Rebecca Hadley

Michelle Pérez, a bilingual school social worker, discusses the challenges and rewards of her work in New York City schools connecting families with school-based and community resources and providing crisis intervention and at-risk counseling for students.

Middle school teacher Donna Menna of IS 5 in Elmhurst, Queens, is one of this year's UFT Middle Schools Division Legacy Award winners.

When students ask John Isaza why he teaches — despite the higher salary he could earn as an electrician — his answer is simple. “I love my job,” he tells them. “When you love what you do, it doesn’t feel like work.” Isaza, a UFT Career and Technical Education Award winner, teaches electrical installation at Coop Tech in Manhattan, not far from where he began his own journey in the trade.