Click here to watch this video on YouTube.
Waialae Elementary Public Charter School teacher Raechelle Villanueva received one of the Hawaii State Teachers Association’s highest honors this week: the 2020 S.T.A.C.Y. Award for Teaching Excellence.
Villanueva was recognized Wednesday during a live stream on HSTA’s Facebook and YouTube channels. An awards ceremony was scheduled to take place at HSTA’s 48th annual State Convention at the Hawaii Convention Center in early May. Unfortunately, the convention was postponed, and will likely be canceled, in light of the coronavirus pandemic.
“What inspired me to become a teacher is all the amazing teachers that I’ve had. I teach at the same school that I went to as a kid, and I’m teaching with some of the same teachers who taught me,” said Villanueva, a third-grade teacher at Waialae.
“The thing that keeps me going is just the ability to impart change, to motivate kids to be future change-makers, and I just want to keep pushing to see how far I can take these kids,” she added.
Known as "Rae" to friends, family, and colleagues, she was one of three teachers who created a network of Hawaii State Department of Education, public charter, and private school teachers on Twitter via the hashtag #808educate. The team hosts monthly Twitter chats to discuss innovative educational approaches and ways to collaborate.
“We have tried to imbue a shared cultural component of aloha instead of competition between private, charter, and state Department of Education,” Villanueva said.
She turned her classroom at Waialae Elementary into a workshop, developing her own class Makerspace, sharing her approach with teachers from across Oahu. Villanueva is also a teacher mentor in instructional change and innovation.
Devoted to her students and colleagues, she also is an active and vocal union member. At one point, she served as head faculty representative and the Association Policy Committee all in one at her school. She has served as contract negotiations member in 2017 and will do so again for the upcoming 2021 contract.
Villanueva is also Waialae’s head robotics coach, taking her team to state robotics championships in its first year of existence.
Click here to watch this video on YouTube.
“I’m thankful for my team, my school, family. I’m just so proud of the work that we’re doing. I’m public school proud and together, we can take a deep breath, know that you’re doing your best. I’m just so thankful to be part of this association, and part of this union, and part of this group of amazing educators,” Villanueva said during the live streaming event.
The S.T.A.C.Y. Award for Teaching Excellence was established to celebrate the outstanding work of the late Stacy Nishina, a public school teacher, longtime HSTA staff member and supporter of all HSTA state candidates for the NEA Foundation Awards for Teaching Excellence. Each year, a winner is chosen based on his or her ability to demonstrate leadership, dedication and passion in five categories: scholarship, teaching, advocacy, community and youth.
With this award, Villanueva becomes HSTA’s nominee for the NEA Foundation’s 2021 Horace Mann Award for Teaching Excellence and NEA Member Benefits Award.