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.

About 225 Federation of Nurses/UFT members spent Nov. 17 at union headquarters in Manhattan learning about local, state and national issues affecting their profession, including staffing shortages and understaffing. They attended workshops on workplace deescalation techniques, social media best practices, self-care and other topics, and also networked with colleagues from other sites.

School psychologists gathered in person at Shanker Hall and remotely for their chapter’s annual Psychologists Appreciation Day professional development on Friday, Nov. 10. Between networking, collaborating and socializing, the psychologists learned about strategies to support students with executive dysfunction.

About 1,500 UFT members, family and friends gathered at the New York Hilton Midtown on Oct. 29 to honor the brave educators who put everything on the line in the 1960 strike that forged the union and the UFT activists who follow in their footsteps. This year, Teacher Union Day was dedicated to the Contract Action Teams.

In its first in-person event since before the COVID-19 pandemic, the UFT Italian-American Heritage Committee staged its annual dinner on Oct. 26 at Mario’s Restaurant in the Bronx and honored two recently deceased members: UFT founder George Altomare and former committee chair Patricia Filomena.

The new class-size law and the importance of getting the DOE to abide by it was on the minds of parents and caregivers who attended the union’s parent conferences in Manhattan, Staten Island and Queens in October and November.

UFT members in all five boroughs and on Long Island raised thousands of dollars by participating in Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walks in October.

UFT members across the city wore pink on Oct. 11, 2023, to raise awareness about breast cancer.

Hundreds of UFT members joined the Labor Parade on Sept. 9 in New York City, marching up Fifth Avenue with their counterparts from other unions across the city. Members marched, rode the UFT float or sat in two double-decker buses along the parade route.

About 150 RTC members spent a Day at the University on Sept. 8 at UFT headquarters. They were treated to Lou Del Bianco singing Frank Sinatra songs; Barry Joseph chronicling the history and popularity of seltzer; and workshops on New York City public school memorabilia, politics and the U.S. Supreme Court.

UFT President Michael Mulgrew kicked off the first day of school for New York City public schools on Sept. 7 at PS 121 in the Bronx with Mayor Eric Adams and Schools Chancellor David Banks. They welcomed the more than 900,000 students back to school citywide, including about 21,500 from families that have migrated to the city in the past year; announced a state waiver that will allow more bilingual educators to teach migrant students; and touted the new, phonics-based reading curriculum.

Eleven busloads of UFT members and school community members joined tens of thousands of demonstrators at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., on Saturday, Aug. 26, to mark the 60th anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. In the spirit of this year’s theme, “Not a commemoration, a continuation,” the demonstrators called for dignity for workers and civil rights.

UFT members marched with tens of thousands of other New Yorkers on June 25 at the New York City Pride March in Manhattan to celebrate the LGBTQ community and show support for LGBTQ rights.

Twenty-eight school secretaries from across the city were honored with awards, flowers and festivities at the union’s annual School Secretaries Awards Soirée. Honorees, colleagues, family members and UFT leadership gathered in Shanker Hall at union headquarters to celebrate.

Speech teachers and their students were honored for innovative projects at the 17th annual Better Speech and Hearing Month Celebration at UFT headquarters. Their projects were displayed throughout Shanker Hall and presented via video.

Thousands of UFT members came together in five simultaneous borough rallies to demand a fair contract. Elected officials, community members, students, family and friends stood beside them in support.

The union’s signature education conference of the year was a fun and inspiring day for more than 1,300 UFT members that featured a morning discussion on self-care, CTLE workshops, a performance by hip-hop icon Kurtis Blow and a gala luncheon.

The UFT Family Child Care Providers Chapter, together with family and friends, celebrates outstanding members during its 10th annual ceremonies at borough events.

School nurses from around the city gathered at UFT headquarters for the annual celebration honoring their work in the New York City public schools.

The annual District 11 Scholarship Dinner brought together 450 educators, students and community members from the Bronx for a night of celebration and awards.

Outstanding high school educators, school-related professionals and union activists who support their school communities, students and union in the work they do every day were honored in the union’s annual awards ceremony at UFT headquarters.