A union of professionals

UFT President Michael Mulgrew and City Council Education Committee Chair Rita Joseph (at left) with the educators from the Speak Up! panel that called for educators to have greater input in school policy making.

Renee Freeman from the DOE’s Instructional Support Services is embraced by a colleague after posing a question to the Speak Up panelists.

Teacher Maryse Crevecoeur-Santilus (at left) from PS 617 in Brooklyn and her nephew join with her colleague Marie Leonard in making the case for smaller class size.

Motivational speaker and counselor Steven Pinto offers pointers on resilience and tolerance when dealing with students “in the midst of a mental health crisis.”

A student gets a taste of virtual reality courtesy of a vice president of the not-for-profit Tech in Schools Initiative at the exhibit fair.

At a career and technical education booth in the exhibit hall, Brooklyn Steam Center Navy Yard students show off a 3D printer and a model it made.

Students of the Dental Department at Tottenville HS in Staten Island, alongside their teacher Joseph Caputo (at right), are dressed to drill at the exhibition hall.

Courtney Crenshaw and Shan White, both 2nd grade teachers at New Bridges Elementary in Crown Heights, listen intently during a workshop on strategies for teaching multilingual learners.

UFT Staff Director Anthony Harmon, the day’s MC, speaks to those gathered in the Grand Ballroom at the New York Hilton for the gala luncheon.

Pre-K teacher Shakesha Simmons and paraprofessional Betty Checo, both from Teachers College Community School in Harlem, show their enthusiasm for the luncheon speakers.

Myra Cruz, District 6 Manhattan representative, and Miriam Familia, a librarian at PS 192 in Manhattan, take a selfie with Schools Chancellor David C. Banks.

Gov. Kathy Hochul praised educators’ “extraordinary sacrifice” and touted the record spending on education in her first budget.