Debra Ross, a paraprofessional for 16 years, has attended the annual Paraprofessional Festival and Awards Luncheon more than five times for the camaraderie, the workshops — and the respect.

“At my first luncheon I attended the workshop, ‘More than a Para,’” said Ross, who works with 2nd-graders at PS 101 in Brooklyn. The workshop gives paras a chance to talk about their varied roles and to recognize how their range of responsibilities in assisting teachers is critical to student success. “That was my first time here, and I thought, ‘They appreciate you,’” Ross recalled.

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Jonathan Fickies

Ross and nearly 1,000 paraprofessionals from across the city attended the 33rd annual “Parafest” at the New York Hilton Hotel on March 15. In addition to workshops on topics such as autism and the Common Core Learning Standards, attendees participated in a health fair and received information about health benefits and discounts before honoring their own with an awards ceremony.

“We have paraprofessionals who do outstanding work with children and with the disabled,” said Shelvy Young-Abrams, the Paraprofessionals Chapter chair, noting that the chapter of 24,000 members is thriving and growing. “It’s only fitting we honor them.”

UFT President Michael Mulgrew said that paraprofessionals are “part of what makes a school great. The chapter is growing and that means we’re getting more support for kids in the classroom.”

City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, the keynote speaker, echoed those statements.

“Let’s be clear,” she said. “Paraprofessionals are not accessories, they are not expendable. They are critical.”

This year’s award winners were recognized for a number of achievements — from nurturing special needs children to working with students who are incarcerated at the East River Academy on Rikers Island.

The Humanitarian of the Year Award went to Catherine Colon — who was unable to attend the festival — for saving the life of a child at PS 190 in Brooklyn last April, after the 5-year-old boy lost consciousness. Colon, a recent nursing school graduate, performed chest compressions and restored his breathing.

Doreen Raftery, the chapter’s first vice chair, received the Chairperson Award for her outstanding service. Young-Abrams called her “my rock of Gibraltar.”

The partnership award went to the New York City Department of Education’s Division of Human Resources and Talent, Office of School-based Support Services for its work providing high-quality service for paras and other DOE employees.

Raul Martinez, a paraprofessional for a 5th-grade inclusion class at PS 255 in Queens who works with a child who has autism, was attending the event for the fourth time.

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Jonathan Fickies

“I love this,” he said. “It’s well-organized, and it makes you feel you’re important.”

Martinez said that he knows his job helps teachers; for example, a paraprofessional might be giving a teacher information about a child who cannot tolerate loud voices. Besides helping with instruction, he finds himself serving as a counselor and assisting with all the students. “It’s a team effort with the teacher,” he said.

Dawn Clark, a paraprofessional at PS/MS 498 in the Bronx who works with 7th-graders, said that being a para is “one of the most gratifying jobs because at the end of the day you know you made a difference in a child’s life. You show them a different way to get a difficult lesson and show them they can do it.”