Physical education teacher Teresa Rodriguez-McGill, chapter leader at PS 183 in Queens, enjoys UFT Family Day with her husband, Michael McGill, who teaches at Liberty Avenue MS in Brooklyn, and their children.
UFT members John and Jaclyn Nelle have different views on what their two boys enjoy most about UFT Family Day.
“The bounce house,” Jaclyn, a social worker at PS 52 in Queens, said when asked.
“I think it’s just all the running around,” John, a special education science teacher for 6th to 8th-grade ICT classes at Queens United MS, said as he watched 4-year-old Hunter and 6-year-old Jackson scoot across the turf inside the Globall Sport Center facility in Garden City, Long Island.
One thing they do agree on: They wouldn’t miss the union’s spring event.
“We love it — we’ve come every year,” said Jaclyn, whose family joined the more than 2,400 who registered to take part in one of the two three-hour sessions for the fourth annual bash on June 6. “It’s a day of nice weekend family fun.”
Jaclyn said it takes her back to her youth. Growing up in a union household, with a dad who was a Local 3 electrician, she spent summers going to camps run by that union.
“And it’s kind of nice that we now can do something with our union, as well,” she added.
Those who attended had access to a host of carnival games, bounce houses and plenty of food while enjoying music supplied by a DJ. There were also booths where members could get information about UFT programs like the legal plan, student debt program, pension and the UFT Welfare Fund. And all of the children left with gift bags and other tchotchkes.
“This is a chance for members to bring their families into a space where not only can they enjoy themselves as an actual family, but also enjoy themselves with their UFT family,” said DeShanna Barker, a UFT member representative for Queens and the event’s organizer.
Jessica Forste, a speech improvement teacher at the Robert E. Peary School in Queens, attended the event for the first time and brought along her daughter Clara, 7, and husband, Mark.
“I was curious about it and decided to come out,” she said. “I’m glad we did. It’s a lot of fun and we’re all enjoying it.”
That’s the whole idea, Barker said.
“As union activists, we need to not only just go fight at rallies, but also to have this camaraderie and unity within each other,” Barker emphasized. “We fight hard, but we should play hard together, as well.”
