Natasha Honore, a paraprofessional at PS 181 in East Flatbush, Brooklyn, said she has new strategies to take to her classroom, thanks to the “Literacy Strategies for All Learners” workshop at the 35th annual Paraprofessionals Festival and Awards Luncheon.

“Every child has different ways of learning,” said Honore, who works with kindergartners and 1st-graders in an integrated co-teaching class. “It’s about incorporating listening, reading, writing and speaking all in one lesson, for example by using small groups that allow children to talk among themselves and listen to each other.”

Honore was among the more than 1,000 paraprofessionals who attended the luncheon on Saturday, March 12, at the Hilton Hotel in Midtown Manhattan to celebrate the achievements of their peers and participate in workshops to hone their skills so they can better help children in the classroom. “This is all about paraprofessionals making a difference in the classroom, working with children with disabilities,” said Shelvy Young-Abrams, the paraprofessionals chapter leader. “This is the only time we have to honor them for doing outstanding work in the schools.”

In his greetings at the luncheon, UFT President Michael Mulgrew noted that paraprofessionals work with the most challenging students. “It takes a team to educate children,” he said. “Closing the achievement gap doesn’t happen without paras.” The keynote speaker, Hazel Dukes, the president of the New York State conference of the NAACP, also spoke of the key role paraprofessionals play. “Paras represent the bridge from possible failure to probable success,” she said. Margaret Premus, a 25-year paraprofessional, received the Humanitarian of the Year Award for her volunteer work and community involvement. Fourteen paraprofessionals were honored as Paraprofessionals of the Year at the event.

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Miller Photography

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Miller Photography

Carmen Baez-Melis, a paraprofessional at PS 163 on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, said the workshop on IEPs was “the best workshop I’ve gone to.” Led by UFT Vice President for Special Education Carmen Alvarez, the workshop was a deep dive into the meaning of “least restrictive environment” and the rights and responsibilities of paraprofessionals working with students with IEPs. Fatbardha Cala, a para at IS 96 in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, and her friend Miranda Xhangolli, a para at PS 176 in Baychester, the Bronx, praised the same workshop. “We were trying to figure out the IEP,” said Cala. “Alvarez explained it a lot better and now I can look at it and understand it.”

Cala and Xhangolli said they knew each other in Albania and the annual conference gave them the opportunity to catch up. Ken Chin, a first-year para at PS 170 in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, said he recognized the strategies in the workshop on helping students understand math concepts. “This reminds me of what my teacher does,” he said. His takeaway: “Help students to first read the question. Sometimes students don’t read the question carefully.”

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