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.

UFT members are going all out to volunteer with the union to help propel Kamala Harris and other pro-union and pro-education candidates to victory in the Nov. 5 election.

More than 1,200 UFT members came out in force on Sept. 7 to take part in New York City's annual Labor Parade. Members and their families gathered on 46th Street before parading up Fifth Avenue to Central Park on foot, by float or atop double-decker buses in solidarity with their counterparts from other unions across the city.

The UFT traveled to IS 145 in Queens on Sept. 4 to celebrate the achievement of in bringing all 6^th-grade classrooms into compliance with the state class size law limits. All 6^th-graders will be in classrooms of 23 students this school year, down from 30 or more in previous years. The city’s public schools must reduce class sizes for all students by September 2028.

MS 137 in Queens has such a strong "sense of community" according to Shenelle Ali, one of nine current faculty members who attended as students, that it draws educators back years after graduating.

The UFT rolled out the welcome wagon as some 1,500 new teachers signed up to join the union on opening day of the DOE’s New Teacher Week.

The UFT welcomed families with a party atmosphere for its third annual Back-to-School BBQ on Staten Island where the union handed out 800 backpacks and school supplies to parents and students in the schoolyard of PS 21.

UFT members showed up in solidarity for the annual NYC Pride March on June 30. Organized by the UFT Pride Committee, the UFT contingent was large, even if afternoon thunderstorms eventually shut the march down. The theme of this year's event was "Reflect. Empower. Unite."

Members of the UFT School Secretaries Chapter, together with their families and friends, gathered on June 7 at Shanker Hall for the 37th annual School Secretaries Awards Soiree to celebrate their chapter’s outstanding honorees and the work that school secretaries do to create safe, welcoming school communities.

On June 4, the UFT hosted the 55th annual Albert Shanker College Scholarship Awards at union headquarters, where families and educators came together to honor a diverse and high-achieving group of students. The union awarded $5,000 scholarships to 189 high school students for undergraduate study and nine scholarships of between $2,000 and $8,000 to college seniors for graduate study.

RoseAnn Victoria and LeeAnne Thristino, art teachers at IS 34 on Staten Island, organized the school’s sixth annual art show, where works of about 300 students were on display in the girls’ gymnasium on June 3 for family members to admire and purchase, with the funds raised going toward the program’s art supplies.

About 300 UFT members from academic high schools gathered at UFT headquarters on May 31 to enjoy “A Night to Remember.” They celebrated 10 Team High School honorees and 26 individual award winners and enjoyed a prom for adults.

About 500 people attended the 58th annual Retired Teachers Chapter Luncheon on May 30 at the New York Hilton Midtown, where they recognized 13 fellow retirees with awards for their activism and congratulated a retired Queens teacher who turned 100. The attendees were encouraged to stay involved and “speak into the future” as advocates.

At the 18th annual Better Speech and Hearing Month Celebration on May 30 at Shanker Hall, members of the UFT’s Speech Improvement Chapter and their students were honored for exceptional projects completed in speech therapy this year. The 32 projects displayed the wide variety of therapies that speech language teachers provide.

The union’s signature education conference of the year was a fun and inspiring day for more than 1,000  UFT members. The event featured a morning town hall on the new phonics-based literacy curricula, a CTLE exhibit fair, workshops, entertainment by hip-hop legend Grandmaster Dee of Whodini fame and a gala luncheon headlined by First Lady Jill Biden.

The artwork of 23 UFT members — both active and retired — were on display at the New York City Art Teachers Association/UFT’s Dreams Art Show on May 10 at the Bernie Wohl Center in Manhattan.

More than 500 family child care providers and their guests filled Shanker Hall at union headquarters for the 11th annual Provider Appreciation Awards Ceremony on May 10. During the ceremony, more than 50 members were honored for providing exemplary service to the young children and families of New York City.

At the Federation of Nurses/UFT’s annual awards dinner on May 9, more than 200 nurses and their guests celebrated 21 honorees for their exemplary dedication to patient care and union service. The Federation of Nurses/UFT has chalked up some hard-fought contract and arbitration wins in recent months, and members took the opportunity to cheer those colleagues who have been instrumental in protecting patient safety and labor rights.

The UFT School Nurses Chapter celebrated its members at the union’s annual School Nurses Appreciation Dinner at UFT headquarters on May 8, National School Nurse Day. “I make it my business to go all out on National School Nurse Day,” said School Nurses Chapter Leader Cynthia Bennett, who organizes the dinner every year. “The nurses are hidden figures in our schools.”

The UFT organized a social event in each borough this spring to welcome its newest members, foster connections and build community. New members took part in bowling, crafts, painting, nature walks and scavenger hunts across the five boroughs.

Members of the UFT Jewish Heritage Committee gathered with family and friends on April 18 at the UFT Brooklyn borough office to celebrate Passover with a labor-rights-themed seder.

The NYC Association of Foreign Language Teachers/UFT held its annual spring professional development conference — titled “Our New World Language Standards: Supporting All Learners’ Language Skills and Cultural Competency in a Can-Do World” — on April 13 at UFT headquarters in Manhattan.

Students featured in Students of NYC, the UFT’s special Instagram account, during its first year gathered to be celebrated with their educators and families at UFT headquarters on April 11.

Keynote speaker Eric Litwin, the original author of the “Pete the Cat” series, told stories and sang songs as he encouraged the 400 members who attended the UFT’s 16th annual Early Childhood Conference at UFT headquarters to put their whole selves into reading and acting out books for young readers. Members attended hands-on workshops about creating literacy activities, activities for English language learners, fun math games and more.

Nearly 700 paraprofessionals attended the UFT’s annual Paraprofessionals Festival & Awards Luncheon on March 23 at the New York Hilton in Midtown Manhattan. Fifteen paraprofessionals were honored for their outstanding service. Attendees participated in workshops to strengthen their practice and enjoyed a carnival featuring games and self-care. This year’s theme was “Superheroes of Education: Celebrating our Paraprofessional Powers.”

Hundreds of school counselors gathered at UFT headquarters for their chapter’s 20th annual conference. Eager to connect and network with colleagues, counselors heard from UFT leaders and speakers in the field and participated in a day of professional development workshops.

The UFT Muslim Educators Committee celebrated its first Iftar dinner on March 15 at UFT headquarters. Members broke their Ramadan fast, prayed, socialized and celebrated.

More than 350 UFT members, family and friends gathered at a Chinese restaurant in Chinatown on March 15 for the UFT Asian Heritage Committee’s annual Lunar New Year banquet.

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.

More than 1,000 school social workers gathered at UFT headquarters and remotely on March 8 for a day of professional learning focused on holistic wellness.

Hundreds of UFT career and technical education educators and family members, as well as industry and city Department of Education partners, attended the CTE Awards Recognition Ceremony, the theme for which was “Igniting Excellence in CTE.” At the Feb. 9 event at UFT headquarters, Manhattan, CTE educators from every borough received awards that recognized their achievements and commitment to student success.

UFT members celebrated African heritage and honored students and colleagues at the 21st annual UFT African Heritage Committee Awards Dinner on Feb. 2 at Antun’s in Queens Village.

Social workers and psychologists gathered virtually and in person at UFT headquarters on Jan. 12 for their chapter’s annual Clinicians Appreciation Day professional development. Between workshops on implicit bias, the 400 in-person attendees and 900 remote attendees offered each other camaraderie and support.

UFT members and their families filled Shanker Hall on Nov. 30 for the Jewish Heritage Committee’s first awards dinner. The committee honored AFT President Randi Weingarten and City Councilmember Julie Menin for their practice of tikkun olam, a Hebrew phrase meaning to repair the world.

More than 500 recent retirees attended the annual New Retiree Luncheon on Nov. 21 at the New York Hilton Midtown. UFT President Michael Mulgrew and Retired Teachers Chapter Leader Tom Murphy congratulated the honorees on reaching the well-deserved milestone and encouraged them to stay involved with the union by joining the RTC.

The UFT Middle Schools Division hosted its annual Thanksgiving Luncheon and winter coat giveaway on Nov. 18 for students living in shelters throughout New York City, many of whom come from asylum-seeking families. Students explored a variety of activities, enjoyed a Thanksgiving meal and received brand new winter coats donated by UFT members and staff.