Barbering students from Manhattan’s Coop Tech demonstrate their skills with scissors and clippers.
HS for Construction Trades, Engineering and Architecture teacher Mohammed Hossain (left) and his students at the Queens school display their engineering talents.
In one corner, a student-designed catapult demonstrated the new frontiers of 3-D printing. Down the hall, a display of handmade dental molds taught New Yorkers how to take care of their teeth. And a few tables down, a pasta primavera with a creamy tomato sauce tempted visitors to sample new flavors. These were among the career and technical education high school projects on display in the exhibit hall at this year’s Spring Education Conference.
“CTE is the forefront of education,” said Joseph Caputo, a teacher in the dental lab program at Tottenville HS on Staten Island, “and it’s going to continue to inspire kids and motivate kids to go to school and get on a career path.”
Megan Pomara, who teaches cosmetology at Queens Technical HS, said the city’s CTE programs are unique in that they train students for hands-on careers less vulnerable to automation. “It gives the girls a lot of confidence,” she said of her students, “to know that they aren’t going to be replaced by a robot or AI.”
Tarik Golden, who teaches barbering at Coop Tech, brought a group of students to give haircuts to volunteers at the exhibit fair to demonstrate their skills with scissors and clippers. Golden sees his role as both an instructor and a mentor who ushers young people into adulthood with not only a trade but a skill at fostering social ties. “In a barbershop,” he said, young men “make business connections, social connections. It’s one of the few places we have left that is community.”
This year, about half the exhibit hall was given over to booths informing UFT members of their benefits as well as exhibits about products and services useful to educators. UFT members browsed literature about mortgages, the history of education in New York City and the UFT heritage and interest committees, among other exhibits, while Mr. and Mrs. Met, the official mascots of the New York Mets, roamed the aisles.
2026 Spring Education Conference
