Parents, caregivers and community members poured into UFT borough offices this fall for the UFT parent and community engagement committees’ annual conferences. By strengthening their relationships with one another and with the UFT, the more than 500 attendees from across the city underscored that parents and educators are allies in their advocacy for public school students.

“Parent power is crucial for everything our union is working on, from enforcing class size limits to increasing pay for paraprofessionals,” said Nicholas Cruz, the UFT’s director of community and parent engagement. “By building these relationships between parents and the union — and among parents themselves — we improve schools for families, educators and, most important, children.”

The Bronx event on Oct. 4 featured a resource fair and “KidZone” carnival. As children enjoyed face-painting, games and crafts, adults gathered information about community resources and learned about union programs like homework help from Dial-A-Teacher and bullying prevention from the union’s BRAVE initiative. “I’ve been coming to UFT events for a long time and I still learn new things every time,” said Andrea Daniels, whose daughter just graduated in June.

Daniels said she comes to UFT parent events not only for information, but also for community. “When I’m with the UFT, I’m with family,” she said.

Workshops on first aid, emergency preparedness, immigrant rights and special education were offered at the Manhattan parent conference at union headquarters on Oct. 25. Luis Camilo, a Community Education Council member in District 6 and the parent of two high school students, received help from the union in 2017 when he needed support with his son’s Individualized Education Program. This year, Camilo attended a two-part training at the conference to learn how to help other parents advocate for their children in IEP meetings. “I’m forever grateful to the UFT,” he said.

That same day, parents convened at the union’s Brooklyn borough office for the Brooklyn conference. In keeping with this year’s theme of “Organize and Activate,” workshops focused on parent leadership. Topics included political action and parent teacher association governance. Jessica Kurtz, a parent association member at PS 889 in Brooklyn who has been advocating for smaller class sizes with a group of Kensington parents, said parents are often “kept at arm’s length” from the information and advocacy work that matters to them. “I thought it was really cool that the UFT created a space to welcome parents into the conversation,” she said.

The focus of the Staten Island conference, held on Nov. 8, was safety, with a well-attended presentation from the Staten Island District Attorney’s Office about keeping students safe online. Simone Wilson, whose son graduated last spring from Curtis HS, plans to share the information she learned with friends and colleagues. “We’re living in a different time now,” Wilson said. “There are new ways that bad actors prey on innocent people online.”

Closing out the series was the Queens conference on Nov. 22 with the theme, “Stronger Together, Future-Ready.” The workshops, offered in English and Spanish, centered on preparing for the future by strengthening family health, finances and communication. Rosie Schellenberg, a grandparent of five students in city schools, said she went home with a wealth of knowledge about everything from immigrants’ rights to how to get along with difficult people. “It was all very powerful for me,” she said. The conference “was so rich.”