The UFT members at Booker T. Washington MS on the Upper West Side have found their voices and discovered new avenues to make them heard.

For the first time, UFT members at the school attend regular monthly chapter meetings.

For the first time, a chapter consultation committee has met with the principal and set a schedule for future monthly meetings.

For the first time, teachers and paraprofessionals have a working professional development committee that helps create school-based professional development that addresses their specific needs.

Deirdre McEvoy, the school’s newly elected chapter leader, is leading the charge. With the support of the union’s new chapter advocacy program, she is revitalizing the chapter at Booker T. Washington so that UFT members not only know their rights but may exercise them in meaningful ways.

“More teachers are turning out and speaking openly at chapter meetings, and there’s the same kind of open discussion and collaboration at our professional development meetings,” she said.

The chapter advocacy program sends advocates with experience as successful chapter leaders into schools to advise new chapter leaders as they learn the ropes, and to help veteran chapter leaders look for ways to revitalize chapters and use the rights negotiated for them in the 2014 contract. Advocates help in about 100 schools this fall.

McEvoy was paired with chapter advocate Jamie Polzin as her own personal trainer.

“Jamie has been extremely encouraging and supportive and has made a great effort to meet with me to understand the needs of my school,” McEvoy said. “She has attended both of my chapter meetings, which was a great help to me and to my members since I am still learning how to deal with some issues. She has even modeled how to talk to upset or dissatisfied teachers.”

McEvoy recently welcomed fellow members into her classroom for the second chapter meeting of the year. Members arrived in three successive waves during their lunch periods to talk about their concerns.

Math teacher Deanne Orcher said teachers in integrated co-teaching classes need common planning time and asked how it’s decided which ICT teacher is the focus of an informal observation. Physical education teacher Jose Beauvais asked about teacher responsibilities in the SAVE room. Teacher Melissa Spitalny spoke about the importance of offering meaningful professional development on Mondays, a hot topic that was raised at all three lunch periods.

All those concerns were put on the agenda for that month’s consultation committee meeting with the principal.

With Polzin’s help, McEvoy has created a simple format for the consultation agenda that lists the issue, the questions raised about it and the solutions proposed by members.

Polzin said she considers a school’s consultation committee “the most powerful vehicle for change but the one most overlooked” in the chapter leader tool kit.

Determined from the start to create an active and informed chapter that is collaborative first rather than combative, McEvoy has already held more frequent and better-attended meetings, created a chapter newsletter, sent out informative emails and distributed the minutes of the first consultation committee meeting.

Teacher Elizabeth McNulty credits McEvoy with “a good grasp on the various modes of communication needed to keep the members of our chapter well-informed and involved.”

Despite her busy schedule as a science teacher, McEvoy has attended the first two weekend-long training sessions for new chapter leaders. She also has attended other daylong training sessions, special mid-week meetings and monthly Delegate Assembly meetings.

District 3 Representative Elizabeth Espert noted that McEvoy attended a recent District 3 tenure celebration to support her school’s newer teachers.

“She shows up for everything,” said Espert, who also has provided vital support for the chapter.

Polzin said the transformation of the UFT chapter at Booker T. Washington is a microcosm of the work that needs to be done at a good number of schools across the city.

“I’m so happy that President Mulgrew put this chapter advocacy program together,” said Polzin. “Strong chapters will make the union stronger, more effective and more responsive to the needs of members.”