While hiking amid the fall foliage in the Hudson Valley, I did some antiquing. Browsing through a box of vinyl, I came upon a copy of the Beatles’ “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.”

One cut is titled “With a Little Help From My Friends” (many of you are humming it now). It is a paean to collaboration and cooperation. Thinking about that song, I realized that no group needs collaboration and cooperation more right now than New York City public school educators. Events such as the pandemic and the recent influx of immigrant students, many with limited schooling and English, have increased the academic and social-emotional challenges our students bring to the classroom. There are new mandated reading and math curricula to add to the usual stress. What’s an educator to do?

Thankfully, thousands of UFT members are getting help from the UFT Teacher Center. For almost half a century, skilled Teacher Center specialists with extensive teaching and coaching expertise in New York City public schools have offered support, professional development, collegial advice and access to resources and materials that promote pedagogical excellence and students’ academic achievement.

If your school is lucky enough to have a Teacher Center, you know what I’m talking about. Over the past four years, the number of UFT Teacher Centers embedded in schools has skyrocketed, jumping 81%, from 115 sites in the 2020–21 school year to 208 sites today.

Our Teacher Center specialists are in classrooms offering ongoing support. It’s never a “one, and you’re on your own” presentation (what some wags called “drive-by” workshops).

I hear about cookie-cutter workshops led by outside experts who are not familiar with the students, the school or the district. Or teachers complain about workshops that have little or no relevance to their classrooms. By contrast, Teacher Center specialists are colleagues who understand the joys and the demands of teaching. They may call upon a colleague to share a successful lesson or they may address a specific issue that colleagues in their school bring to them. They offer (and take) suggestions to improve and enhance teaching and learning. They empower teachers to find their own answers to instructional questions. It’s supportive coaching that builds confidence in educators and leads to better performance and job satisfaction.

I would love to see the day when we have a UFT Teacher Center in all 1,600 of our schools. We encourage any school interested in opening a Teacher Center site to fill out the form posted at the top of our website, www.ufttc.org. The UFT Teacher Center will reach out to set up an informational meeting with your principal and your chapter leader. The website also offers helpful information about how to become a UFT Teacher Center site coach and provides links to register for upcoming UFT Teacher Center professional learning opportunities.

The UFT Teacher Center gives extra focus to new teachers, because the first years of teaching are especially challenging. It also helps develop future teacher leaders, because too many amazing educators work in isolation without the opportunity to share their professional knowledge.

The UFT’s model of coaching supports, validates and celebrates the accomplishments of teachers. The UFT Teacher Center offers more than a little help from friends.