Retiring Windward Chapter name part of an effort to reflect our Hawaiian sense of place
Posted: May 12, 2025
Hawaiʻi State Teachers Association leaders gathered Saturday at Kualoa Regional Park on Oʻahu to celebrate the renaming of its Koʻolau Chapter, formerly called Windward Chapter.
HSTA’s Koʻolau Chapter comprises about 1,200 teachers at 36 public and charter schools and worksites from Sunset Beach to Waimānalo, encompassing the districts of Koʻolaupoko and Koʻolauloa.
The ceremony Saturday began with participants singing a Hawaiian oli (chant) composed for HSTA and then they sang the Hawaiian mele (song) Nani Kaʻala, which references many towns and cities within Koʻolau Chapter, from Kailua and Heʻeia to Waiahole and Waikane.
HSTA President Osa Tui, Jr. told those gathered at Kualoa, “Mahalo to our Hawaiian Education Committee for all the work that they have put into make it actually happen, Mahalo to my original chapter, the Koʻolau Chapter, for being where I grew up and she became the person that I am.”
Tui grew up in Kāneʻohe and graduated from Castle High, where he began his teaching career.
“They say the Hawaiian renaissance began 40 years ago, but it wasn’t a one and done thing. This is something that continues every single day, and this is just one more step towards making that renaissance be what it should be,” said Tui.
“And I’m so glad, I’m so proud that we continue to push the envelope forward and make sure that this land, these mountains, this ocean, can perpetuate ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi (the Hawaiian language) as it needs to be,” Tui added.
Koʻolau Chapter naming ‘a statement of kuleana’
Jodi Beaty, president of HSTAʻs Koʻolau Chapter, is a kindergarten teacher at Mokapu Elementary on Marine Corps Base Hawaiʻi in Kāneʻohe. She previously taught at Waimānalo Elementary and Intermediate for more than a decade.
“Renaming of our chapter—from Windward to Koʻolau—is not just appropriate, but essential. Windward is a term left to us from colonial mapping—a generic label with no connection to our identity or sense of place. Koʻolau, on the other hand, is rooted in this land. It carries the stories of our mountains, our rains, and our people,” she told those gathered at Saturdayʻs ceremony.
“When HSTA officially adopted the name Koʻolau Chapter, it was more than a change in terminology. It was a statement of kuleana—a commitment to honoring the land we teach on and the communities we serve,” said Beaty, who grew up in Kailua and attended public schools there, graduating from Kalāheo High.
“Our students deserve to learn in institutions that reflect the depth of their heritage, and we, as educators, have a responsibility to lead with intention and respect.
By embracing the name Koʻolau, we are not erasing the past—we are restoring what was always here. We are affirming the importance of place, identity, and pride in who we are and where we come from,” Beaty added.
Kalae Akioka, a Hawaiian immersion teacher at Kailua High, chairs HSTAʻs Hawaiian Education Special Committee.
“We’re very proud that we got this done. We got it done with the support of everyone here as well as cultural and community people who advised us on this. So we feel really grounded in what’s happened,” said Akioka during the ceremony.
She noted that Kualoa is the center of Koʻolau. The district of Koʻolaupoko runs from Kualoa through Waimānalo. Koʻolauloa goes from Kualoa to Kahuku.
“We picked right in the middle. That was intentional to come here. Also in days past, Kualoa itself was the seat of ruling in for Oʻahu. It wasnʻt in Honolulu. It was right here. So it’s a very significant place to have this ceremony,” said Akioka, who lives in Kāneʻohe.
“This is the beginning of more to come because we’re excited to start moving across all our chapters, that all of our chapters have Hawaiian names,” Akioka added.
Akioka’s committee has begun preliminary discussions to explore how to rename HSTA’s Central and Leeward O’ahu chapters. (Kalae approved of this wording)
Saturday’s ceremony ended with participants singing the mele Hawaiʻi Aloha.
HSTA takes steps toward uplifting the Hawaiian culture, supporting Hawaiian educators, students
HSTA has taken several key steps in recent years to support Hawaiian educators and the keiki they teach, and uplift the Hawaiian culture.
In September of 2022, the HSTA Board of Directors created the Hawaiian Special Education Committee. It will become a standing committee on Sept. 1.
Members of the committee have led several breakout sessions for Hawaiian immersion and Hawaiian language teachers at HSTA’s Institute Day events in the last two years.
Last summer, the union unveiled its Hanohano Hawaiʻi framework, a new effort to open all union-related events with place-based tributes. Read HSTA’s Hanohano Hawaiʻi guidelines.
Committee members have also lobbied state lawmakers for more resources and support for kaiapuni teachers. Just this year, legislators approved $4 million in funding to support 13 new positions in HIDOE Hawaiian language immersion programs.
The Hawaiian Education Special Committee will become an HSTA standing committee on Sept. 1.
Members of the Koʻolau Chapter Executive Board posed for a photo in front of their new banner following the ceremony.
HSTA Hawaiian Education Special Committee Chair Kalae Akioka gives HSTA President Osa Tui a lei.
Koʻolau Chapter President Jodi Beaty receives a lei from Jenny Stevens of the Hawaiian Education Special Committee.
Participants joined hands to sing Hawaiʻi Aloha at the end of the ceremony.
Kualoa is where the Koʻolaupoko and Koʻolauloa districts on Oʻahu come together.
Ancient Hawaiians considered Kualoa one of the most sacred places on the island of O’ahu. It was the residence of kings, a place of refuge, and training ground for Hawaiian royalty.
