“The paras are the backbone of these schools,’’ said Priscilla Castro, a UFT field representative for Queens District 75. They’re “always there ... they know the ropes.” To honor 26 dedicated paraprofessionals with between 29 and 45 years of service, Castro organized a Passion and Promise dinner dance at the UFT’s Queens borough office, and the union presented them with medals. UFT President Michael Mulgrew addressed the gathering of 160 as did district Acting Interim Superintendent Ketler Louissaint. “I know the work you do,” said Louissaint, who was a para before rising through the ranks. Honoree Corinthia Campbell of PS 177 has been a para for almost 35 years, and a para rep for 25. A school volunteer when her son was a student, Campbell became a para at a supervisor’s suggestion. “I got hooked,” she said. “I love the children.” At 77, Campbell is an inspiration at work and at home: her son followed in her footsteps and is a special education teacher. Jerry Mason of PS 4 at 179 has been a para for 32 years. He started because he needed a job and health insurance. “I stayed because it wasn’t like a job, it was more like a family,’’ he said. That was proven when Mason’s own son died and one of his students “said he would be my son,” Mason remembered. Brian Schwartz has logged 33 years, more than 20 at PS 811 at Francis Lewis HS in Queens, where he was in the nursing program in the 1980s. Carol Giambalvo, one of his teachers, set him on his career path. “I was a shy, quiet kid and she brought me out of my shell,” he said. “She was good to me and I’m trying to be good to the kids. I’m trying to give back.”

See more photos in the gallery.