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.

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.