PS 52 in Queens, a school with a large population of students in temporary housing, has furbished a room called the community closet fully stocked with children's clothes of all sizes. “We don’t beat the drum about it, but it quietly fills a need and allows for dignity,” said one teacher.

When Cara Jacofsky began her teaching career 23 years ago, she was determined to become the best teacher she could be for her students, so she connected with the UFT Teacher Center. “The first few years of my teaching career, they would plan lessons with me and give me materials,” Jacofsky said. “It helped build the foundation of my teaching.”

Ten students from P396 K, a District 75 school in Brownsville, Brooklyn, read books they wrote during a Zoom presentation on Feb. 11, as part of an evening with the Sid Miller Academy Authors, a program begun during the pandemic to foster literacy and creativity at the school.

It’s difficult to become a coach in the National Football League; there are only 32 teams. Lou Anarumo, the defensive coordinator for the Cincinnati Bengals, followed an arduous road to get there. And on Feb. 13, that road, which began at Susan Wagner HS on Staten Island, took Anarumo all the way to the Super Bowl.

The teacher leader team at IS 145 in Jackson Heights, Queens, has stepped up to help keep pace with the changing needs of the students and the teachers at the school, which is located in one of the city’s most ethnically diverse neighborhoods.

Natalie Kavral is a 2011 graduate of the plumbing program at Queens Technical High School. Now, more than a decade later, Kavral, one of only two female plumbing teachers in New York City public schools, teaches plumbing and runs the plumbing program at her alma mater.