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Kudos to Annawa Naing, PS/IS 78, Queens
The school-based special education committee — created as part of the 2023 DOE-UFT contract — gave Naing the tool she needed to fight to ensure special education students in her school receive the services they are entitled to.
Kudos to Leah Lin, PS 85, Queens
Leah Lin, chapter leader at PS 85 in Queens, keeps her fellow educators informed and engaged about union and contract matters with the short, fun and easy-to-follow Morning Rush videos she posts regularly on her Instagram account.
Kudos to Anna Willis, PS 896, Brooklyn
PS 896 in Sunset Park had no chapter leader, delegate or paraprofessional representative, and an administration that placed excessive demands on the staff. The turnaround was stark after Anna Willis, a second-year, untenured teacher, took on the...
Kudos to Amanda Dutton, PS 134, Manhattan
Amanda Dutton, the chapter leader at PS 134 in Manhattan, has stood up again and again for students with disabilities and the UFT members who work with those students at her school.
Kudos to Catrina Como, PS 376, Brooklyn
When Catrina Como became chapter leader at PS 376 in Brooklyn, she faced a tricky situation: The principal was demanding, and staff did not know their rights and were reluctant to speak up for themselves. “I work with a lot of amazing teachers who...
Kudos to Sonja Hill at PS 41, Brooklyn
The UFT’s COPE — Committee on Public Education — program is one of the benchmarks of Sonja Hill’s chapter leadership.
Hill, a 5th-grade teacher in her 31st year at PS 41 in Brownsville, Brooklyn — and the school’s chapter leader for more than half of...
Kudos to Dan Wever, Sunset Park HS, Brooklyn
Art teacher Dan Wever said he ran for chapter leader at Sunset Park HS in Brooklyn in 2021 knowing that at some point the union chapter would have to organize to demand the removal of the school’s longtime principal, Victoria Antonini.
Less than two...
Kudos to Beverly Greene, PS 55, Bronx
As a math coach, Beverly Greene knows every problem has a solution. And that’s been her motto in her role as the chapter leader at PS 55 in the Bronx.
Kudos to Maria Ponciano, PS 280, Queens
Maria Ponciano, the chapter leader at PS 280 in Jackson Heights, uses social media, email, WhatsApp, Google Slides and other technology to keep her members engaged and informed.
Kudos to Kristin Golat-Defendis, MS 51, Brooklyn
Kristin Golat-Defendis, the chapter leader at MS 51 in Park Slope, Brooklyn, stood up to an abusive principal. On Jan. 30, 2023, the principal was transferred out of the school.