around the uft

A learning gala

Mar 27, 2008 5:25 PM

If there’s any question about how eager educators are to expand their educational horizons, consider that 7,000 people attended the third annual Teaching and Learning Celebration on March 7 and 8 at the Hilton Hotel in Manhattan. The professional development conference — again sponsored by Thirteen/WNET and WLIW21 — this year focused on science, math, global awareness and using technology in teaching and learning. It included 90 hands-on workshops, a variety of education issue panels, world famous speakers — including primatologist Dr. Jane Goodall and Jean-Michel Cousteau, host of “Ocean Adventures” on PBS — and an exhibit hall of some 100 suppliers. Designed for educators K -12, the Celebration, which is also sponsored by the UFT and NYSUT, is one of the few public events that focuses on the work of teachers.

UFT President Randi Weingarten answers scores of questions about the impact of budget cuts for the audience of 250 who joined her for “Breakfast with Randi” on Saturday.

NYSUT President Dick Ianuzzi (seated left) and Joyce Powell, president of New Jersey NEA, participate in a panel on “Teachers: At the Core of the Action” with moderator David Brancaccio of PBS’s “Now.”

Teacher Center staffers are kept busy with a steady flow of visitors to their booth: (from left) Karen Bellot, Teacher Center; Natasha Cooke of PS 282 in Brooklyn; Catalina Fortino, Teacher Center; Ken Agata of PS 111 in Queens; and Emily and Melody Specker, both of PS 217 in Manhattan.