In this special podcast episode for UFT retirees, hear how retired UFT members throughout the country are experiencing life during this pandemic and learn strategies that retirees are using to cope with the new reality. “We want our retired members to know your union is here for you and you’re not alone,” said Retired Teachers Chapter Leader Tom Murphy. “Listen in to our conversation as one way to stay together while remaining socially distant.” The podcast features Murphy; Christopher Chin, the director of Retiree Social Services; and Donesa Jackson and Patti Vitucci of the UFT’s Florida retiree section.

UFT President Michael Mulgrew talks to Meera Mangaroo of PS 18 in the Bronx, and Kirk Schneider of Urban Assembly Gateway School for Technology in Manhattan about how their schools and students are adapting to this new learning environment. He also talks with Tina Puccio, Director of the Member Assistance Program, about new services available for members coping with the challenges of the current crisis.

UFT Member Assistance Program Director Tina Puccio, LCSW, and licensed counselors Lindsay Levine and Jenice Acosta, who have been facilitating the union’s virtual support groups, discuss that strategies that have helped UFT members deal with the fear and anxiety triggered by the coronavirus crisis.

Learn more about how the individual consultations, virtual support groups and online resources that the UFT Member Assistance Program offers at www.uft.org/map

UFT President Michael Mulgrew talks about the support and counseling services the union is offering UFT members to help them cope with the stress and anxiety triggered by the school shutdown and the coronavirus crisis. He and Tina Puccio, the director of the union’s Member Assistance Program (MAP), talk about the need to stay connected even when everyone is practicing social distancing. For more information about MAP, go to www.uft.org/MAP

New York City and New York State stand to lose billions of federal aid dollars if all New Yorkers aren’t counted in the upcoming 2020 Census. At risk is money for schools, roads, hospitals, public transit and other vital services. The count starts on March 12. In the first part of the UFT's latest podcast, UFT President Michael Mulgrew and the Rev. Henry Allen Belin of First AME Church: Bethel talk about how educators and faith communities are working together to get people counted. In the second part, Mulgrew and NYC Census Director Julie Menin talk about how to break through the fear and indifference people have about filling out their Census forms.

Together we make a difference: transforming student-teacher relationships through functional fitness, with Libby Douglass, a CrossFit coach at CrossFit Wall Street and Jackie Boyle, a NYC public school teacher. Hear about the benefits of using exercise in the classroom and ways to incorporate exercise into your daily classroom routine. Learn more about the UFT’s Member Assistance Program and check out resources for new teachers at Member Assistance Program.

In this special edition of On the Record, UFT President Michael Mulgrew talks about the steps the union has taken during the coronavirus outbreak to help protect our members and communities. UFT industrial hygienist Jennifer Long joins the discussion to separate fact from fiction. 

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New York State Board of Regents Chancellor Betty Rosa, a UFT Teacher Center instructional coach and a New York City public school parent join UFT President Michael Mulgrew to discuss the first two months of remote learning and how educators and parents need to drive decisions about the shape that schooling will take in the fall.

UFT President Michael Mulgrew joins U.S. Senator Charles Schumer to discuss what educators can do to help get the federal HEROES Act passed into law. This vital legislation, which must pass the U.S. Senate, would provide $1 trillion for vital state and local services, including $100 billion for public schools, at a time when the pandemic has blown a large hole in state and local budgets nationwide.

UFT President Michael Mulgrew joins two of the union’s Albert Shanker Scholarship winners to talk about their experiences with remote learning, their future plans and social activism during the pandemic.