Standing proudly — and standing up for their school’s immigrant community — are (from left) Paraprofessional Representative Ashrafuz Zaman, school counselor Regina Karagach-Zurinam, special education teacher and Chapter Leader Leena Dave and dele- gate Yari Milo Michel of Team High School Award-winning FDR HS.
Educators at Franklin Delano Roosevelt HS in Brooklyn take no chances when it comes to their immigrant student community. Members of the school chapter, headed by Chapter Leader Leena Dave, monitor daily student dismissals by standing guard at nearby train stations and bus stops to make sure children aren’t intercepted by ICE deportation agents.
“This is an everyday thing,” said Yari Milo Michel, an English as a new language teacher who also serves as one of the school’s delegates. “I hope to never see ICE in my school community.”
For supporting its immigrant community, FDR HS, located in Brooklyn’s Mapleton neighborhood, was awarded a Team High School Award at this year’s Academic High School Awards.
In November 2024, Michel founded a school-based committee to defend immigrants. She wanted to help her colleagues be “upstanders instead of bystanders,” capable of defending their majority immigrant school from the anti-immigration policies of the newly reelected President Donald Trump.
On June 11, 2025, Michel introduced a “resolution for union-led defense of immigrant students, families and staff” at the Delegate Assembly. Since then, FDR HS’ strategies — dismissal monitoring, the creation of school-based committees, education about the rights of immigrants and more — have been replicated at schools across New York City.
Math teacher Joshua Hans and school counselor Regina Karagach-Zurinam have both helped the committee distribute “red cards” with information about immigrant rights in eight languages to students during dismissal.
“We’re a village,” said Karagach-Zurinam, who is about to retire after 32 years at the school. “Our children feel safer coming to school now.”
Inspired by the school’s spirit of cultural exchange and appreciation, Hans developed a bilingual coding class. Because he speaks only English, he collaborates with Diana Gonzabay, a teacher and bilingual coordinator, to teach Spanish-speaking students to express themselves both through coding and in English. “We push each other,” he said of Gonzabay and their other colleagues.
On Jan. 14 of this year, Michel called for a “UFT demonstration for Renee Nicole Good, and in solidarity with Minneapolis teachers” at the Delegate Assembly. The following week, hundreds of UFT members did just that, marching in Union Square. Earlier that same day, FDR HS’ committee created “whistle kits” designed to help members alert their community to the presence of deportation agents.
Ashrafuz Zaman, the school’s paraprofessional representative, is one of 75 staff members who now carry whistles. He considers it his responsibility to do so, quoting the school’s motto: “Many cultures. One community.”