The UFT celebrated the future-forward focus that career and technical educators bring in giving students the tools they need to join tomorrow’s labor force, as more than 450 members and guests gathered at union headquarters on Feb. 12 for the union’s Career and Technical Education Awards night.

“Our career and technical education programs in New York City are the country’s shining star right now,” UFT Vice President for CTE High Schools Leo Gordon said as he opened the annual awards and dinner program. “We dominate the space.”

The demand for labor in fields such as health care, film and television, and HVAC installation and maintenance has driven an expansion in city CTE programs in the past year, Gordon said. The UFT, in collaboration with its industry partners, has supported the creation of new CTE schools that prepare students for careers in health care and other growth sectors of the local and national economies.

This school year, the health-care-focused Bronx STEAM Center in Pelham Bay and Northwell HS in Long Island City, Queens, opened their doors. The increase in student seats “aligns with national industry needs,” said Gordon.

“We’re putting students on a trajectory to skilled professions,” he said.

These professions are sure to involve artificial intelligence and its applications, Gordon said, as the use of AI accelerates at a rate that threatens to outpace educational systems smaller or less nimble than the city’s.

“Industry can pivot at a moment’s notice — they have the resources,” Gordon said. “But we’ve been able to keep up, entirely because of the hard work of our partners and our teachers.”

“The career and technical education community has always been about the future,” UFT President Michael Mulgrew told attendees via video link in a reference to the event’s theme, “The Future Is Now.”

CTE teachers have a unique relationship with their students, who are often attracted by the practical, hands-on nature of career and technical programs, said Mulgrew: “You understand what makes children want to get out of bed in the morning and get to school. That’s the beauty of this phenomenal community.”

Nearly 80 CTE educators were awarded for excellence and innovation in teaching at the event. City CTE programs cover subjects as varied as electrical engineering, culinary arts, computer science and architecture. The honorees were as diverse as their subject matter.

The Stanley Schair CTE Teacher of the Year Award went to Alain Codio of Brooklyn’s Williamsburg HS for Architecture and Design. Codio, who in 2009 transitioned to teaching from a career in architecture, helped develop his school’s connections to city architectural firms, providing students with opportunities for valuable internships and mentoring.

Echoing the sentiments of many of his CTE colleagues, Codio said he appreciates the creative autonomy he enjoys in how he prepares his students for future careers in the field: “I love being able to come to school and say, ‘I have a great idea. Who’s down?’”

Being a CTE instructor is a uniquely gratifying experience, said fellow award-winning teacher Nicholas Stendardo of New Dorp HS on Staten Island.

“I’m really humbled to win,” said the 23-year veteran educator after being honored with the Work-Based Coordinator for Excellence and Innovation Award. “I get to see my students grow professionally. Sometimes I’m placing them in their first jobs, and that’s really rewarding.”

Alex Chen, who teaches electrical installation at Manhattan’s Coop Tech, won the Edwin Espaillat Award, which is given annually to an educator enrolled in the Success Via Apprenticeship program. Chen is in the last year of the five-year program, which provides college coursework, training in technical skills and pedagogical training. He said that the recognition of his colleagues was inspiring: “The people who nominated me for this award see a potential in me that even I struggle to see sometimes. All I can do is try to live up to their expectations.”

Chen’s Coop Tech colleague Laurel Parker, a career electrician-turned-teacher of commercial electrical work, said being honored by the UFT was meaningful because it reinforced the value members place on working together.

“Having brothers and sisters that share in your struggle — and your success — is nice for any teacher,” said Parker, who was honored with a Municipal Credit Union award. “We can be there for each other.”