feature stories

And the winners are — teachers

by Jim Callaghan

Feb 28, 2008 1:56 PM

Union recognizes contributions to CTE at annual ceremony

Award winners pose with (standing from left) UFT Vice President for Career and Technical High Schools Michael Mulgrew, Staff Director LeRoy Barr and UFT President Randi Weingarten after the event. The 2008 Outstanding Career and Tech/Teachers Awards went to (not in pictured order) Jacqueline Combs of Norman Thomas HS, Van R. Wilson of Ralph McKee HS, Vito Licciardi of Graphic Communication Arts HS, Rose Mary Seenarine of William H. Maxwell HS, Dinella Ascenso of Food & Finance HS, Sharon E. Oliver-Henderson of Clara Barton HS, Magdy Faris of John Bowne HS, Lisa Costantino of Edward R. Murrow HS, Jose Contreras of Alfred E. Smith HS, Carlos Caraballo of Automotive HS, Roland Fleurizier of Jane Addams HS, Diana Ramos of Grace Dodge HS, Michael Aquino of George Westinghouse HS, Gregory Schneider of Fiorello H. LaGuardia HS, Sandra Cruz of Thomas A. Edison HS, Anne Buerger of Art & Design HS, Renato Rosales of William Grady HS, Thomas O’Neill of Fort Hamilton HS, Obatala Taylor of Transit Tech HS, Angel Morales of Samuel Gompers HS, John Krzemien of School of Co-Op Tech, David Abreu of Queens Vocational HS, Allison Chase of Fashion Industries HS and Ludwik A. Wojtas of Aviation HS. Special awardees included Deputy Mayor Dennis Walcott, International Informatics Institute Director Jack Powers, former UFT Vice President Frank Carucci and Outstanding SVA graduate Piotr Nieznalski.

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.

People like the above-mentioned Powers received more than just a plaque and a red rose. The union’s annual CTE Awards Recognition Ceremony was an event where their colleagues and former and current students heaped effusive praise on them. This was a night when young women and men went to the microphone and told short stories about the impact their teachers had on their lives.

This was a night when those same young women and men recounted compelling stories — some sad, others gleeful — about how their teachers were their friends, mentors and advisors.

It was an event that left the audience feeling warm all over; a New York night that served as an antidote to the chilliness of the winter air outside.

Perhaps professional actor Jonathan Braithwaite summed it up best when he said he would not have performed in more than a dozen Shakespearian plays had it not been for his former teacher, Gregory Schneider of LaGuardia HS. Student presenter Damian Washington’s witty and heartfelt speech, delivered with a wide smile, resonated with every student and every educator in the room: Yes, this is what teaching is all about.

It was a night for Deputy Mayor Dennis Walcott to express surprise that he was recognized by a student from Samuel Gompers HS — named for the man who said: “What does labor want? We want more schoolhouses and less jails; more books and less arsenals; more learning and less vice; more leisure and less greed; more justice and less revenge; in fact, more of the opportunities to cultivate our better natures.”

“How do you know me?” Walcott inquired. The student, a bit nonplussed, said nervously: “I see you on television.”

Walcott told the New York Teacher he planned to spend a lot more time at CTE schools now that the city has agreed to expand the program.

UFT Vice President for CTE High Schools Michael Mulgrew, in presenting a special award to Walcott, praised him for helping to get the Department of Education to expand the CTE program.

“He told me that whatever we needed, he would work it from his end,” Mulgrew said. “And he kept his word.”

Walcott praised the teachers, calling them “outstanding people,” and promised that “this will be a banner year for CTE — the best is yet to come.”

Mulgrew told the crowd that it was a long, winding road to get the city to expand CTE. He thanked the teachers, saying, “You are the driving force behind CTE; I can’t do my work without you.”

The assemblage heard powerful stories about teachers who had rescued CTE programs in their schools and others who rescued students who needed guidance to get back on a right track. One teacher told of how former students drop by Graphic Communication Arts HS asking to chat with Vito Licciardi, who guides his students through their formative years.

Graduates of the Success Via Apprenticeship Program are recognized.

Licciardi told the gathering about his other life — before teaching — as a regional manager for a major corporation. “There was lots of money there,” Licciardi said, “but you don’t get the rewards that you get from teaching. I have never worked so hard in life.”

How many “thank yous” can you fit into one night? As many as there were students and colleagues presenting awards to the honorees. There were thank-yous for:

“Pushing me.”
“Being my friend.”
“Giving me your shoulder to cry on.”
“Helping me get into college.”
“Motivating me.”
“Giving me confidence and for telling me I could be whatever I wanted to be.”
“Inspiring me to pursue my dreams.”
“Giving me a sense of security.”

There is no way to put a price tag or a test score on that.

Sharon E. Oliver-Henderson, a teacher at Clara Barton HS, told a funny story about her goal — when she was 7 years old — to become a nurse.

“I was a tomboy and Clara Barton HS was an all-girls school so my mother suggested I become a teacher.”

Jeremy Zamora, a student at Automotive HS, said his teacher, Carlos Caraballo, taught him to face life head on. “He said there was nothing I couldn’t do,” Zamora said.

A student who introduced teacher Diana Ramos of Grace Dodge HS probably expressed the thoughts of most students in the room when it came to describing their favorite teacher: “I will never forget her.”

Clearly, that is what teachers hope for in the larger schemes of the universe: “Wow! I really did make a difference!”

The winner in the Outstanding SVA (Success Via Apprenticeship) Graduate Program, Piotr Nieznalski, cracked up the audience when he said, “Finally, I have something to put on my wall.”

Also honored was former UFT Vice President for CTE High Schools Frank Carucci. Mulgrew credited Carucci with “building the base” and said, “We would not be here celebrating the expansion of CTE without him, and I miss him dearly.”

UFT President Randi Weingarten reported on a meeting held that day of a coalition of community groups, parents and labor unions to fight the city’s surprise midyear cuts to education.

“We are rocking and rolling against the cuts,” she said. “This administration can’t just talk its talk, it has to walk its walk.”

She said the message from the coalition to City Hall and the state was that we must “immunize” children in the face of an economic downturn.

One principal, who asked not be identified for fear of retribution, said, “I wish [Mayor Michael] Bloomberg and [Chancellor Joel] Klein could have been here tonight and listened to these stories and then explained to us how they can justify shortchanging our kids.”