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How I found my voice in my ELL students
A Queens elementary school teacher writes of discovering their own voice along with their newcomer students' during the struggles and triumphs of their first year of teaching in this latest entry of New Teacher Diaries.
Freedom to explore
Educators at The Young Women’s Leadership School of Astoria in Queens utilize their ability to have a flexible schoolday schedule to engage students with two weeks of intensive immersion in a single project. The Progressive Redesign Opportunity...
"Jewels” sparkle at Radio City
Middle school teacher Rachele Domond and paraprofessional Daquan Harris of the Catherine and Count Basie Magnet School for Multimedia and Performing Arts, in Jamaica, Queens, took on the roles of choreographers and proudly watched their middle school...
Turning hallways into happy places
Queens middle school teacher Laeticia Charles offers a sense of emotional connection and safety to the students she teaches in her second year at MS 137, elevating her students' academics in the process.
Queens Parent Conference 2025
Parents, caregivers, educators and community members convened at the UFT Queens borough office on Nov. 22 for the borough’s annual parent conference. The roughly 70 attendees learned about mental health, emergency preparedness, personal finances and more, while connecting with each other and taking time for themselves.
Culture and connection
More than 400 students, parents and community members filled the school yard at United Community School PS 19 in Queens on Sept. 27 for a full day of live music, food, and dance performances in a celebration of Hispanic heritage and health.
Kudos to Melissa Wall, IS 109, Queens
The efforts of Chapter Leader Melissa Wall of IS 109 in Queens Village saved five teachers from being excessed — and preserved the school's already approved plan to reduce class sizes in its 6th-grade classes.
Spreading the dual language of love
Dual-language pre-K teacher Gema Campusano of the District 25 Pre-K Center in Queens has found that bilingual education not only supports students' language development but also builds their confidence and a strong sense of identity.
Labor Parade 2025
More than 1,000 UFT members turned out in a powerful display of union pride as they marched up Fifth Avenue on Sept. 6 for New York City’s annual Labor Parade. Members paraded in solidarity with thousands of other unionists across the city, on foot, by float or atop a double-decker bus.
Making students the evaluators
Queens high school teacher Amy Matthusen explains ways to center students in creating evaluative criteria to help deepen learning.
Kudos to Debbie Strack Cregan, PS 69, Queens
Thanks to the efforts of Chapter Leader Debbie Strack Cregan, the members of PS 69 in Jackson Heights found their voice and their collective power in their successful organizing effort to push back against a new and overbearing principal.
Counting the benefits
Maria Dela Cruz and her fellow math teachers at Newtown High School in Queens fuel their students' interest in the subject by participating in a national math competition whose live and virtual aspects pique students' desire to go all out to best...
UFT Night at Citi Field
A UFT contingent of 1,400 enjoyed a Mets game from in front of the outfield fence at Citi Field on UFT Night. Teacher Rose Zelwinder of PS 78 in Queens threw out the first pitch to teacher Monica Lalo of IS 96 in Brooklyn.
Port in the storm
The educational team who make up the World Cultures and Languages Academy small learning community at John Adams HS in Queens labor daily to support the often delicate and specialized needs of their predominantly immigrant and English language...
Trying success on for size
Karina Budhu, an aspiring teacher and SVA apprentice, is a rare woman in tech and the winner of this year's Edwin Espaillat Award at the 2025 CTE Awards Recognition Ceremony.
Having his ‘aha’ moment
Mohammed Hossain, a UFT CTE Award winner and engineering teacher at the High School for Construction Trades, Engineering and Architecture in Queens, found his way to a career in education after realizing he found joy in helping people have their own...
Kudos to Nicole Keaster, IS 5, Queens
Bringing the staff “together” has been the main objective of Nicole Keaster since becoming chapter leader at IS 5 in Queens three years ago. “If you have a strong community of respect, you can do all of the other things,” she said.
Space for 'rezoflexion'
Paraprofessionals at P256 in Queens, a District 75 school for high-school-age boys, pooled their Teacher's Choice funds to refresh a key space used by their students to calm themselves and reflect on their emotions. They celebrated the grand opening...
Queens Power Summit
Parent empowerment was the objective at the Queens Power Summit, which drew more than 80 parent leaders, students and UFT members to the UFT’s Queens borough office on Nov. 23.
Bingo Night for COPE awareness
More than three dozen UFT members turned out for fun and games at Bingo Night at the union’s Queens borough office on Nov. 22 to raise awareness of COPE, the union’s political action arm.
Music to audiologists’ ears
Thanks to a three-year effort by audiologists and their union, public school students now have access to hearing loss assessment in Manhattan, Queens, the Bronx and at two locations in Brooklyn.
Queens Power Summit 2024
More than 80 parent leaders, students and UFT members came together at the Queens borough office on Nov. 23 for the Queens Power Summit, an event that offered a range of informative sessions designed to empower attendees with skills and knowledge to strengthen their communities.
Bingo Night for COPE awareness 2024
More than three dozen members turned out for Bingo Night at the union’s Queens borough office on Nov. 22 to raise awareness of the UFT Committee on Political Education (COPE), the UFT’s political action arm that is funded entirely by voluntary contributions. In addition to bingo, members enjoyed classic board and card games such as Uno, spades, Chutes and Ladders, Jenga and Connect Four.
Educators take a breath
Two-hundred educators and their families gathered in Queens for a day of wellness and fun. They heard from MindUp CEO and founder Goldie Hawn and took part in activities and workshops to nurture their mental and physical health.
Organizing for the win
More than a hundred 3- and 4-year-olds with disabilities at the Mosaic Pre-K Centers in Queens will now receive the related services they need to thrive, the culmination of a two-year organizing effort by the union and the broader school community.
Kudos to Annawa Naing, PS/IS 78, Queens
The school-based special education committee — created as part of the 2023 DOE-UFT contract — gave Naing the tool she needed to fight to ensure special education students in her school receive the services they are entitled to.
‘Scaffolding students’ dreams’
Will Dulin, a third-year teacher at Pathways to Graduation in Jamaica, Queens, takes pains to truly see his CTE students, helping them to forge pathways to educational success even when they can't quite envision them themselves.
A Day of Wellness for Educators
Two-hundred educators and their families gathered for a day of wellness and fun at Commonpoint Queens Sam Field Center on Sept. 14. They heard from MindUP founder Goldie Hawn and other experts on a wellness panel and took part in workshops and activities to nurture their mental and physical health.
A real class act
Nine educators at MS 137 in Ozone Park, Queens, graduated from the same school where they were middle schoolers. The teachers and paraprofessionals credit their own teachers' mentorship and cultural connectedness as the inspiration for their deciding...
Kudos to Leah Lin, PS 85, Queens
Leah Lin, chapter leader at PS 85 in Queens, keeps her fellow educators informed and engaged about union and contract matters with the short, fun and easy-to-follow Morning Rush videos she posts regularly on her Instagram account.
Member Assistance Program’s Let’s Talk About It
More than 200 Queens middle school students gathered at the Queens County Farm Museum for the fourth annual Let’s Talk About It event sponsored by the UFT’s Member Assistance Program.
The importance of being ‘seen’
Educators' extra efforts working collaboratively and leading their students at Francis Lewis HS in Queens paid off with an extra special Black History Month celebration featuring a number of high-profile speakers, including film director Malcolm Lee...
UFT Lobby Day 2024
Nearly 1,000 educators, parents and advocates traveled on buses to attend the UFT’s annual Lobby Day in Albany. They asked state lawmakers to add more checks and balances to mayoral control of New York City public schools, fix Tier 6 of the pension system, require the city to follow the state's class size law and increase state foundation aid for New York City.
Queens swim coach saves drowning student
“Twenty eyes are better than two” is a refrain that swim team members at John Adams HS in Queens hear from their coach, physical education teacher Alex Navarrete, encouraging them to watch out for one another’s safety. They found out how true it is...
A ‘sense’ of what some students need
The Sensory Exploration, Education and Discovery (SEED) program at PS 171 in Queens takes place in a special room with a rock-climbing wall, a brightly colored tunnel to crawl through, a swing and trampoline. These components are powerful tools to...
‘Wall of silence’ cracks
I felt guilty that I was not able to understand or communicate with my pre-verbal students in District 75. I was pouring my heart and soul into lessons, only to be met with silence. The weight of these challenges pressed down on me, and depression...