This school year, PS 133 in Harlem has three newly minted teachers who were employed as paraprofessionals at the school the previous year.

The three, who have fashioned a mini support group for one another, are grateful for the help of the union and the UFT Teacher Center in facilitating their climb up the career ladder.

Sabrina Coppedge, a Harlem native, recalled playing teacher as a child, but the demands of motherhood drew her first to volunteer in her child’s pre-K classroom and then to a career as a paraprofessional for 26 years. She said she loved the impact she made in supporting the education of the students in her care and proudly served as the paraprofessional representative at PS 133.

But what was then a novel effort to train paraprofessionals to be teachers in Harlem’s District 5 changed the trajectory of Coppedge’s career. Coppedge’s skill and work ethic drew the attention of UFT District 5 Representative Zina Burton-Myrick, who in 2018 nominated her to be among the first paraprofessionals to attend the District 5 Paraprofessional Academy, a program Burton-Myrick crafted to combat a shortage of teachers in the district.

Special education teachers were especially needed, Burton-Myrick recalled, “so I said, ‘Why don’t we really focus on the paraprofessionals? We have great paraprofessionals; they just need resources and more tools.’”

At the academy, Coppedge received training in working with students with special needs, managing behavior, preparing lessons and using small groups to facilitate learning, among other topics.

In-person restrictions brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic ended the academy in its infancy after operating a little less than one full school year. But Coppedge was inspired and decided to continue training to become a teacher on her own.

Coppedge, now a 3rd-grade special education teacher, found camaraderie with fellow PS 133 paraprofessionals-turned-teachers Tavonna Lewis and Kadeem Lewis (no relation). They offered one another mutual encouragement while on their paths to becoming teachers, and they continue to support one another this school year in their day-to-day work as classroom teachers.

The trio also credit Joseph Espinal, their UFT Teacher Center coach at the time, with being a source of information, inspiration and encouragement to become teachers. Espinal connected all three with Ed Prep NYC, one of the programs supported by the UFT to further paraprofessionals’ educations and careers.

Tavonna Lewis, who started working as a paraprofessional eight years ago and now teaches kindergarten at PS 133, said paraprofessionals don’t always get the appreciation they deserve even though they “are the backbone to every school.”

Her UFT Teacher Center coach “always made me feel valued,” she said. “He said, ‘You’re amazing with the kids.’ He put the bug in my ear.”

Making the leap to becoming a teacher “was scary initially,” she said. “But I know we have the chops to do it. The more days I teach, the more secure I feel.”

The UFT Teacher Center coach encouraged Kadeem Lewis on his path to becoming a teacher as well.

Lewis said he has “always enjoyed educating people,” during a career that spanned working in literacy intervention and social development programs before becoming a paraprofessional at PS 133 almost five years ago.

Now a teacher of a self-contained grades 3-5 class at PS 133, Lewis said he recognizes that he’s always been first and foremost an educator. “No matter what I am, I’m always constantly teaching,” he said.

He, Tavonna Lewis and Coppedge stay connected and encourage one another. “Doing it together — having someone who understands what I’m going through — makes it a whole lot easier,” Tavonna Lewis said.

Coppedge said that while she sometimes asks herself, “What did I get myself into?” she feels “a joy in my heart that this is what I want to do every day.”

“It was scary taking a leap,” Coppedge admitted, but she said the support she has from her colleagues as well as their principal, who hired all three, makes it all worth it.

“We’re going to have days where we are just done,” Kadeem Lewis said. “But I know with these two,” referring to Coppedge and Tavonna Lewis, “I can talk about the day that I had, and I go into the next day feeling refreshed.”