Around the UFT

For doing an exemplary job, for their professionalism and for being role models when it comes to grace under pressure, 15 Staten Island school safety agents and supervisors were recognized by the UFT.

How to eat healthfully, manage a classroom expertly, reduce stress, plant an edible garden on the windowsill, intervene in bullying, resolve disputes, create art projects with kids — there was a lot in the offing at the UFT’s Anne Curley Memorial Heath and Wellness Fair, held especially for paraprofessionals.

They raced, jumped, let arrows fly and, perhaps the best victory of all, the 18 Martin Van Buren HS students joining the Empire State Games for the Physically Challenged experienced independence.

District 21 dedicated its 30th annual UFT Scholarship Dinner Dance on May 21 to those in the community who helped one another in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.

Many younger union members don’t know the history of their unions, but the Association of Teachers of Social Studies/UFT is out to change that.

“The idea is to teach students how to look at art and why artists create art and to experience it in a setting in which an actual career artist would,” said PS/IS 270 visual arts teacher Ida Owens about her school’s sixth annual Art Gala.

During the past three months, some two-dozen teachers met on eight Saturdays in a P-course focused on Promoting Success in Science and Literacy Through Humane Education.

Members from Districts 5, 6 and Manhattan high schools gathered in Harlem on May 16 for a wide-ranging discussion with UFT President Michael Mulgrew.

Six District 25 teachers were honored for excellence in the classroom at an awards ceremony in the office of Congresswoman Grace Meng on May 10 to mark National Teacher Appreciation Day, which was May 7.