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Feature Stories

From their classroom windows, the students of St. John’s Residence for Boys in Queens can see the rich recreational landscape of the Rockaways — the ocean, the boardwalk, volleyball and basketball courts, roller rinks — a landscape they aren’t permitted to experience. When the boys spotted a pickleball court from the window and asked what it was, veteran physical education and Spanish teacher Jenine DeMarzo (inset) decided to set up a makeshift pickleball net in her classroom to introduce them to the game.

Phys ed teacher goes the extra mile

Physical education teacher Jenine DeMarzo brings culture and connection to her incarcerated students at St. John’s Residence for Boys in Queens by setting up a makeshift pickleball court in her classroom.
Third-graders are enthralled as they walk with Collins through a 40-foot tunnel

Making connections seaside

Go along with teachers Maureen Collins and Jessica Smalley of PS 264 in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, as they take their 3rd-graders on a field trip to the New York Aquarium as a complement to the HMH into Reading curriculum.
A young paraprofessional gets career training development in 1970.

Timeline of UFT rights

Union membership has changed what it means to have a voice and protection at work. Since the UFT’s start in 1960 and ratifying its first contract with the city in 1962, members have fought for and won better working conditions, stronger workplace protections and greater support. This timeline winds its way through bargaining achievements by the UFT throughout the years.
Twin Towers

UFT members remember 9/11 25 years later

Everyone who was in New York City on Sept. 11, 2001, has a personal 9/11 story, including UFT educators who were hard at work serving the city's 1.1 million students when planes struck the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center. Twenty-five years later, educators reflect on their experiences.
‘Go all out’ to achieve class size reduction

‘Go all out’ to achieve class size reduction

Teachers in Queens, the city's most crowded borough, said the benefits of lowering class size were seen almost immediately, and they encouraged their colleagues to stay the course in pressing school leadership to do the work.
Barbering students from Manhattan’s Coop Tech demonstrate their skills with scissors and clippers.

Celebrating new frontiers in CTE

From dental molds and catapults to barbering and cosmetology skills, career and technical education high school projects displayed a wealth of talent in the exhibit hall at this year’s UFT Spring Education Conference.