Binghamton physical education teacher’s exercise videos have surprising reach

“I think the difference is that instead of being in a large setting, a large gymnasium with 40-plus kids, they’re alone in their living room or in their bedrooms,” says Binghamton physical education teacher Melinda Ligeikis. “I really focused on keeping all of the exercises and challenges short, so they could just take five minutes out of their day to be active.”

School-Related Professionals provide crucial safety net for communities during pandemic

School buildings throughout the state have been closed since mid-March, but members of the Albany Public Schools United Employees and Taconic Hills Support Staff Association are still hard at work each day making sure the needs of their students and community are being met. Photo El-Wise Noisette.

May 6–12 is National Nurses Week

For National Nurses Week, it’s important for the rest of the population to recognize the hospital and visiting nurses caring for patients with COVID-19 and other illnesses. It’s a time to thank school nurses working at testing sites, in hospitals, or making sure that students are being cared for even though school buildings are not open.

Long Island local union's T-shirt fundraiser raises $7,000 for worthy causes

“Our community is socioeconomically disadvantaged, and a lot of families are struggling so we wanted to raise money to help out,” said William Floyd United Teachers president Ron Gross.

Teacher Appreciation Week takes on new meaning

This year, the May 4-8 celebration takes on new meaning as educators step up in unprecedented ways to meet their students’ academic and emotional needs.

Skilled counselors tap new technical skills on union webinar

NYSUT’s Social Services department recently hosted a webinar with three experts who provided information on the challenges of telecounseling with students and families.

North Country locals raise spirits through community outreach

Cold, lengthy bouts of rain and some snow, combined with a pandemic quarantine, might send some people scurrying inside in defeat — but the educators of the North Country are rising up and reaching out.

NYSUT mask donations nearing 200,000

Since the NYSUT Disaster Relief Fund began soliciting donations earlier this year to purchase personal protective equipment and other supplies for health care members, more than $90,000 in member donations have flowed into the fund and nearly 200,000 masks have been delivered to professionals in medical facilities hard hit by the COVID-19 crisis.

Amid crisis, educators are anything but remote

Rochester teacher Marie Rice spent more than an hour on a student’s front porch Easter Sunday, talking through a window to a kindergartner who needed some extra TLC.

Nurses respond STAT to pandemic

"There are a lot of emergencies, a lot of deaths,” said longtime hospital nurse Nancy Barth-Miller. “You wrap a body and hope to keep the next patient alive.”

Workers’ Memorial Day: Coronavirus pandemic illustrates need for adequate workplace protections

We're marking this year’s national Workers’ Memorial Day with a call to action for more workplace protections in this time of the COVID-19 pandemic, when health care professionals, teachers and School-Related Professionals have faced exposure, illness and death from serving in workplaces without adequate protections in place.

Lew-Port teachers give special gift to senior class

Lew-Port educators came up with a new rite of passage to honor their grads this week, placing a “Home of a Lewiston-Porter Senior” sign on the front lawn of every graduating senior