The two-day training focused on organizing, self-care
Posted: July 17, 2025
Over 40 Hawaiʻi State Teachers Association chapter leaders gathered earlier this week at HSTA headquarters for a two-day immersive training on building union power for the 2025-26 school year.
From member organizing to getting tips on running effective meetings and hearing from the National Education Association, HSTA equipped chapter leaders with the tools to start the new school year off strong.
HSTA President Osa Tui, Jr., said that training chapter leaders is critical to developing a strong base of school-level leaders across the state, thereby strengthening union capacity.
“While the state president and leadership may be the face to the general public for the Hawai’i State Teachers Association, it is our school-level leaders who are the face of HSTA at their worksites,” Tui said.
“Making sure our SLLs are well prepared for their roles is one of the main goals of holding our chapter-level Start of Year conferences, and we appreciate these colleagues who are going above and beyond to support their faculty members with issues that arise throughout the year,” he added.
NEA Executive Committee member stresses importance of self-care in leadership
Robert V. Rodriguez, National Education Association Executive Committee Member and a middle school special education teacher in the San Bernardino City Unified School District, was Tuesday’s keynote speaker. Rodriguez spoke to members about finding inspiration in their daily work, planning a vision for their leadership, and knowing their why.
Rodriguez also stressed the importance of self-care in leadership.
He challenged members to recognize how they take care of themselves, leading them through a vase-filling activity that helped leaders identify what fills their time, encouraging them to focus on the “big pebbles” such as kids, pets, faith, hobbies, and more.
He also warned leaders against getting stuck in quicksand, or things that suck energy and waste time, such as doomscrolling on social media or incessant screen time.
“How do you take care of yourself? When you board your planes, get on a flight, you come in, and the flight attendant tells you to put your mask on first, before you start helping other folks. That is the message that we have to start telling our leaders at the NEA and HSTA. We need you to work on some self-care, work on priorities in order to be more effective leaders in your chapters, and also to help HSTA and NEA as a whole,” he said.
