Chanel Wong joins HSTA as kaulike specialist

The Hawaiʻi State Teachers Association is pleased to welcome Chanel Wong, a veteran public and charter school teacher and āina-based educator, as its kaulike (equity) specialist. Her first day was April 14.

Wong grew up on Oʻahu, mostly in Wahiawā, with ties to Makakilo, and graduated from Leilehua High School. She went on to earn her bachelorʻs in ethnic studies with a focus on Asian American history from Oregon State University. She later earned her master’s in teaching and, most recently, her Doctor of Education in educational leadership from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, with a focus on wahine leadership concepts in ʻāina-based educational nonprofits and their effects on teaching and learning.

“My grandma really pushed me to move through all of those steps, because she saw the value in that, because that wasn’t something that she was afforded while she was growing up, and I was really lucky to have a lot of good teachers and a lot of good mentors in school and out of school, even professionally,” Wong said.

A longtime educator, she spent 8 years teaching in Waiʻanae

Wong started her career in the Hawaiʻi State Department of Education as a language arts and social studies specialist at Leihōkū Elementary in Waiʻanae, an experience that would shape her career.

“As a community of teachers and educators, the Waiʻanae community is a beautiful space. Sometimes it’s not always shown in the most positive light, which I think is a disservice and unfortunate because there are many beautiful things happening, from communities, by community, and also the teachers out there work very, very hard, and the students are just beautiful,” she said.

She credits the support of the academic coaches, principals, her fellow teachers, and the resilience of the students for helping her grow.

“It’s the largest population of Native Hawaiians in the entire state, and I was a little bit nervous and apprehensive to be working out there for my first year, especially as a new teacher. And it’s very intimidating. But at the end of my eight years on the coast, I was very happy to have been there.”

A record of ʻāina-based work and advocacy

After leaving the Waiʻanae coast, Wong wanted to see education from a different perspective and began serving with several ʻāina-based nonprofits, mentoring Native Hawaiian teachers, and working with communities to build relationships and support for ʻāina-based education.

As an āina educator, Wong worked with public and charter schools to help run a program in which āina itself was the teacher.

“We would explore different topics concerning wai (water) in those different places, from fish ponds to plains to mountains, and explore the connection or the thread with wai throughout all of these places? And how do we see wai feeding this āina and bringing life? And what is the science behind that? The moʻolelo (stories), the histories, the current events, and the future events that will help us to predict based on what we’re learning.

“It was a chance, too, for students to see themselves within these spaces and to connect,” she added.

She served for five years as education coordinator at Papahana Kuaola, a nonprofit in Heʻeia on Oʻahu, where her main role was to serve as the bridge between ʻāina education and the classroom in the He’eia ahupuaʻa. She also spent two years working as the social studies curriculum specialist at the nonprofit Pili ʻOhu Educators, helping an Oʻahu charter school use an ʻāina lens and framework while aligning with state standards.

In addition, Wong gained valuable insights from her time teaching at several charter schools on Kauaʻi.

“Being a charter school teacher kind of opened my eyes to a lot of things, and made me realize why HSTA is so important, and understanding who your UniServ Director, your chapter rep is, and your school level leaders are in that area, because there are things that are drastically different (in charter schools compared to HIDOE),” she said.

“They serve an important need in the community that DOE schools either can’t or don’t have the capacity for at the time,” she added.

What she’s looking forward to at HSTA

In her new union role, Wong is energized to support teachers as the liaison to both HSTA’s Human and Civil Rights Committee and its Hawaiian Education Committee.

“I’m very happy to be in this position, because I feel now that teachers are highly educated on what’s going on in their communities, they’re at the pulse of it. They’re the heartbeat of what goes down, because they spend many hours there. To be able to support teachers on issues concerning human civil rights and Hawaiian education gets me really excited.”

“A lot of the time, as teachers, we feel sort of boxed in, or we don’t feel heard because we do so much for other people. So if HSTA, and if my position, can do something for them that helps them to feel good about what they’re doing and helps them in the process, I’m happy to do that,” she said.

While not fluent in Hawaiian, Wong has basic conversational ability in the language after taking ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi classes at Kapiʻolani Community College and Windward Community College.

Wong has two children, and her son attends a Hawaiian immersion school on Kauaʻi.

In her free time, she enjoys the ocean and canoe paddling. She has paddled on Oʻahu with Waikīkī Surf Club and now with Hui o Mana Ka Puʻuwai on the Wailua River on Kauaʻi.

Paddling, she says, mirrors education and union work.

“When you think about canoe paddling, and you think about education and teaching and working for HSTA, ultimately it benefits the community. You have to be at your best where it’s needed all the time,” she said.