 11 in the UFT’s Queens borough office, brought women together "to acknowledge the challenges we have overcome and celebrate the achievements we have made, individually and collectively,” said UFT Vice President Janella Hinds.

Along with police officers and EMTs, teachers must deal with gun violence and its aftermath and should have the opportunity and the time to develop meaningful curriculum around the issue, education activist Amina Brown said at a UFT-sponsored community discussion on gun violence.