“There’s always something new to learn” at the UFT’s School Secretaries Chapter events, said Gloria Cahill, the secretary at PS 182 in Jamaica, Queens. Cahill, in her first year as a school secretary, said her new job is “very hectic,” but she doesn’t “feel alone” thanks to the support of the union.

For one volunteer, the annual UFT-Coalition for the Homeless Christmas party in December at union headquarters in Manhattan was a chance to remember — and pay it forward.

Religious leaders from around the city heard about the importance of boosting New York City’s participation in the 2020 Census at the union’s 10th annual Faith-Based Breakfast on Jan. 7.

More than 200 participants at the New York City Association of Foreign Language Teachers/UFT’s 22nd annual conference left UFT headquarters in Manhattan “with a repertoire of materials that will keep them busy for the next few months of teaching,” said teacher Nunzia Manginelli of Esperanza Preparatory Academy in Manhattan, the group’s vice president and the conference chairperson.

The UFT’s first LGBTQ Youth Empowerment Dinner drew more than 300 people to union headquarters and raised nearly $21,000 for the Daniel Dromm Scholarship Fund, which awards scholarships to graduating seniors from New York City public schools to honor their LGBTQ activism.

“There’s something so rewarding and magical about starting with nothing and making something amazing,” said teacher Mary Agramonte of Origins HS in Brooklyn, a presenter at the 38th annual conference of the New York City Art Teachers Association/UFT.