Following the extraordinary mobilization of hundreds of school communities in defense of public education last spring, Teacher Union Day this year had a new focus: honoring seven school chapters for going above and beyond in the fight against Gov. Cuomo’s misguided education policies.

“If you go after our kids, it’s war,” said Mark Zink, the UFT chapter leader at Staten Island’s IS 2, one of the schools to win a Schools in Action Award at the Nov. 1 celebration at the New York Hilton Midtown.

The annual awards ceremony commemorates the 1960 strike of the newly formed UFT for union recognition and the right to collectively bargain, a right that UFT President Michael Mulgrew reminded the 1,200 in attendance is now under attack.

“Fifty-five years ago, a small group of people got together to fight for collective bargaining. You would think that 55 years later, that would not still be on the table but it is,” Mulgrew said. “Everything we have now we have fought for. No one gives us anything.”

“What are we celebrating today?” asked Anthony Harmon, the union’s director of parent and community outreach and the day’s master of ceremonies. “That we have voice.”

New York State United Teachers Vice President Catalina Fortino, the UFT’s former vice president for education and former director of its Teacher Center, received the Charles Cogen Award, the day’s most prestigious award, for her lifetime commitment to the twin goals of improving teachers’ skills and supporting them as advocates for their schools and students.

“Teaching is a political act,” Fortino said. “Those who act on their beliefs are modeling courageous citizenship for future generations.”

The union’s Jules Kolodny Award was bestowed upon Laura Tamburo, the union’s “in-house expert on all things salary,” according to UFT Secretary Emil Pietromonaco, who presented the award. Tamburo, who retired as a union special representative in June, was the first school secretary elected a UFT chapter leader and, now, the first former school secretary to receive the Kolodny Award.

Tamburo spoke about the support she received from the union when, in her first year as chapter leader, asbestos was found in her school. “That’s when I learned the meaning of unionism,” she said.

Shelvy Young-Abrams, the chair of the union’s 25,000-strong Paraprofessional Chapter, received the Sidney Harris Award, named for the man she said “taught me everything I needed to know about special education.”

In presenting the award, UFT Co-Staff Director Ellie Engler recounted how when she was an industrial hygienist in the union’s Safety and Health Department, Young-Abrams took her on a tour of a District 75 school to show her the work that paraprofessionals do and to teach her not only to look at the safety of school buildings, but also to bear witness to those who work inside them.

The UFT Retired Teachers Chapter/Alliance for Retired Americans received the David Wittes Award for its outstanding dedication and commitment to the ideals of the UFT.

The Audrey Chasen Award, named for a young teacher killed by a stray bullet, was given to Patrick Wanninkhof, a 25-year-old teacher at the Bronx’s Fordham HS for the Arts who was killed in July by a distracted driver while he was biking cross-country to raise money for affordable housing.

“Patrick’s life goal was to make a difference but also to learn from others how to make difference,” said Wanninkhof’s father Rik, who with Patrick’s mother Debbie accepted the award. Their son “was on a fearless mission of the heart,” Rik Wanninkhof said.

Outstanding chapters and chapter leaders were honored with the Ely Trachtenberg Award. Other honors went to members for their long service as chapter leaders, 50 years or more of teacher union membership, and advancement to new titles.

Honor roll of awardees not pictured

Paraprofessionals who became teachers

• Chardell Alston
• Sonia Bastante
• Israel T. Bonet
• Berlyn Bourdierd
• Diana Castro
• Gia Cheeks
• Gabriel Cotto
• Dora Clemons
• Marie Delvalle
• Adalgisa Diaz
• Larose Hill
• Lisa Ortiz
• Michelle Marmol-Mosquea
• Sinead Moffatt
• Jacqueline McConnell
• Danny Muccio
• Brooke Nemiroff
• Viviana Peralta
• Emmanuel Pereira
• Julika Prifti
• Craig Rainone
• Lourdes Rendon
• Patricia Reynoso
• Carmen Rivera
• Kristen Smith
• Elaine Sanders Taylor
• Kim Ventura

Paraprofessionals who became secretaries

• Rita Ferguson
• Dawn Torpey

Paraprofessionals who became guidance counselors

• Shaquana Montgomery
• Timisha Harvell

Secretary who became a teacher

• Virginia Rodriguez

Secretary who became a guidance counselor

• Jeanette Crespo

School aides who became secretaries

• Cristal Davis
• Melissa Kendall
• Rosa Percio
• Paulette Reid

Teachers who became guidance counselors

• Dorothy Cunningham
• Miledy Infante-Anderson

50-year members

• Martin H. Abramowitz
• Rocco Alfano
• Donald Aronofsky
• Jay R. Barkan
• Lillian Bass
• Alvin Berger
• Barry D. Berk
• Ruth Berman
• Irene Bernstein-
• Pechmeze
• Saul Bigel
• Howard Bloch
• Beulah Brown
• Blase A. Cannavale
• JoAnn Chokos
• David Cronen
• Joseph Demas
• Morton Dinerstein
• Ann Z. Distler
• Michael J. Doherty
• Barbara Dzubak
• Helen Ellis
• Michael J. Ellman
• Dorothy Evans
• Barbara Finkel
• Ellen Fish
• Lawrence Fleck
• Danny A. Foceri
• Anthony Form
• Carol Friedman
• Paula Friedman
• Bernice Gibbs
• Edythe Goldenberg
• Arthur Goldsmith
• Alan K. Gordon
• Avian S. Greenberg
• David Greenberg
• William S. Grossman
• Catherine R. Illig
• Joseph S. Iorio
• Sheldon Jacobowitz
• Tessie Josephson
• Robert J. Just
• Marvin G. Kantor
• Philip Kaplan
• Herbert Katz
• Milton Kessler
• Joan S. Kirsch
• Davis Klein
• Samuel S. Klein
• Marvin Kleinman
• Seth Kollin
• Celia W. Koslowsky
• Rita Kronen
• Elaine D. Kruskol
• Melvin J. Kussoy
• Lonnie S. Kwartler
• Roslyn K. Lasky
• Helen Leiderman
• Claire Levitan
• William Lilly
• Tedda Lindeman
• Alma Lipson
• Elliot J. Lorenzi
• Antoinette Lotito
• Donald R. MacDonald
• Martin Mantell
• Margot M. Marinangeli
• Ellis Marmor
• Helene Master
• Harold E. May
• Rita Meyer
• Frances Miller
• Rosalie J. Miller
• Roberto Montesinos
• Alfred Moskowitz
• Rhina P. Moskowitz
• Carmine J. Napolitano
• Scott Neumann
• George Novick
• Seymour Nudell
• Joan E. Olens
• Gerald Oltchick
• Bernice Orol
• Grace Palestino
• Bari L. Plaut
• Fannie M. Raimondo
• Edward J. Reilly
• Gerald S. Reiser
• Lilly E. Reiser
• Lucille Richards
• Harriet B. Rodvien
• Adele M. Rose
• Terry Rosenbaum
• William A. Rosenstein
• Matilda Rostoker
• Seymour Samuels
• Esther Sanders
• Ida Schichman
• Beverly Schley
• Melvyn Schoen
• Richard Schweidel
• Sandra Shepps
• Joel Shiller
• Elaine Siegel
• Leatrice A. Silver
• Celeste M. Sirni
• Barry S. Smith
• Sheila Spalter
• Rhoda A. Spanier
• Myrna J. Spodek
• Max Stappler
• Gerald D. Stein
• Burton Steinberg
• Harvey Stoller
• Richard Tascandi
• Howard Wagner
• Howard Warhaftig
• Monroe L. Weiss
• Ronald N. Weiss
• Pauline Wexler
• Joel Winderman
• Mel Zalkin
• Barnet Zaret

60-year members

• Patricia DiTullio
• Sylvia Gingold
• Jeanette Katz
• Madeline Nardone
• Herbert Schwedock
• Edith Sherr
• David Shustak

70-year members

• Janet Albstein
• Jean Neumann