Category Archive
A banana tree grows in QueensNov 12, 2009
Tomatoes, celery, potatoes, parsley, sunflower seeds and other earthly delights, picked right out of the garden by kids at PS 205 in Queens, are part of the “Garden to City Harvest” project, which feeds the hungry in New York City.
A banana tree grows in Brooklyn — Photo galleryNov 12, 2009
‘Frankenstein,’ and other interesting topics
Nov 12, 2009
Professional development took many forms on Nov. 3, from a UFT safety training to a session at the New York Public Library on how to teach Frankenstein, and strategies for reaching struggling writers in the Rockaways.
Everybody into the pool!Oct 29, 2009
Physical education teacher and swimming instructor Bill Payret has been working to make sure kids — and adults — in the Bronx learn how to swim.
In the pinkOct 29, 2009
From clothing to cupcakes, schools throughout the city went pink throughout the month of October to support a good cause: breast cancer awareness.
Here’s looking at you, kidOct 15, 2009
If UFT President Michael Mulgrew has been to your school, or even if he hasn’t, you’ll want to check out the new item on the UFT Web site.
A place where everything is ‘A-OK’Oct 01, 2009
What would our world be like if everyone tried to do a random act of kindness every day? It would be a very different place than the world we know — but it might be a lot like PS/IS 266, Queens.
The answer peopleOct 01, 2009
UFT’s Dial-A-Teacher program has helped kids and parents get help with homework for nearly three decades.
City teacher helps shape national education policyOct 01, 2009
Can it be that the time has come for the voice of the classroom teacher to be heard in the land?
Annual summer 'block party' a hitSep 21, 2009
Annual summer ‘block party’ a hit
Sep 17, 2009
Children paraded into the schoolyard at PS 175 in the heart of Harlem on Aug. 15 and 16, singing, dancing and playing conga drums. It was all part of the annual Harlem Children’s Festival, which the UFT has been sponsoring for 20 years.
Mulgrew: An educator at heartSep 17, 2009
Michael Mulgrew, a former carpenter, was as skilled at building a strong chapter at Brooklyn’s William E. Grady HS as he was at building things with his hands. And now he has been elected to lead the UFT.
Let the city be your classroom!Aug 13, 2009
New York City teachers have the advantage of a world-class city available outside the walls of their school building, one that is filled with cultural treasures to extend and enhance any lesson. One such treasure is the fascinating exhibit, “Titanic,” at the Discovery Times Square Exposition
227 happy endingsJun 29, 2009
The UFT gave away $1 million in scholarship awards to the young men and women of the city’s public schools.
‘Spirit’ of Forest HillsJun 29, 2009
Two years ago, English teacher Mary Ciccaroni was approached by her Forest Hills HS principal about ways to improve school spirit and morale.
‘Spirit’ of Forest Hills - photo galleryJun 29, 2009
227 happy endings - photo gallery
Jun 29, 2009
Summer reading suggestions
Jun 29, 2009
Tired of scanning bodice-ripping romance novels or predictable police procedurals over the summer break? Below are seven titles — dealing with education, economics and labor — that are beach-readable and worth reading, too.
Students’ petsJun 29, 2009
Current and former students recognized their teachers for doing that little something extra in New York City public schools as part of the second annual “Thank a Teacher” campaign.
The masters of multi-taskingJun 29, 2009
There were wise old sayings circulating at the UFT’s 23rd annual School Secretaries of the Year Gala Awards Luncheon, such as: “You don’t mess with school secretaries.”
Union’s roots celebrated at UFT charterJun 04, 2009
On stage at the UFT Charter Elementary School auditorium on May 22, a bunch of angry chickens were threatening a boycott.
A dazzle of color and creativity - photo galleryJun 04, 2009
A dazzle of color and creativity
Jun 04, 2009
The first Family Arts Day at PS 46 in Brooklyn’s Fort Greene section on was so much fun, staffers say, plans are already under way to hold two more festivals, next fall and spring.
Rolling out the red carpetMay 21, 2009
The red-carpet treatment wasn’t just a dream for the staff of PS 300 in the Bronx.
Together, they can — and do - photo galleryMay 07, 2009
Celebrating National Poetry Month: An ancient tradition comes alive in city schools
May 07, 2009
Think of American Idol for poetry: that’s one of the many ways that New York City public schools celebrated National Poetry Month throughout April.
Poetry from New York City students, in their own words…May 07, 2009
Train spotting at Transit Tech
May 07, 2009
Eighty-four tons and what do you get? Two R45 stainless steel subway cars unloaded by crane for a midnight delivery at East New York Transit Tech HS.
Together, they can — and doMay 07, 2009
There are some who feel that charter schools and teacher unions don’t go together — but not the folks at Amber Charter School in East Harlem, who have been successfully combining the two for years, exemplifying their school theme, “Together, we can.”
An ancient tradition comes alive in city schools - photo galleryMay 06, 2009
On a roll
Apr 02, 2009
While the PS 811, Queens, special education students from middle to high school grades are working on the three R’s, the entire staff is modeling the three C’s — collaboration, community and caring.
High hoopsApr 02, 2009
March Madness, New York City public high school-style, was in full swing the weekend of March 21-22. That’s when the Public Schools Athletic League crowned six varsity basketball champions.
On a roll - photo galleryApr 02, 2009
High hoops - photo gallery
Apr 02, 2009
Teacher is a lifesaver
Apr 01, 2009
Before a very ordinary Wednesday was over, 3rd-grade teacher Nora Perez Nieves had become a hero to students and staff of PS 155 in Queens.
Tying the arts to all learningMar 19, 2009
Allowing children to connect to their own creativity and expressiveness through the exploration of the arts can stimulate learning in all subjects. That is the basic premise behind the work of the Lincoln Center Institute, which provides educators with exposure to art, artists and a unique process of teaching and learning.
exCepTional EducatorsMar 05, 2009
Twenty eight UFT members were honored as outstanding Career and Technical Education teachers as their students, colleagues and families cheered.
exCepTional Educators - photo galleryMar 05, 2009
Fighting the fiscal BLUES
Feb 19, 2009
UFTers from the five boroughs supported the AFT’s “Fight For America’s Future: It’s Dollars and Sense” campaign by wearing blue on Unity Day both to school and to Washington, D.C., where many members lobbied Congress for the federal stimulus bill.
West Point pipeline in QueensFeb 19, 2009
Graduates of the Junior ROTC program at Francis Lewis HS are well represented among cadets at the United States Military Academy at West Point.
Fighting the fiscal blues - Photo galleryFeb 19, 2009
Music lessons
Feb 05, 2009
You might not be able to take your students to see The Clash live these days, but New York now has the next best thing: a feature exhibit on the renowned English punk band at SoHo’s new Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Annex.
Our city can be your classroomFeb 05, 2009
New York City teachers at all levels and in all subject areas are blessed with the very best choices for class trips to enrich the curriculum, broaden horizons, unlock talent and pique the curiosity of their students.
Feeling presidentialFeb 05, 2009
Talk about your teachable moment! President Barack Obama’s inauguration captured the imagination of educators and students like no other event in recent memory, and there was plenty of activity focused on it.
Feeling presidential - photo galleryFeb 05, 2009
A secure, successful environment
Jan 22, 2009
Leeway, autonomy, initiative, participatory are not words plucked from a 9th-grade vocabulary test but the words that bubble up in conversation when faculty members at International HS at Lafayette in Bensonhurst talk about their work and their school.
Teacher Center speech pathology service reaches out to communityJan 22, 2009
Residents of Harlem’s Henry Brooks Senior Housing Facility would not trade a thing for their Speech Teacher Fridays.
‘Knowledge Meets Inspiration’ for teachers on March 6-7Jan 22, 2009
There is no finer tribute to the work teachers do than the annual Thirteen/WNET and WLIW21 Celebration of Teaching and Learning, this year focusing on “Where Knowledge Meets Inspiration.”
Fund CityJan 22, 2009
Twenty-seven New York City public school teachers received congratulations and checks worth thousands of dollars during an awards ceremony for the Teacher Center Mini-Grant Program.
Fund City - photo galleryJan 22, 2009
Retiree helps schools in Africa that ‘have nothing’
Dec 11, 2008
Zimbabwe, which for years after the nation’s independence had among the best schools in Africa, has seen its education system crumble — and a UFT retiree is doing all he can to help.
The magic showDec 11, 2008
One teacher describes the Renaissance Charter School in Queens as a place where the staff’s “educational creativity is honored” and where “teachers know that their rights are respected.” It all adds up to a school where teachers want to work and where parents want to send their kids.
The magic show - photo galleryDec 11, 2008
TV newsman: Public school teachers saved my life
Dec 11, 2008
Veteran NY1 News anchorman Dominic Carter had a powerful message for the surprised educators during a book signing event at UFT headquarters: “New York City public school teachers saved my life.”
‘Opening the door to a dream’Dec 11, 2008
The UFT’s 2-year-old affordable housing program has helped more than 100 members buy a first home within their means.
Real-life ‘Daredevil’ - photo galleryDec 11, 2008
Real-life ‘Daredevil’
Dec 11, 2008
In the pantheon of comic book heroes idolized by kids at PS 36, Daredevil rules. They don’t call him Daredevil, however. They call him Mr. Brown.
At 100 years old... - photo galleryNov 20, 2008
At 100 years old
Nov 20, 2008
A few weeks after she celebrated her 100th birthday with her family, retired teacher Regina Sayres sat down in the living room of her North Bergen, N.J., apartment and decided to send a letter to her union.
Big students on campusNov 20, 2008
Inclusion teacher Teri Buch and four paraprofessionals oversee the work of 12 such students at Pace University, where they are definitely part of the campus scene.
Celebrating ourselvesNov 20, 2008
This year’s Teacher Union Day awards ceremony melded remembrances of past accomplishments with recognition of the contributions of today’s union activists and leaders.
The great wallsNov 06, 2008
No sirens sounded, no whistles blew and no security guards rushed to stop the Midwood HS students leaving the Museum of Modern Art with museum art works rolled up under their arms.
Queens school fire prompts ‘model’ responseNov 06, 2008
The UFT responded quickly to a three-alarm fire at PS 121 in Queens, sending staff into the school and meeting with Department of Education officials and School Construction Authority representatives.
Striding for a cure - photo galleryNov 06, 2008
Striding for a cure
Nov 06, 2008
UFT members — and their friends — hit the pavement in the annual Making Strides march to fight breast cancer.
A slap in the faceNov 06, 2008
Here is a profile about one of the 1,400 qualified educators — in addition to guidance counselors, secretaries, psychologists and social workers — in the Absent Teacher Reserve (ATR) who lost their classroom assignments because of shrinking enrollments, school closings or the elimination of programs are now being denied permanent assignments by the DOE.
Trick or teach - photo galleryNov 06, 2008
Trick or teach
Nov 06, 2008
Imagination and learning were on display in every borough when elementary schools celebrated Halloween with a literary twist.
Perfect formulaOct 23, 2008
There are many schools where an excellent rapport exists between the administration and the staff — something that is a key ingredient in successful schools. This is one in an occasional series of articles highlighting schools exhibiting such teamwork.
Junior High School MusicalOct 23, 2008
Whether it’s belting out Motown, acid rock or Americana, the McKinley Choir, a mix of students and staff, is a community choir to beat the band.
Bronx is in the pink!Oct 23, 2008
UFTers in the Bronx showed their feelings about the need to find a cure for breast cancer when they celebrated Pink Friday — a day when everyone wore something pink to school.
Bronx is in the pink! - photo galleryOct 23, 2008
Not just for the birds
Oct 09, 2008
The woods were certainly alive with the sound of music, but it wasn’t the Alps or the singing Trapp family.
Taking up spaceOct 09, 2008
For certain children in Queens, the biggest action superhero in the universe is the petite science teacher with brown hair and a warm smile who stands right in front of them in the classroom.
Taking up space - photo galleryOct 09, 2008
At the gates of hell, teaching children - photo gallery
Sep 25, 2008
At the gates of hell, teaching children
Sep 25, 2008
Three UFTers traveled to Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, early this summer to meet with Kurdish and Iraqi teacher unionists.
World-class educationSep 25, 2008
Parents and teachers are working together in Harlem to ensure that students get the world-class education they deserve.
Jefferson Math Project started hereSep 12, 2008
Picture perfect
Sep 12, 2008
The first UFT/New York Press Photographers Association Student Photo Contest celebrated the kids behind the camera and the teachers behind the kids at a stunning exhibit of pictures at Manhattan’s swanky Forbes Gallery on July 17.
Million dads step upSep 12, 2008
Fathers arriving at PS 133 in Harlem on the first day of school were participating in a nationwide movement calling on men to take more responsibility for the education of their children. The event, which took place at a number of schools across the city, was called the “Million Father March.”
A perfect learning labSep 12, 2008
Opening day at PS/IS 266 in Glen Oaks, Queens, went so swimmingly that folks were joking that the school should be named for Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps. Bad pun, but good point. Everyone at the school agrees: it’s a perfect learning lab.
Picture perfect - photo gallerySep 12, 2008
"A good year to teach!"
Sep 12, 2008
The smell of fresh paint greeted teachers and students on the first day at the HS for Civil Rights in East New York. The crisp, clean colors of the walls seemed to reflect the excitement and optimism felt by UFT members.
Aid comes at critical time for many studentsJun 26, 2008
With the U.S. economy slowing and availability of need-based college aid declining, the $5,000 grant — $1,250 per year for four years — each of the Shanker Scholarship winners will receive is especially crucial to their pursuit of a college degree.
Defying the oddsJun 26, 2008
They are some of the most disadvantaged students in the New York City public school system, yet the 214 Albert Shanker College Scholarship winners are among the highest achievers.
‘The ones who will be remembered’Jun 26, 2008
Whether they had a year of experience, 31 years or something in between, they had one thing in common. The 39 New York City public school guidance counselors feted at a June 4 celebration at the Department of Education had demonstrated excellence in helping thousands of schoolchildren thrive.
Verdict on Midwood’s fairy-tale trials: They’re fun and educationalJun 18, 2008
Midwood HS’s fairy-tale trials are fun and educational for students.
Keeping the chemical balanceJun 05, 2008
A day in the life of a New York City public school lab specialist illustrates her winning formula for educating kids.
‘Thank you for saving my life’Jun 05, 2008
A 10-year-old 4th-grader is grateful for chapter leader’s quick action after she was choking on an apple.
Living for artMay 22, 2008
In the student art exhibit “Making Choices for a Better Tomorrow,” Godzilla is a world savior right up there with Mother Teresa. Portraits of both were among the vibrant drawings that showcased the imagination and drawing skills of the young artists, off-site students of PS 721/Bronx Occupational Training Center. The students were thrilled to see their work exhibited at the office of Borough President Adolfo Carrion on April 17.
Conferees welcome straight talk from RegentsMay 22, 2008
Breakfast with the Regents, this year’s theme for Operation Soapbox, left members cheering the straight talk that was on the menu and wanting the discussion to last through lunch, dinner and dessert.
Dewey winner Thompson: DOE transparency, accountability ‘sorely needed’May 22, 2008
This year’s John Dewey Award was presented by the UFT to New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson Jr. for his steadfast commitment over his long public career to improving the city’s public schools.
May I have this dance?May 08, 2008
The ballroom dancing program that is now in more than 200 New York City public schools is helping city kids embrace learning.
Explore your imaginationApr 24, 2008
Members should consider attending the Lincoln Center Institute summer workshop, which is sure to get their creative juices flowing.
Doing more with lessApr 10, 2008
There are 1,280 psychologists working in New York City schools to handle all the referrals and other cases. On average, each school psychologist’s caseload is well over 100. Despite that impossible overload, the IEP team at PS 6 still manages to do the kind of good work that wins respect. Lauren Fontana, the principal of the school, said she appreciates how the IEP team supports the teachers in the school and helps to improve the overall teaching and learning climate.
Citizen/soldier makes his mark in classroom and, soon, in IraqApr 10, 2008
Tony Plata, 5th-grade teacher and data specialist at PS 46 in the Bronx, leads a double life: He’s also a captain in the New York National Guard with more than 130 soldiers under his command.
Not perfect, but betterApr 10, 2008
There was a time when the staff at PS 276 in Brooklyn could only accentuate the negative about Principal Jonathan Straughn. A time when they picketed in protest in front of their school. And a time when the principal, who called the union “toxic,” refused to meet with UFT President Randi Weingarten on her Oct. 3, 2006 visit to the school to try to sort things out.
Working in a Yoga WonderlandMar 27, 2008
There’s a new approach to a 5,000-year-old curriculum at PS 811 in the Bronx. And the lesson plans were designed by one of the earliest unions.
Learning to break the conflict cycleMar 27, 2008
One of the workshops at this year’s Parafest focused on conflict resolution techniques, which place responsibility squarely on the adult in such a conflict.
Tribute to paras stresses partnership with teachersMar 27, 2008
The UFT hailed the contributions of New York City classroom paraprofessionals at the union’s annual Para Festival.
What a ‘Rush’!Mar 13, 2008
“Raise It Up,” the glorious signature song from the movie “August Rush,” was the brainchild of teacher and musician Tevin Thomas and a few of his jam-buddies from Impact Repertory Theatre in Harlem.
Making beautiful music togetherMar 13, 2008
Two beacons of light illuminate a single state-of-the-art building in Brooklyn’s District 23.
And the winners are — teachersFeb 28, 2008
Two dozen Career and Technical Education teachers and CTE supporters were honored on Feb. 7 at a poignant ceremony held at UFT headquarters in Manhattan.
Sending off an institutionFeb 14, 2008
There wasn’t a chance folks at Thomas Edison Vocational HS were going to let Hazel Barr slip into retirement without a proper sendoff.
City’s treasures await your studentsFeb 14, 2008
Imagine seeing and hearing thrilling Metropolitan sopranos all free and at a high school in each borough.
Thanks, Teach!Feb 14, 2008
Students past and present counted the ways they love their teachers in a program sponsored by the UFT and DOE.
Heart-warmingJan 31, 2008
A mighty human spirit burns in the developmentally disabled and autistic kids at the Roy Campanella Occupational Training Center, aka PS 721, in Gravesend, Brooklyn.
Annual ‘Worlds Fair of Education’Jan 31, 2008
It’s time again for the Thirteen/WNET and WLIW21 Teaching and Learning Celebration described by many of the thousands who have attended over the past two years as the “Worlds Fair of Education.”
Designing teachersJan 31, 2008
It may be the only award given for not doing a particular thing. This year the organization Teachers Network awarded 10 of New York’s brightest with Not Teaching to the Test Grants, lauding them for helping students succeed on Regents exams without — you guessed it — teaching to the test.
Daring to ‘try something different’Jan 31, 2008
More than 150 teachers, paras and school secretaries were honored at UFT headquarters for their innovative ideas that earned them Teacher Center Mini-Grants.
Sculpting an educationJan 22, 2008
Where to have an art installation by emerging young artists but Tompkins Square Park in the hipster heart of the East Village?
Educators just want to have fundsDec 06, 2007
What’s the buzz all about?DonorsChoose.org. It’s a brilliantly conceived Web site where public school teachers can post one-page proposals and “citizen philanthropists,” as donors are called, can browse, find a project that appeals to them, and fund it with a tax-deductible donation.
If you rebuild it ...Dec 06, 2007
The UFT made a special delivery to help rebuild the damaged library of a New Orleans elementary school in October.
'Survivor'Dec 06, 2007
When Dan Brown began teaching a class of extremely diverse, challenging students, he did one thing besides enter a lion’s den. He wrote about it.
Cinderella storyOct 18, 2007
Once upon a time there was a school librarian named Judith Dahill who loved her job so much she would just throw on some comfy clothes in the morning, rush out the door, and work from morning till evening among leaning towers of beloved books in an old library painted yuck peach.
Teachers were the stars at PBS concertOct 18, 2007
Usually, when educators attend a concert, they go as spectators, listen to the music and, if the artists on stage are talented and lucky, applaud at the appropriate moments. But a town hall event held in September changed all that.
Astronaut lands safely at GompersOct 18, 2007
A month after visiting the International Space Station, NASA astronaut Scott Kelly's mission was a bit more down to Earth: he met with students and staff at Samuel Gompers Career and Technical HS.
SurvivorsOct 04, 2007
Here are the stories of four brave UFTers who heard the words “You have breast cancer” and lived to tell about it.
Mini-grants produce maxi learningOct 04, 2007
Do you have an idea to enhance the learning environment in your school? The UFT Teacher Center Mini-Grant Program awaits you. Educators have until Oct. 30 to submit an application.
House of love and learningSep 06, 2007
Sharing heartbreak and joy is part of the job at PS 23 at St. Mary's Hospital for Children, the prettiest place you hope a child never has to be.
There's a big 'classroom' out thereAug 09, 2007
Are class trips really worth the effort and expense? Use the simple formula below to find out.
Comic TripsAug 09, 2007
Trips are a fun way to teach unique lessons to your students, as this strip points out.
'indispensable'Jun 07, 2007
Paraprofessionals have become such a fixture in the New York City school system today that it’s hard to imagine 40 or so years ago before there were any.
Queens teacher inspires students to dreamJun 07, 2007
When Luis Daniel Estrada Santiago sits down in his study to write every night for three hours, he thinks of his former teacher in Queens encouraging him to discipline himself and to let his flamboyant imagination run loose.
Helping pick up the piecesMay 24, 2007
Twenty-five high school students from Brooklyn have recently returned from a class trip to New Orleans and already they’re talking about going back.
Vivat longe Schola Latina Brookliniensis!May 24, 2007
Ovis the Imperfect Sheep is an important teaching tool at Brooklyn Latin School, a new high school for gifted students in East Williamsburg.
Student journalists have the write stuffMay 24, 2007
Across the five boroughs, young journalists gather every day to write stories, discuss editorials, take photos, lay out newspapers and spread the news to their readers, under the guidance of UFT members.
Learning on the menuMay 10, 2007
What to you get when you take a great idea, spice it up with two Latina teachers who cook a mean mofongo, add two dozen bright young minds and stir for 37.5 minutes?
Hope grows in BrooklynMay 10, 2007
At PS 304 in Brooklyn, parents, teachers and students tended a community garden — a bucolic oasis started by a teacher nine years ago.
Honoring the dead, fighting for the livingApr 26, 2007
Some 1,000 supporters of labor rights and job safety crowded a Greenwich Village intersection March 26 to commemorate the 96th anniversary of what until 9/11 was the single-most-horrific workplace disaster in the city’s history.
Oh, baby!Apr 26, 2007
Like many of their colleagues in the school system, UFT district representatives Karen Blackwell and Servia Silva are back on the job after giving birth.
The 'Children First' GameApr 12, 2007
A parent uses spoofs of the game Monopoly to throw darts at the chancellor.
Heading 'home'Apr 12, 2007
Who are these home-based child-care providers the UFT has been working to organize the last two years? Here are some snapshots of a handful of them.
Getting kids to open up and go deepMar 06, 2007
Scared, blue, embarrassed, misunderstood, worried, hurt, mad, curious, triumphant, brave -- these are some of the emotions that 7th-grade guidance counselor Laurie Bernstein gingerly explores with kids every day.
What's your pleasure?Feb 01, 2007
Drop by union headquarters most afternoons and weekends and you’ll find the place humming with activity.
Give your students a taste of the Big AppleFeb 01, 2007
For Avril Wenderoff’s 4th-graders at PS 24 in the Bronx it was the ultimate learning experience: the crunch and bite of the pickle, the creamy smoothness of fresh mozzarella, the sweetness of the halvah.
Prospecting for lesson plans?Jan 18, 2007
One of the best-kept secrets in the education community is the gold mine of award-winning lesson plans — appropriate for all subject areas and all levels — just waiting for teachers to discover.
Best 'Buddies'Dec 07, 2006
Madeline, Little Bear, the Cat in the Hat, Lovable Lyle and many other imaginary celebrities were in full force at the Nov. 1 grand opening of “Reading Buddies,” an ongoing community service program that is an integral part of student life at the union’s newest charter school.
Retirees' expertise a valuable resourceNov 02, 2006
Corporate CEOs may float off in their golden parachutes when they retire. Not so UFTers, who remain active and involved in their union.
What the job entailsNov 02, 2006
The job of chapter leader entails a great many responsibilities. The most effective chapter leaders are great communicators, problem-solvers and organizers in their building.
Aces at organizingNov 02, 2006
The union’s 1,400 chapter leaders take on tremendous responsibility when they are elected to lead their schools.
Class trip opportunities abound in Big AppleOct 05, 2006
New York City school kids are mighty lucky they live in the Big Apple. After all, where else are there so many exciting things to do, see, explore and interact with beyond their classrooms?
'Unity' march features UFTers front and centerOct 04, 2006
Some 200,000 New York unionists, including more than 1,200 UFT members, marched up Fifth Avenue, bringing labor’s economic justice message to the public in the Sept. 9 Labor Day parade.
Dial-a-teacherSep 07, 2006
Dial-A-Teacher, the UFT's award-winning homework helpline, is once again open for business. Be sure to recommend it to your students.
Sizzlin’ summerAug 16, 2006
From polar bears to pensions to polymer-preserved pancreases, the UFT’s summer series for new teachers covered a lot of ground.
Photo GalleryJun 21, 2006
Supplies party
Jun 08, 2006
Everybody loves a sale. But thousands of city teachers have scored one even better than a sale. They’ve discovered freebies!
Summer reading about labor, lifeJun 08, 2006
With summer coming, you may have some time to read a few of the better books on labor and social change published since 2001.
Music to her earsJun 08, 2006
Music teacher Marie Sanzone got a standing ovation when she was recently named one of six 2006 recipients of the Sloan Public Service Awards.
Kindest CutsJun 08, 2006
The walls of isolation at Graphic Arts HS began to disintegrate about three years ago when the school was picked to participate in the “Small Learning Communities” initiative.
Family affair at Special Ed SchoolJun 08, 2006
Bond between staff, students makes this special ed school extra special
Spring in AugustJun 08, 2006
August Martin HS was tanking. And its doors were in danger of shutting forever.
Collaboration was key in Columbus transitionMay 25, 2006
Each step in the reconstitution of Columbus HS as four separate, but equal academies has been scrutinized and debated in a “community conversation.”
Small, but big on supportMay 25, 2006
Pelham Preparatory Academy accomplished its mission with Tatiana Hernandez, a 17-year-old in the small school’s first graduating class: She is college-bound.
Student’s ‘positive’ experience looms largeMay 25, 2006
During her first three years at Columbus HS, Stephanie Tolentino took an extra full load of classes. Now in her final year, with an 85-percent average and all her Regents behind her, she is focusing on what she loves best: school service.
Columbus aims to be prototype for how schools can co-existMay 25, 2006
Columbus HS, once on the brink of closing, is now hard at work remaking itself and remaking its relationship with the four small schools in its midst.
Documenting successMay 11, 2006
“I just want you to know how much I loved this movie,” U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton told the packed house at Stuyvesant HS April 28 after viewing a new 35-minute film chronicling the first months of the UFT’s charter school in East New York.
The city’s resistance to cutting class sizeApr 27, 2006
Mayor Michael Bloomberg and his Schools Chancellor Joel Klein have made sweeping changes in the city’s schools, but the administration has ignored the No. 1 concern of many parents, teachers and advocates: class size.
Kids get the blues — musically speakingApr 27, 2006
Long before she arrived for the first in a series of visits at a Manhattan school, the teaching artist from the Lincoln Center Institute for Arts in Education (LCI) had met and brainstormed at length with teachers about the lessons she would present.
UFTers get grim view of global trade at Mexican borderApr 13, 2006
A group of UFTers is helping to bring attention to the desperate living conditions of workers in factories operating under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) near the U.S.-Mexico border.
A night with the starsMar 16, 2006
Last month at the UFT’s annual Career and Technical Education Recognition Week Awards Ceremony at union headquarters, CTE teachers received awards from current and former students. The students spoke in heartfelt tones about how their teachers turned their lives around, encouraged them to dream big dreams, consoled them in times of anguish and understood how fragile young minds can be.
NY-PDMar 16, 2006
Educators from all over the U.S. come to New York each year, as well, to take in the top-notch professional development offered at the AFT/UFT Institute.
For school secretary, education runs in the familyFeb 16, 2006
School cecretary Nickie Zambardino is just one in a long line of educators teaching the city's children.
Planning a trip?Feb 16, 2006
City public school students and their teachers have a wealth of riches to choose from to make other times and places spring to life.
March of the ‘Nerds’Feb 16, 2006
They call themselves “Nerds on Strike.” They’re the unionized graduate assistants at New York University, who have been engaging in job actions since August in an effort to force the school administration back to the bargaining table.
From Big Easy to Big AppleFeb 02, 2006
When teacher Charles Block was forced to leave his home in New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina last September, he headed to New York and became an asset of the city's public school system — with help from the UFT.
Not just a ‘book checker-outer’Feb 02, 2006
School libraries work! But they work only when the enthusiasm, energy and professional skills of the school librarian — known today as the library media specialist — make a school library come to life.
Light on!Feb 02, 2006
Readers of the New York Teacher weren’t the only ones wowed by blind physical education teacher and coach Steve Sloan, who starred in the Oct. 6, 1999, feature headlined: “A True Visionary.”
From Big Easy to Big AppleFeb 02, 2006
When a high school teacher was forced to leave his home in New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina last September, he headed to New York — and landed in a public school classroom, with an assist from the UFT.
‘Gun, gun, gun!’Jan 19, 2006
One minute Freddie Rodriguez was in his classroom writing “parallel circuit analysis” on the board and the next minute he was running down the hallway with a 357 Magnum, chasing the masked gunman who tossed it.
Educators cited for developing innovative techniques, strategiesJan 19, 2006
To cut through teachers’ isolation from their own profession, and to prove that they can provide direction to one another, the Teachers Network was established 25 years ago.
Hobart honored for creating ‘united, strong powerhouse’ in stateDec 08, 2005
This year’s Charles Cogen Award, the UFT’s highest honor, went to Thomas Y. Hobart Jr. for his visionary work in helping to forge a statewide union — New York State United Teachers — that today represents more than a half-million educators and health-care workers.
Well-deserved praiseDec 08, 2005
While this year’s Teacher Union Day celebrated hard-won accomplishments, the clear message was that the real heroes of the union are the “shop-floor” leaders and the classroom practitioners.
Big-hearted teacher goes on a missionDec 08, 2005
Watching the utter horror of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina on CNN and other news programs, Susan McGuire-Crenny couldn’t sit still. “All I could think about was how were the children going to be able to start school?” she recalled.
Comfort from the stormsDec 08, 2005
It has been close to 10 weeks since Grace Garrison, a Federation of Nurses/UFT member, returned from the hurricane-wrecked Gulf Coast, and she still lives with the tragedy of the stories her patients told.
L.A. loves Dial-A-TeacherNov 17, 2005
The UFT’s acclaimed Dial-A-Teacher program may soon have a West Coast replica. Leaders of the Los Angeles teachers’ union spent the day at UFT headquarters on Nov. 1 on a fact-finding mission to learn about the UFT’s after-school homework helpline.
Have family, will travelNov 03, 2005
Something unexpected happened as I was globetrotting: I discovered my family.
Trippin’Oct 06, 2005
If you’re a kid growing up in New York City or a teacher in the city’s public schools, riches of every sort are at your fingertips.
Everybody is a starOct 06, 2005
The the star-studded alumni of Fiorello H. LaGuardia HS of Music and Art and Performing Arts are everywhere.
Welcome to the U.S.!Sep 22, 2005
Newcomers HS in Long Island City faced the unusual opening-day challenge of absorbing 180 teenagers new to the New York City school system and the United States.
A former honoree now saving livesSep 08, 2005
You never know where or when those UFT scholarship winners might pop up in your life — as Brooklyn Borough Representative Robert Astrowsky discovered.
The pride of public schoolsSep 08, 2005
If anyone at Tweed or City Hall wants to know about the importance of educators in our town, they should attend the next Albert Shanker College Scholarship Fund Awards ceremony event at UFT headquarters.
