Veronica Herrera supports students making their postsecondary plans at Hillcrest HS in Jamaica. "High school students are discovering who they are, and it’s wonderful to be a part of that conversation," she said.

Valina Vega is a UFT-represented child care provider who runs an independent day care business out of her home in Brooklyn. "No matter what these children go through, I’m there for them," she says.

Sharon Brown, a member of the UFT’s Administrative Education Officers and Analysts Chapter, supports the principals of 32 Bronx high schools with budget compliance.

Pasha Durr teaches Brooklyn high school students in their homes when they’re unable to physically attend school.

As the school secretary at Pathways to Graduation program on Staten Island, Angela Gheller manages payroll, supplies and purchasing and she keeps track of hours, pay, leaves and absences for her fellow UFT members.

Adrianna DeAngelis has taught a pre-K class at Birch Family Services for the past 14 years. She is one of 200 educators and support staff across Birch's four early childhood centers and schools represented by the UFT.

Oksana Parfilko maintains the laboratory rooms and plans and leads lab activities for science students at New Dorp HS on Staten Island.


As a hearing officer for the city's Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings, Aubrey Lee adjudicates cases involving summonses issued by the city’s regulatory agencies. "I can’t imagine what this job would be like without a union," she says.

For the past 18 years, Christina Setkoski has diagnosed, evaluated and treated students with mobility challenges at PS 138, a District 75 elementary school in Manhattan.


In her role as a diabetes nurse educator, school nurse Lorraine Dolengo-Santiago teaches fellow school nurses, students, parents and educators in the Bronx how to manage diabetes in school.