The United Federation of Teachers (UFT) will award Albert Shanker college scholarships to nearly 200 public high school seniors at a ceremony at UFT headquarters Tuesday.

The students, who represent schools from all five boroughs and plan to attend colleges including Columbia University, intend to study subjects ranging from information technology to cancer research. Each will receive a $5,000 grant to help defray the costs of tuition, books, and other expenses.

This year’s recognition ceremony will be taking place on Tuesday, June 7, 2022 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. The event is hybrid; those attending in person will be at Shanker Hall at the UFT headquarters, 52 Broadway New York, NY 10004.

Here are some of the students receiving this year's Shanker scholarship awards:

Vismeiry Pujols Batista, a senior at The Marble Hill School for International Studies in the Bronx, said in her college essay that she wanted to be "a product of my decisions, not my circumstances." Her teachers said she was driven to succeed academically and became a compassionate advocate for her fellow students as a peer tutor. She will be attending Columbia University where she plans on studying English and journalism.

Sherry Huang, a senior at Origins High School in Brooklyn, taught herself video production and software programming in order to stay connected with family members separated by the pandemic. She also established herself as a leader in her school advisory group, providing support and empathy to her fellow students. Sherry plans to study information technology and web science at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in the Fall.

After losing her mom to pancreatic cancer, Jestina Tam, a senior at Manhattan Hunter Science High School, turned her pain into passion by concentrating her studies on cancer research. From taking multiple AP science classes to enrolling in MedDocs, a program for students interested in science and medicine, Jestina laid the foundation for joining a pre-medical track at Binghamton University where she hopes to focus on oncology studies.

Nicholas Asiedu, a senior at Herbert H. Lehman High School in the Bronx, dreams of becoming a professional soccer player. He takes inspiration from his "unconquerable" grandmother who taught him not to let anything get in the way of his ambitions. His teachers said he is an outstanding student-athlete who was determined to be the first in his family to attend college, and who was as successful in the classroom as he was on the soccer field. He will be studying journalism at Stony Brook University in the Fall.

Eddy Huang, a senior at High School for Dual Language & Asian Studies in Manhattan, has a passion for science that he hopes to turn into a career in biology or astronomy. He balanced his academic interests by throwing himself into extracurricular activities, whether that was by joining his school's badminton club, helping with the lights and sound for his school's annual talent show, or taking the stage during the same talent show to put on a Taekwon-Do demonstration. He plans to study biology at SUNY Oswego.