Students of NYC, the UFT's social media initiative to highlight the city's amazing middle and high schoolers, celebrated its first year during a fete at UFT headquarters.

UFT President Michael Mulgrew oversaw a panel of UFT Teacher Center literacy district coaches who discussed the progress and pitfalls of Phase 1 of the rollout of new phonics-based literacy curricula in 15 New York City districts.

Several hundred paraprofessionals who contribute to COPE, the union’s political action fund, attended a performance of Suffs, the Broadway musical about women’s battle for the right to vote, as an expression of thanks from the UFT.

The dynamism of New York City’s career and technical education high schools was on display at the exhibit hall during the conference. Teachers and students from 17 schools across the city shared their passions and projects.

The UFT awarded scholarships to 189 public high school and graduate students as part of the annual Albert Shanker College Scholarship Awards Celebration and Reception. The students, many of whom began their high school careers online during the pandemic, were praised for their commitment to education despite the tumult of the last four years.

The UFT School Nurses Chapter celebrated the "hidden figures" of the city's schools with its annual School Nurses Appreciation Dinner. Held on May 8, which was also National School Nurse Day, the event was a time to "go all out," Chapter Leader Cynthia Bennett said.