2026 Academic High Schools Awards
Receiving her flowers amid applause is school secretary and Community Champion Award-winner Cassandra Dozier of Curtis HS on Staten Island.
Congratulating the Manhattan award-winners are UFT Manhattan Borough Representative Servia Silva (second row, left), UFT President Michael Mulgrew (back, center) and Vice Presi- dent for Academic High Schools Janella Hinds (front, right).
Lady Liberty centerpieces decorated the tables in Shanker Hall on May 15 as 300 guests, including members and loved ones, gathered for the UFT Academic High Schools Awards. The evening was framed by the theme “All are welcome.”
At a moment of mounting national debate over immigration, public education and diversity initiatives, union leaders and honorees repeatedly returned to themes of inclusion, solidarity and collective power.
“We are celebrating the 250th anniversary of the U.S. this year,” said UFT Vice President for Academic High Schools Janella Hinds as she welcomed guests, including 24 individual honorees and representatives from five recognized school teams. “I remember when I was in school, learning about the history of this country, we learned about different communities and how we opened our arms wide to one another.”
Hinds connected that history to the present political climate, emphasizing the union’s role as both a professional and personal refuge for educators navigating fraught social tensions.
“I hope you know that in your union hall, you are always welcome,” Hinds continued.
For many in attendance, the message resonated deeply.
Among the honorees was Ibeth Mejia, a special education teacher and UFT chapter leader at Aviation HS in Long Island City, Queens, who received an Outstanding Union Activist award. Mejia was recognized in part for her work securing a salary grievance victory for educators at her school — an effort colleagues described as emblematic of the often-unseen labor of union organizing.
“I put in a lot of hard work,” said Mejia. “It felt nice to be recognized for it.”
Educators throughout the evening underscored how labor activism and emotional support have become intertwined for themselves and their colleagues.
Samuel Harris, a second-year science teacher at the Young Women’s Leadership School of Astoria, received an Outstanding Union Activist award after being nominated for his advocacy around reforming Tier 6 of the state pension system. As Harris celebrated with colleagues, his thoughts remained with students and educators confronting fears tied to heightened immigration enforcement across New York City.
“In this moment when there are powerful voices seeking to dismantle so much of the diversity our city has built, it feels comforting and energizing to know that the UFT is championing our values in the halls of power,” he said.
Harris added that being part of “an entity as powerful” as his union makes him feel “safe as an educator.”
The awards ceremony highlighted a spectrum of contributions across the city’s public school system. Excellence in Education awards honored teachers recognized for innovative pedagogy, while Community Champion awards celebrated school related professionals who fostered warm and inclusive environments within their schools.
The evening also recognized collective action.
Members of Queens Technical HS stand proudly as Team High School award-winners.
Five schools accepted Team High School awards on behalf of their entire UFT memberships, including Brooklyn West Alternative Learning Center, a District 79 high school program that serves suspended students across five sites in Brooklyn and Staten Island.
Over the past two years, staff members at Brooklyn West have organized across boroughs to address what they describe as persistent safety and communication concerns involving their interim acting principal. Their campaign has included escalating complaints to city Department of Education officials, filing a vote of no-confidence and speaking publicly at Panel for Educational Policy meetings since March 2025.
“We’ve had the weight of the world on our shoulders,” said Jennifer Pacifici, the UFT chapter leader for Brooklyn West, “but we have to show up every day for the children.”
For educators accustomed to prolonged conflict and institutional pressure, the awards ceremony offered something increasingly rare: a chance to celebrate.
When they gathered at union headquarters for the event, Pacifici said, Brooklyn West educators remembered “what it feels like to smile.”
“We’re so entrenched in this fight that we forgot good things can happen in life,” said Pacifici. “We paused and we said, ‘We have to celebrate more often.’”
That idea — that activism must also make room for joy — emerged as one of the evening’s defining themes.
Harris echoed Pacifici’s sentiment when he described the awards ceremony as “a space to recognize the activism and turn it into joy.”
“Joy is key,” he said.