More than 250 UFT retirees and guests packed Shanker Hall at union headquarters for the Retired Teachers Chapter’s annual luncheon on May 23. Speakers celebrated the tenacity of union activism over the last 65 years and honored RTC members for 50 years or more of service.

About 200 honorees and guests attended the inaugural Middle School Awards Night on May 15 at UFT headquarters in Manhattan. Twenty-five members were honored for being stars at meeting the needs of their students during a transformative stage of adolescent life, serving as educators, mentors, counselors, parents, advisers and even friends.

More than 1,600 UFT members filled the New York Hilton Midtown on May 17 for the UFT’s annual Spring Education Conference, a day of professional development, a mayoral candidates’ forum, vocal performances by Broadway musicians and a gala luncheon, all under the banner of this year’s theme, “We Teach This City.”

About 400 members of the UFT Family Child Care Providers Chapter and their guests filled Shanker Hall at union headquarters for the 12th annual awards ceremony on May 9. More than 50 members were honored for providing exemplary service to young children and their families.

At the Federation of Nurses/UFT’s annual Nurse Recognition Awards dinner on May 8, about 200 nurses and their guests gathered inside Shanker Hall at union headquarters to celebrate 19 hospital and homecare nurses for holding firm in contract negotiations this year and continuously advocating for better training and support for nurses as well as patient care often in work environments that sought to prioritize profit.

Members of the UFT School Nurses Chapter gathered for their chapter's annual School Nurses Appreciation Dinner at union headquarters on May 7, timed to coincide with National School Nurse Day. They had an opportunity to network and hear from UFT President Michael Mulgrew.

UFT members citywide participated in the union's May 6 Day of Action to turn the heat up on state lawmakers to fix Tier 6 of the pension system. Members in Brooklyn, Queens and Manhattan held simultaneous rallies; Bronx members passed out leaflets at three major transit hubs; and  Staten Island members held in-school actions. Their top demand:  Allow public school educators to retire with an unreduced pension at age 55 with 30 years of service.

About 250 UFT members from the city’s academic high schools gathered on April 25 at Shanker Hall at UFT headquarters to honor outstanding educators and schools and to celebrate the 10 years since the UFT’s Team High School gave its first awards to academic high school educators.

More than 300 early childhood educators packed Shanker Hall for the UFT’s 17th annual Early Childhood Conference. Attendees took inspiration from social and emotional learning expert Leslee Udwin, the event’s keynote speaker, and enjoyed a day of camaraderie with colleagues, a vendor fair, workshops for professional development and a grab-and-go lunch.

On April 2, which was national Paraprofessional Appreciation Day, thousands of UFT members wore blue to work in solidarity with their paraprofessional colleagues. Also that day, school chapters across the city organized ways to recognize their paraprofessionals.

More than 1,600 UFT members crowded Broadway from City Hall Park to City Hall in a Rally for RESPECT on April 2 – Paraprofessional Appreciation Day – to call on the New York City Council to pass legislation to give paraprofessionals an annual "RESPECT check" of $10,000 to help address a dire shortage of paraprofessionals

UFT members and their families — 2,400 strong — packed Globall Sports Center in Garden City, Long Island, to enjoy carnival games, bounce houses, indoor zip lines, balloon art, face painting, dancing and food at the third annual UFT Family Day.

Eight teachers, three paraprofessionals, eight students, two principals and three PTA presidents received awards at the UFT District 11 Scholarship Dinner on March 28 before a gathering of 540 attendees at a Bronx restaurant.

Nearly 1,100 paraprofessionals and other members gathered at the New York Hilton Midtown on March 22 to celebrate the outstanding work of their colleagues, attend professional learning sessions and have fun at a carnival. City Council Education Committee Chair Rita Joseph, a key supporter of the RESPECT check legislation, was the keynote speaker.

School counselors gathered at UFT headquarters eager to connect and network with their colleagues under the theme, “Unlocking Potential — One Student at a Time.” School counselors enjoyed breakfast and lunch and a full day of professional development workshops.

Women supporting and empowering other women was a key theme of the UFT’s seventh annual HERstory brunch that brought together about 175 members and guests to celebrate women’s role in the UFT and the broader labor movement.

About 1,000 UFT members and parents spent March 10 in Albany, lobbying legislators and hearing from Gov. Kathy Hochul and other state officials on key issues for the union. They spoke with lawmakers about fixing Tier 6, banning cellphones in schools, providing adequate state aid to schools, protecting students and school communities from cuts to federal aid, and maintaining vital UFT programs like United Community Schools and the UFT Teacher Center.

The UFT Muslim Educators Committee celebrated its second annual Iftar dinner on March 7 at UFT headquarters. About 75 people broke their Ramadan fast by drinking milk and water and eating dates and then enjoying a hearty dinner. They prayed, spoke about the pillars of Ramadan and the purpose of fasting, and held a Q&A session for guests to learn about other aspects of Islam.

Nearly 300 UFT members and friends packed a restaurant in Manhattan’s Chinatown on Feb. 28 to celebrate the Year of the Snake at the UFT Asian American Heritage Committee’s annual Lunar New Year Banquet.

The UFT commemorated the 40th anniversary of the Success Via Apprenticeship program at the 2025 Career and Technical Education Awards Recognition Ceremony, which was held at the Sheraton New York Times Square Hotel on Feb. 26. The UFT and the CTE industry gave out about 130 awards to union members and community partners and recognized 45 K-12 educators who have brought CTE into their classrooms. Many of the honorees trained under SVA, a program begun in 1984 to stave off a shortage of CTE educators.

UFT members celebrated African heritage and honored educators, students and colleagues at the 22nd annual UFT African Heritage Committee Awards Dinner on Feb. 7 at Antun’s in Queens Village.

About a thousand members of the UFT’s Social Workers and Psychologists Chapter gathered online on Jan. 27 with another 380 members in person for a day of professional development, networking and bonding in what was the chapter’s most-attended Clinicians Appreciation Day event.

The UFT, in partnership with Coalition for the Homeless, hosted its annual holiday toy drive and celebration on Dec. 7 for students living in temporary housing in New York City. UFT members donated over 1,000 toys and more than $2,200 to the effort to bring holiday joy to the students, who enjoyed a variety of crafts and games as well as face-painting, a magic show and a visit from Santa.

Tikkun olam — Hebrew for “repairing the world” — was the theme for the UFT Jewish Heritage Committee Awards dinner for a second straight year. The event, which was held at Russo’s on the Bay in Queens on Dec. 5, was “joyous and festive, with the spirit of unionism and repair of the world infused throughout,” said Jason Goldberg, the committee chair.

About 350 UFT members who retired from service in 2024 assembled at the New York Hilton Midtown on Dec. 5 to toast to their life after New York City public schools. The recent retirees were treated to a sumptuous lunch as well as a vendor fair where they learned about health care options such as the UFT Welfare Fund’s Supplemental Health Insurance Program and retiree programs such as the Si Beagle Learning Centers.

The UFT Middle Schools Division hosted its annual Thanksgiving Luncheon and winter coat giveaway on Nov. 23 for nearly 180 students living in temporary housing throughout New York City. Students explored a variety of arts and crafts activities, enjoyed an early holiday lunch and received brand-new coats, hats, gloves and socks donated by UFT members and staff.

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.

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.

About 185 nurses spent Nov. 15 at union headquarters in Manhattan networking with colleagues and taking continuing education classes on wound care, medical emergencies and other topics. They also heard a keynote address about “moral injury,” a phenomenon that occurs when nurses are unable to put their patients’ needs first in the corporatized health care environments in which many work.

More than 70 parents, guardians and children turned out on Nov. 9 for the UFT’s Staten Island Family Partnership Summit. The event, held at PS 20 on Staten Island, consisted of two morning plenary sessions, afternoon workshops and an exhibit fair.

Almost 350 school psychologists gathered in-person at Shanker Hall and virtually on Nov. 8 for their chapter’s 8th annual Psychologists Appreciation Day and professional development. Coming together under the theme “Wellness: Make It a Priority,” the psychologists learned about strategies to support students utilizing an integrative approach — physical and mental health.

About 1,500 UFT members, families and friends gathered at the New York Hilton Midtown on Nov. 3 to celebrate the organizers, activists and leaders who advanced the union’s mission over the past year. The annual fall event, which commemorates the 1960 strike that won collective bargaining rights for the UFT, honored 179 in-service and retired members.

More than 50 educators indulged in Italian cuisine and culture on Oct. 22 when the UFT Italian American Heritage Committee staged its annual fall dinner at Mario’s Restaurant, a staple for Italian Americans for more than 100 years on Arthur Avenue in the Bronx.

UFT members took strides in the fight against breast cancer in all five boroughs of New York City and on Long Island to raise awareness and money for the union’s annual October fundraiser for the American Cancer Society. Many wore pink and walked in tribute to colleagues who have battled the disease.

UFT members from all five boroughs of New York City wore pink on Oct. 16, 2024, to raise awareness about breast cancer.

The NYC Association of Foreign Language Teachers/UFT staged its fall conference — titled “World Language Learning: Achieving Authentic Real World Connections” — on Sept. 28 at UFT headquarters in Manhattan. The annual event featured language-specific workshop sessions for Spanish, French, Greek and Russian.