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‘Being part of something bigger’

New York Teacher
UFT Queens Strides coordinator has just cut the ribbon to start things off.
Miller Photography
UFT Queens Strides coordinator Greer Hansen-Velazquez (front, right) has just cut the ribbon to start things off for the UFT delegation.
MS 172 and PS 251 teachers are ready for a picture-perfect walk.
Miller Photography

Teachers Darah Evens (left) of MS 172 and Jade Speller of PS 251 are ready for a picture-perfect walk. 

Chapter Leader Sandra Electra-Rodriquez from PS 151 in Woodside said educators, parents and students from her school walked in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park this year in memory of teacher Sarah Profeta’s mother, who died of breast cancer this summer, and in honor of Assistant Principal Maria Psaradakis’ mother, who is a survivor. They were among the nearly 400 Queens members who participated in the Making Strides against Breast Cancer Walk on Nov. 8 after the borough’s walk originally scheduled for Oct. 18 was postponed due to a Mets playoff game. After not participating in 2014, the chapter from PS 330 in Corona this year put together a 30-member team that raised $2,157, more than double its $1,000 goal. Melissa Newman, the school’s co-chapter leader, said the profits from sweatshirts and raffle baskets put the team over the top. Jade Speller, a teacher at PS 251 in Springfield Gardens, was glad to see students from her school join the Strides walk because, she said, it is important for them to be aware that they are part of a wider community. “We all shared a sense of being part of something bigger than our school, of helping our community in a meaningful way,” Speller said.

Related Topics: Breast Cancer Awareness