About 300 high school students from across the city got a head start preparing for career success at the third annual Big Apple Classic Leadership Summit, which the UFT co-sponsors with marketing and public relations firm Johnson, Inc., and other partners. At the event at UFT headquarters in Manhattan on Dec. 5, the students heard from leaders in fields including technology, finance, business and education about their careers and how they achieved their success. Reshma Saujani, the founder and CEO of Girls Who Code, a nonprofit that encourages girls to enter computer science fields, spoke about innovations in computer science, while Tra’Lynn Husbands from the Municipal Credit Union offered a lesson in financial literacy that will help them as they make the transition from high school to college and beyond. UFT Assistant Secretary LeRoy Barr talked about organizational leadership. “The summit is about helping to expose kids to pathways to success focusing on STEM-ED: science, technology, engineering, math, entrepreneurship and design,” said Johnson, Inc., Creative Director Torrance Hampton. “We want to create a platform for students to hear from leaders in those fields about their experience, their background and their leadership.” UFT Vice President for Career and Technical Education High Schools Sterling Roberson, who organized the union’s participation in the summit, said the event also demonstrated for students the combination of education, skill and grit it takes to succeed. “If you have dreams, there is a lot you need to think about to make sure they come to fruition,” Roberson said. “Our goal is to make sure our students have the skills they need to plan for those dreams.”