Feb 1, 2007 4:53 PM
Drop by union headquarters most afternoons and weekends and you’ll find the place humming with activity.
A great deal of that action is generated by UFT professional committees whose conferences, seminars, workshops and meetings throughout the year attract thousands of UFT members.
On a Saturday in late October at UFT headquarters in downtown Manhattan, 350 educators filled the building for general sessions, exhibits and workshops, all part of the busy daylong New York City Association of Foreign Language Teachers and the New York State Association of Foreign Language Teachers’ Annual Conference.
The same day, hundreds more educators were making a stir at the New York City Art Teachers Association’s 26th annual Art Education Conference — Expanding Horizons — held at Fiorello LaGuardia HS. In addition to speakers and workshops, artist/teachers exhibited their work at the nearby Cork Gallery in Avery Fisher Hall. Another exhibit is planned for May and an exhibit of student art is scheduled for late winter.
Earlier in the week, the Italian-American Committee held its 31st annual celebration of Italian Heritage and Culture Month. It was an afternoon of speakers — featuring the vice consul general of Italy — and entertainment, with a traditional supper rounding out the evening.
And if you watched the New York City Marathon on Nov. 5, you might have caught sight of runners wearing bold UFT T-shirts making their way to the finish line. They are members of the UFT Runners.
George Altomare, director of professional committees, and his staff keep track of the 30 professional committees the UFT supports by making sure they have meeting places, refreshments and funds to send representatives to the state and national conferences with which they are affiliated. The committees range from academic groups (such as math, science and music) to special interest groups (such as runners, players and veterans) to ethnic/racial groups. There’s something for everyone and, for union members, membership is free.
The academic committees are designed to keep members in top form academically and professionally and to provide fertile ground for networking on the city, state and national levels as well as mining the latest professional research in each field. NYCATA President Joan Davidson summed up the work of these committees as meeting the need “to keep ourselves professionally refreshed.”
Foreign language committee conference Co-Chairman Gary Milgrom said his committee’s goal is “to reach everyone and to meet everyone’s needs — new teachers, senior teachers, even student teachers.”
Josie Levine, who chairs both the English as a Second Language/Bilingual Committee and the Media Committee, provides the means for teachers to “network, hone ideas and enhance academic expertise in an informal, nonthreatening way.” She is also a consultant for the Discovery Channel and describes the UFT as a “renaissance organization for all the work it does for members beyond hours and wages.”
The Association of Teachers of Social Studies, which has been around since 1937, attracts 600-800 educators to its annual premiere conference in February. Outstanding speakers like Paul Krugman, New York Times columnist and winner of the ATSS Hubert Humphrey Award, are always a draw.
Committee Chair Levi Anthony noted that in addition to the regular workshops given during the year — one especially for new teachers, one on black history and another on women’s history — new workshops on technology and social studies and the arts will be added this year. Anthony, the 2006 recipient of the State Council of Teachers of Social Studies’ Distinguished Social Studies Award, pointed out that the committee is a resource for the state — as are other committees — by helping design exams and shape curriculum and assessment.
Anthony spoke of the “fruitful association between the committees and the union,” noting that while the UFT provides so much, committee members, in turn, bring the UFT name out there when they travel around the state and nation making other teachers aware of the broad scope of their professional union.
He has created a very user-friendly Web site with extensive information for social studies teachers at www.Edusolution.com.
The new kid on the block is the New York City Dance Educators professional committee which was founded about six years ago. It’s headed by Michael Kerr, who is just back from California where he shared what New York City dance teachers are doing in the classroom at the National Dance Educators’ Organization. He sees the group’s mission as building community and working to improve some of the “insane conditions” some dance educators work under.
He’s very proud of the continuing growth of the committee’s annual Dance Festival as a venue to show off to parents and community the “excellent work of dance educators and dance students boroughwide.”
Professional committees of every kind offer all UFT members opportunities to meet new colleagues, share ideas, grow professionally and enjoy mutual interests. To view photography,
UFT professional committees
African-American Heritage
Albanian-American Heritage
Asian-American Heritage
Association of Teachers of Social Studies
Capably Disabled
Computer and Technology
English as a Second Language/Bilingual
English Language Arts Council
Hellenic American Educators Association
Hispanic Affairs
Humane Education
Irish-American
Italian-American
Jewish Heritage
Library
Math Teachers
Media
NYC Art Teachers Association
NYC Association of Foreign LanguageTeachers
NYC Coaches Association
NYC Dance Educators
NYC Music Teachers Association
Outdoor Environmental Education
Per Diems
Players
Runners
Science
Social and Recreational
Veterans
Women’s Rights
Check the UFT Web site for more information. Go to www.uft.org and click on Member Services, scroll down to UFT Today, click on Union Committees and scroll down to your committee.
To become a member of a professional committee, contact George Altomare, director of professional committees. Write to 52 Broadway, New York, NY 10004; call 1-212-598-7771; or e-mail
galtomare@uft.org.
