NeQuan McLean, recipient of the UFT’s Pastor Joseph Maldonado Trailblazer Award, is congratulated by UFT Director of Parent and Community Engagement Nicholas Cruz.
More than 200 UFT members, faith leaders and parent advocates gathered at the UFT Faith-Based Breakfast in Shanker Hall on April 29 to discuss how religious communities can support families and schools. Nicholas Cruz, the UFT director of parent and community engagement and the event organizer, presented the second Pastor Joseph Maldonado Trailblazer Award to NeQuan McLean, president of the Community Education Council District 16 and the board of the Education Council Consortium. “Education is under attack by the federal government,” and religious leaders must work together to fight back, he said. Cruz agreed, saying, “The call to protect our kids is universal to all religions.” The Rev. Starsky Wilson, president and CEO of the Children’s Defense Fund, was the keynote speaker and called on his peers to work with educators and families to support young people. “It still takes a village to raise a child,” he said. Sean Blanks, the UFT Dial-A-Teacher project coordinator, said he and a parishioner he ran into from his church plan to invite their congregation to next year’s breakfast.