Hundreds of students from high schools across the city learned about union careers and benefits from dozens of New York City unions represented at the UFT Academic High School Division’s ninth annual Future in Focus career fair.

Members of the UFT as well as other public- and private-sector unions participated in the Feb. 6 event at Bronx Community College, including educators, motion picture editors, sheet metal workers, railroad transport workers, operating engineers, utility workers, make-up artists, hair stylists and heat and frost insulators.

“Educating New York City’s high school students about the labor movement is one of the highlights of our year,” UFT Vice President for Academic High Schools Janella Hinds said. “This year’s Future in Focus allowed workers from the public sector, private sector and building trades to share the benefits of union membership with the next generation.”

School counselor Sunita Budhiraja, a transition team leader at Beacon HS in Manhattan, encouraged her 10th- and 11th-graders to “listen, note and gather” information about jobs, requirements and benefits. “I make a concerted effort to ensue our students find out about opportunities that are alternatives to a four-year college,” she said.

Jessica Ferrara, the chapter leader at Queens Technical HS, said the freshmen the school brought to Future in Focus will be determining their next steps in just three short years. The career fair offers “a nice opportunity to get out and see what’s out there,” she said.

Four Queens Tech students who perused information at the fair together said they were considering engineering, plumbing, heating and construction careers. Learning about jobs they may not have considered before and finding ways to make a decent salary were priorities for the students.

“It’s a good way to start and see where you want to work at, see where you want to be in the future,” said Oscar, who expressed an interest in the plumbing trades.

Terrain Chambers Reeves, the chapter leader at Edward R. Murrow HS in Brooklyn, brought seniors to Future in Focus after taking them to a college fair last semester. Lily, a senior who was interested in a number of careers including possibly teaching history one day, said the event provided helpful exposure to different options. “I feel like it was a good experience for me to be open-minded to more opportunities,” she said.

Denise Newland-Stewart, a teacher and work-based coordinator at Astor Collegiate Academy in the Pelham Bay Park section of the Bronx, said her school brings students to Future in Focus each year: “We explain to them that when you’re in a union job, you have more security.”