She called in via Zoom Saturday from Air Force One
Posted: August 26, 2023
First Lady Dr. Jill Biden told the Hawaiʻi State Teachers Association Board of Directors Saturday morning, “We are a family as colleagues. We hold on to one another,” during an emotional seven-minute Zoom call from Air Force One.
“I wanted to be back in touch. See how everyone was doing. I’m on my way home to start my school semester and I can’t even imagine how heartbroken you all are,” said Biden, who visited Lahaina with President Joe Biden on Monday to survey damage from the Maui wildfires and visit with survivors and victims of the disaster.
While serving as first lady, Biden has continued teaching English and writing at Northern Virginia Community College, where she has been a professor since 2009. She is the first presidential spouse to maintain an independent career outside of the White House and is a member of her local educators’ union which is an affiliate of the National Education Association.
“I know that so many of your students are suffering, or you’ve lost many of your students and I just can’t even imagine what you’re going through. But I hope you know that I’m here for you, our administration is here for you, Becky Pringle from the NEA (president of the National Education Association, HSTA’s national parent union) is here for you, and Miguel Cardona, our secretary of education,” Jill Biden said.
Lāhaināluna High social studies teacher and HSTA Maui Chapter President Mike Landes spoke to Biden first during the Zoom, thanking her for taking the time to contact the union at the beginning of its first board meeting of the new school year.
“Thank you for joining us. Thank you for coming to the Lahaina Civic Center the other day as well,” Landes said, noting that he and fellow HSTA Maui board member Ashley Olson attended Monday’s event.
“I just want to thank you for being there and for listening and for being supportive for all of our families and teachers who are struggling so much right now,” Landes added.
Olson, who is the English learner (EL) department chair, EL coordinator and an EL inclusion teacher at Lāhaināluna, spoke briefly in person with Dr. Biden in Lahaina following the president’s speech there Monday and also spoke with her during the Zoom call Saturday morning.
“You were incredibly kind to all of us when we met you and you asked some really pointed questions about the support of our union,” Olson told the first lady.
“HSTA has been beyond amazing. It was HSTA that reached out to us as individuals to find out if we were alright. The NEA has been exceptionally supportive. And on the employer’s side, it’s been our four West Side principals and our complex area superintendent who have been there for us,” Olson said.
“I also want to say on a very personal note, that your husband is two years older than my dad was. My dad died in February,” Olson said.
Her voice filled with emotion, Olson continued: “I don’t look to my president to be a father figure, but in that moment, it was incredibly comforting for the two of you to express your condolences and to remind us that eventually, it wouldn’t hurt this much. And from the bottom of my heart, I appreciate you both so very, very much.”
Biden thanked Olson for the kind words and told her, “It never goes away. That hurt. But in time, I think, you learn how to just take one day at a time.”
“I think that finding purpose will help you through life. At least that’s what I found when our son died of cancer. And I would find purpose in helping other families go through, try and find an easier way for other families to go through what we experienced,” Biden added.
“You all are experiencing loss in so many ways. Loss of family, friends, homes. But the good thing is, we’re teachers, we’re leaders. Our students look to us, they trust us. And so, knowing that we can help them through something that’s traumatic and even though it takes a lot of us, I think it also helps us when we help others,” said Biden.
“Your students are going to be looking to you because they’re going to tell you things that they don’t know who else to tell and so I think that’s one of the parts of teaching that I love. That my students look to me. And there’s always that bond. I think teachers are a family. We are a family as colleagues. We hold on to one another. When you meet a teacher, you have that instant bond,” she said.
“My heart goes out to you. And I just hope you know that we’re not just in it for this moment. We’re in it for the long haul. We’re going to help you every day, every month, every semester until you get back to even better than where you were before,” Biden added.
HSTA President Osa Tui, Jr. then thanked the first lady for joining the board via Zoom.
“It’s so reassuring to speak to a fellow educator, a fellow NEA member. Mahalo for your support. Mahalo for the support of President Biden,” Tui said.
“Love you all, take care!” Biden said, before ending the call.
HSTA leaders, staff, and its union members have responded to the wildfires with a series of coordinated efforts to help teachers on Maui who’ve lost homes, classrooms, and workspaces in the fires.
As of midday Friday, the HSTA had cut more than $102,000 in relief aid checks for more than 100 HSTA members who have been displaced after losing their primary residence or, in the case of those at Kamehameha III Elementary, their classrooms and workspaces.