Nearly 4,000 new teachers turned out on Aug. 26 for the kickoff of New Teacher Week, following a surge of hiring over the summer.

In a typical year, the Department of Education hires about 3,000 new teachers to replace those who retire or leave the profession. But this school year, the DOE aims to hire an additional 3,700 teachers to reduce class sizes in some 750 schools.

As the new hires lined up for orientation outside Barclays Center in Brooklyn early in the morning of Aug. 26, about 100 UFT reps, including UFT President Michael Mulgrew, were on hand to welcome them and enroll them in the union.

“Magic happens during a new teacher’s first contact with the union,” said UFT Vice President Karen Alford, who directs the union’s new member initiative. “That first conversation is when an educator starts to see how much their union can offer them and support them in their new career.”

After the morning’s program, the newly minted union members received a UFT tote bag with a bento-style lunchbox and a New Member Handbook chock-full of information. The new members then checked out the afternoon “share fair,” where they had the chance to collect information from UFT reps on certification and licensing, health and retirement benefits, mental health support and union-provided professional development opportunities. The new teachers got answers to their questions on topics from salary steps to the tenure timeline.

Aneisha Parkinson, who will teach 6th-grade special education at IS 96 in Brooklyn this school year, said she was grateful for the wealth of detailed information about her salary and benefits that the UFT provided. “I like to have as much information as possible so I know what to expect,” she said.

Parkinson said she also sees the union as crucial protection from a federal government she considers a threat to public education. “We’ll protect the benefits we fought for, and we won’t back down if they try to make public education not exist,” she said.

Ava Grosjean said she feels “very nervous but ready” about starting her first year as an English language arts teacher at Harry S. Truman HS in the Bronx. She said she has wanted to be an English teacher since high school, when her English teacher awakened her love of writing.

“I had a hard time, and she taught me that writing is a way of communicating without speaking,” said Grosjean. “I want to do that for other kids.”

Grosjean said being a UFT member will allow her to plug into a group of educators “from all walks of life, with different experience levels.”

“I don’t know what challenges to expect yet,” she said. “But I know my union will support me.”