‘All part of the school team’

Bruce Cotler

SRPs from PS 30 in Manhattan enjoy the camaraderie at UFT headquarters.

Bruce Cotler

Enjoying the recognition at the Staten Island event are paras (from left) Adel Saad of IS 62,   Ghaly Atia of IS 49 and Faden Saad of PS 29.

Bruce Cotler PS/MS 34 paraprofessionals Ashley Breen (left) and Dusha Kameraj from PS/MS 34 in Manhattan with Armando Mandes of the Bronx Alternative Learning Center.

School-related personnel throughout the city were honored by the UFT at special events in each borough recently for the invaluable support they provide. 

School psychologist Lisa Harte of PS 138 in Manhattan rated the celebrations “important” for strengthening camaraderie and because “we go back to work happier and focused,” she said. 

In the Bronx, hundreds of school-related personnel were singled out at the UFT Bronx borough office on Nov. 18 — the day marked by the state as SRP Appreciation Day. The event included the presentations of the Cassandra G. Castillo SRP Leadership Award to a paraprofessional from each district and the Annette Carlucci SRP Leadership Award to a secretary from each district.

On Staten Island, some 200 SRPs enjoyed a night of camaraderie at the borough office, hosted by Borough Representative Emil Pietromonaco.

Nelly Tirado, of PS 110 on the Lower East Side, has been a paraprofessional for 32 years, but the celebration at UFT headquarters was the first time she stepped into the SRP spotlight and she loved it. 

“It’s very exciting to feel appreciated, to meet new people and to be part of it,” she said.

Bilingual guidance counselor Pao-Lang Wang of PS 184 in Chinatown noted that she and her colleagues work hard and in some isolation, so she was at the Manhattan gala “to say hello to my city team.”

A south-of-the-border fall motif was the theme for the affair in the Queens borough office, according to Special Representative Sandra Dunn-Yules. Trivia games based on movies, books and songs got some sing-a-longs going among the guests of honor.

And, speaking for another of the SRP groups that are the backbone of schools, Faye Huegel, a secretary at PS 79 in Harlem, pointed out, “We’re all part of the school team and that means we support each other.”

At the Brooklyn bash, plaques inscribed “for tireless effort, personal commitment and dedication” were awarded to 31 paraprofessionals, guidance counselors, secretaries and nurses. The honorees thoroughly enjoyed their night in the spotlight.