Chapter leaders spend weekend of intensive training

Bruce Cotler

Linda Vila Passione (standing) of the UFT School Safety Department leads a workshop on safety with Brooklyn Special Representative Anthony Sclafani (seated, right).

Bruce Cotler

Aracelia Cook (left) of East New York Elementary School of Excellence asks Doreen Bevilacqua of the UFT Teacher Center staff about the program.

More than 160 UFT chapter leaders from schools across New York City — most of them new, but a few veterans with 10 years of experience or more — attended the first part of the union’s annual three-part chapter leader training in Rye, N.Y., on Oct. 15 and 16, where they spent the weekend learning how to be effective school-based union leaders.

UFT President Michael Mulgrew, just back from the Washington, D.C. March for Jobs and Justice, joined the educators on Saturday night. He thanked them for taking on “the most important job in the union during a particularly difficult time” for teachers and their unions.

The chapter leaders also attended nuts-and-bolts workshops on creating consultation committees, filing grievances and using problem-solving techniques. Catalina Fortino, the head of the UFT Teacher Center and the union’s newest vice president, led a plenary on the new Danielson rubric for teacher evaluations, while UFT Special Representative Amy Arundell addressed how to read a school budget.

UFT Director of Legislation and Political Action Paul Egan, who organized the training, said the weekend was a success according to the reviews of the participants.

“Amazing, informative, awesome, empowering and outstanding are just a few of the adjectives they used to describe the weekend,” Egan said. “We’re training a new generation of union leaders and are proud of the work we do.”

Middle-school math teacher Amber Body has taught in New York City public schools for five years but is in her first year as a chapter leader at Manhattan’s Urban Assembly Institute for New Technology. She became a chapter leader after being asked to take on the role by her colleagues.

“I really enjoyed the conference. It motivated me to be the best representative I can be for my school,” Body said. “The conference cleared up any misconceptions I had about the union. I didn’t realize how important it was.”

More experienced chapter leaders like PS 178 school social worker Dalia Gonzalez, who has led her school for 10 years, also attended.

“After 10 years, sometimes you need a refresher — and, sure enough, I learned things I hadn’t heard before,” Gonzalez said.

The chapter leaders also participated in their own one-mile Making Strides for Breast Cancer walk on Sunday morning.