Students from PS 1 in Manhattan perform during the UFT’s Early Childhood Education Conference on March 5 at UFT headquarters.

Participants heard from UFT President Michael Mulgrew, UFT Vice President Karen Alford and others during the plenary session.

Hedy Chang, the founder and director of Attendance Works, delivers a keynote speech on chronic absence in the early grades.

Abe Levine (center), one of the founders of the UFT and the union’s first vice president for elementary schools, is presented with the inaugural Abe Levine Trailblazer Award with (from left) former vice presidents Michelle Bodden-White and Ronald Jones; Vice President Karen Alford; and UFT President Michael Mulgrew.

UFT members learn new strategies in a workshop about encouraging dialogue and classroom participation in the early grades.

Michele Murphy, a teacher at PS 315 in Queens, is enjoying the workshop on developing an empathetic classroom.

Teacher Narda Johnson (center) of PS 328 in Brooklyn discusses classroom strategies with colleagues.

Pausing for a group shot during the conference are PS/IS 127, Queens, teachers (standing, from left) Julianne Leung and Israel Bonet, and (seated, from left) paraprofessionals Lillyana Antonio, Rosa Perez and Dolores Battey.