“Thriving Into Our Future” was the theme of the 20th annual UFT African Heritage Committee Awards Dinner Dance on Feb. 3 at Antun’s in Queens Village. The event coincides with Black History Month in what Chair Wendy Walker-Wilson has described as “a way for us to celebrate our culture.”

At schools across the city, members gathered with their colleagues for “teach-ins” on Jan. 30, 2023, about the UFT’s contract negotiations.

The UFT welcomed 80 children to union headquarters on Dec. 10, 2022, for a special holiday celebration organized in partnership with Coalition for the Homeless.

Hundreds of UFT-represented nurses gathered for discussions on the state of hospital care and updates on infectious diseases, as well as workshops covering key concerns, at the Federation of Nurses/UFT’s Professional Issues Conference on Nov. 18 in Shanker Hall at UFT headquarters in Manhattan.

More than 1,400 recently retired teachers attended one of two New Retiree Luncheons at the New York Hilton Midtown to celebrate the new chapter in their lives. The Nov. 22 reception was for members who retired from September 2021-August 2022. The Nov. 29 luncheon was for members who retired from September 2019-August 2021, a time when the COVID-19 pandemic prevented large gatherings.

It was an early Thanksgiving celebration for 160 students in need, including some migrants who arrived in New York by bus in late summer, as they marked the occasion at UFT headquarters on Nov. 19 with a holiday meal, new winter wear and a variety of activities during the union's Thanksgiving Luncheon and Winter Coat Drive hosted by the UFT Middle Schools Division.

More than 100 school psychologists celebrated the sixth annual Psychologists Appreciation Day both in person and remotely with workshops and networking on Nov. 10 at UFT headquarters in Manhattan.

More than 1,000 educators, family and friends honored UFT members at the New York Hilton Midtown on Nov. 6 during Teacher Union Day, an annual event that commemorates the 1960 strike that won collective bargaining rights for the union.

Parents in Queens and on Staten Island joined the UFT’s parent conferences in their boroughs on Nov. 5 to learn how New York City public school educators are helping their kids succeed.

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 united in blue on Oct. 13, 2022, in support of a fair DOE-UFT contract.

UFT members across the city wore pink on Oct. 12, 2022, in support of breast cancer awareness.

More than 700 UFT members marched up Fifth Avenue in the city’s Labor Day Parade, the first one held since 2019 because of the coronavirus pandemic that hit early the following year. As they waited for their turn to march, the union’s members gathered for a pre-parade celebration.

It was a day of greetings and learning for educators and students across the city as they headed back to school on Sept. 8, 2022.

A new Staten Island borough office that can accommodate more in-house activities had its grand opening on Aug. 31.

UFT members in Queens take action and urge the city to restore $215 million in funding to protect school programs, students and staff.

A strong contingent of UFT members joined the New York City Pride March on June 26 to show support for LGBTQ+ rights and celebrate the community.

During the UFT-sponsored March Madness initiative in which union members at roughly 200 schools participated, Horace Harding School PS 206Q Chapter Leader Emma Gomez inspired colleagues to produce unique celebrations for each school day that month.

UFT members across the city protested the mayor's harmful budget cuts to schools during a Day of Action on June 22, 2022.

The UFT honored 17 school secretaries at an awards brunch on June 11 at union headquarters in Manhattan. The union also recognized three current and former school secretaries for their contributions over the years and honored secretaries who recently passed away, including those lost during the COVID-19 pandemic.

UFT members and New York City public school students joined the youth-led March for Our Lives rally against gun violence on June 11 as protesters marched over the Brooklyn Bridge to Zuccotti Park in lower Manhattan.

The UFT awarded $5,000 Albert Shanker college scholarships to 189 high school seniors at the 53^rd annual Scholarship Awards Ceremony & Reception on June 7 at UFT headquarters in Manhattan. The scholarships go to academically excellent and financially eligible New York City public high school seniors and post-graduate students. Eight post-graduate students also received scholarships.

UFT members across the city wore orange on June 3, 2022, for National Gun Violence Awareness Day.

The UFT’s annual Spring Education Conference on May 21, which attracted more than a thousand union members, featured a panel discussion led by city educators, workshops on building resilience and teaching multilingual learners, an exhibit fair showcasing the work of career and technical education students, speeches from top city and state officials and a keynote address by UFT President Michael Mulgrew

At the Federation of Nurses/UFT Nurse Recognition Day Celebration on May 17, members celebrated 20 nurses for their advocacy, leadership, union work and distinguished service, and they reveled in being together to honor their work and their profession for the first time since the pandemic began.

Outstanding members of the UFT Family Child Care Providers Chapter were celebrated before 232 of their colleagues, family members and friends at the ninth annual Provider Appreciation Awards Ceremony on Friday, May 13, in Shanker Hall.

The UFT selected eight teachers from hundreds of applicants to serve on its “Listen Up: The reality is…” panel on April 14 at union headquarters in Manhattan. The panelist were invited to tell education policymakers what their students – and public schools – need to recover and thrive after teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Educators gathered in person on April 9 for the first time in two years for the UFT Middle Schools Conference in Shanker Hall at UFT headquarters in Manhattan. They attended workshops on topics including wellness, social studies projects with Google Earth, integrated co-teaching and culturally responsive STEAM curriculum at the conference.

High school educators and school-related professionals gathered in Shanker Hall at UFT headquarters on April 8 to honor the achievements of exemplary educators, union activists and unified school communities at the 2022 Academic High Schools Awards Celebration.

The 14th annual Early Childhood Conference returned to UFT headquarters on March 19, where participants celebrated the theme of "Lighting the Future, Charting the Course."

On March 15, for the first time in two years, hundreds gathered in Shanker Hall at UFT headquarters in Manhattan. They were CTE educators handpicked by the union to represent excellence in their division, plus family, friends and colleagues. The group celebrated the honorees’ excellent work and the flourishing CTE programs they run in city public schools.

“We Make a Difference” was the theme at this year’s UFT Paraprofessionals Festival and Awards Luncheon, which celebrated paraprofessionals at Shanker Hall on March 5 for rising to the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Members of the UFT African Heritage Committee met for their 19th annual dinner dance and awards ceremony at Antun's Restaurant in Queens on Feb. 4. This year's theme was "Embracing Challenges & Building our Future."

Educators at schools across the city participated in a Day of Action at their schools on Dec. 1 and 2 to encourage City Council Speaker Corey Johnson to bring the bill that would lower NYC class sizes to a vote.

The first hybrid Teacher Union Day was held on Nov. 7, 2021, with 234 people, including honorees and their families, attending in person to celebrate union activism in Shanker Hall at UFT headquarters in Manhattan while 592 members joined the festivities online.