around the uft

District 21 honors

Jan 17, 2008 12:15 PM

“What I love about being a district rep is the diversity of the job; that every day can bring up a different issue when you walk into a school building or get a phone call or an e-mail. I love working with people and resolving all kinds of matters with them at their schools,” said UFT District 21 Representative Judy Gerowitz. It’s a job well done, judging by the accolades at a fete thrown in Gerowitz’s honor by the Brighton Neighborhood Association at a Brooklyn restaurant on Oct. 25. The group, which has worked to improve the community and its public schools for the past 30 years, crowned the former chapter leader as “Woman of the Year.” Both Gerowitz and UFT President Randi Weingarten lauded teacher Lydia Friedman of PS 225, who was honored as “Educator of the Year.” Pat Singer, founder and executive director of the Brighton association, said that Friedman was cited among her colleagues as the best of the best. “She’s loved by parents, colleagues and the children and is everything a teacher stood for when I was kid. She coordinates all the factions in a child’s life — home, school, community — that make the academic experience a happy one for a child,” Singer said. Friedman, who speaks many languages, helps immigrant children assimilate and helps their parents understand the school system and the importance of education. “Lydia is a good person,” said Gerowitz, “very well respected, splits her time between PS 225 and Family College, an annex to 225 on Kingsborough College campus, and works very hard with students, teachers, parents and the administration.”