BTU 12th Annual Back to School Fair this Saturday!!!

Now that we’re into the third week of the 2025 school year, hopefully you are starting to feel settled and beginning to get into a solid routine. As always, if you have an issue in your school building then please reach out to your building rep or contact your field rep at the BTU.

National Hispanic Heritage Month runs from September 15th to October 15th and ShareMyLesson has a great collection of lesson plans to give you some ideas on how to celebrate with your students!

Shanah tovah to all of our members who are observing the Rosh Hashanah holiday today and tomorrow. We hope you have time to gather with your loved ones and embrace a sweet new year.

Back to School Fair this Saturday!

The annual Back to School Book Fair at the BTU Hall is one of our most anticipated events every year. All BPS educators, students and their families are welcome to pick through more than 40,000 multilingual K-12 books to find some new selections for their classroom or home libraries.  We also have fliers available in Portuguese, Cape Verdean, Arabic, Haitian Creole, and Vietnamese. This is the 12th year that the BTU has partnered with AFT, AFT MA and FirstBook to provide Boston’s BPS families with a wide selection of books to inspire, encourage and support this city’s students.

The BTU is proud to be a major partner in AFT’s “Reading Opens the World” initiative, which has distributed more than 10 million books across America over the past 14 years. Collectively, the BTU and its partners have donated approximately half a million books to local students and parents.

We are excited to announce that AFT President Randi Weingarten and AFT MA President Jessica Tang will be attending this Saturday’s event, along with local elected officials. There will also be representatives from dozens of our local non-profit partners who can share information on helpful programs avialable in your communities. Check out our Back to School Book Fair page to access all registration and volunteer forms.

BTU Events and Announcements

AFT MA Paraprofessional Committee

One of the key lessons learned from the 2023 AFT MA/BTU Paraprofessional and Related Service Personnel (PSRP) Regional Conference is that the PSRPs AFT MA want a place to connect and collaborate. We’re excited to announce the launch of the AFT MA PSRP Working Group! This group will hold regular meetings to connect PSRPs across Massachusetts so they can share their expertise and organize together! Please fill out this form if you are interested!

Greater Boston APRI (A. Philip Randolph Institute) meeting TODAY

The Greater Boston A. Philip Randolph Institute will be meeting via zoom on September 23rd at 6pm via zoom. You can join the meeting with this link

BTU Back to School Book Fair: Saturday, Sept. 27th

Our 12th annual BTU Back to School Fair for BPS families will take place on Saturday Sept. 27th, 2025 at the BTU Hall. We’re still looking for volunteers! Come by for a day full of music, face-painting, snacks and story time with local authors. We have over 40,000 FREE books for students, families, and educators as well as dozens of representatives from local community organizations.

Haitian Educators Committee Meeting: September 29, 5:00-6:30 PM

Join us to discuss issues and concerns in our community and to go over the committee’s leadership structure! Please email Bianca Pierre at bpierre74@gmail.com for the zoom link to our next meeting

UPDATE: DEADLINE EXTENDED

Prioritize YOUR Well-being with Educators Thriving & the BTU: Due 9/28

“Thank you for creating this course. It helped me have a better year and thinking through the things that are important to me and really did help me change my mental state while at work. Things are still stressful and there’s always too much work, but it helped me prioritize, and keep my life in order.”

In this free course for BTU members, learn and practice concrete strategies to prevent burnout and support your own well-being. See our flyer to learn more. Earn 3 ALCs for completing all course requirements. There are a few spots remaining for this year’s program!

CORRECTION: Unafraid Educators Meeting on October 6th at 4:30

Please join us at Fenway High for our September/October Unafraid Educators Meeting! We are the BTU’s Immigrant Rights Organizing Committee, and work to support our students and families. We will discuss goals for the upcoming school year, and share what we accomplished last year. We’ll have pizza, salads, and snacks for everyone.

Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk: Join the BTU Team on October 4^th!

The BTU is once again organizing the BTU Walkers for another year of walking and fundraising in support of the effort to eradicate breast cancer. Each year, the BTU provides a shuttle bus from the BTU Hall to the Hatch Shell so volunteers can participate in the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk on the Esplanade. Check out more information here and search for the BTU Walkers Team to register with our group!

Retirement Planning Seminar: October 30th

Ready to retire or just starting to plan? Join us at the BTU for a Retirement Planning Seminar for on October 30th and take the first step toward a secure and confident future. There will be a Pre-seminar Question and Answer session regarding retirement and health benefits from 3:30-4:30pm. AFT is also planning on having a financial wellness workshop, “Building Your Financial Power” from 6-7pm.