Dana Shishido stepped into the role Feb. 16
Posted: February 29, 2024
After over three decades as a Hawaiʻi public school educator and Hawaiʻi State Teachers Association leader, Dana Shishido joined the union as its newest UniServ Director for Oʻahu’s Leeward Chapter.
Shishido joins fellow Leeward Chapter UniServ Director Jolyn Garidan Prieto.
Born and raised on Oʻahu and a product of public schools, Shishido attended Honowai Elementary, Pearl City Highlands Elementary, Highlands Intermediate, and Pearl City High School.
She then attended the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa and earned her bachelor’s in education and a professional diploma of education. During her tenure there, she was active in student government. She served as the senator of education for the Associated Students of the University of Hawaiʻi, a student government program for the university, alongside Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke and late U.S. Rep. Mark Takai.
After graduation, she taught sixth grade at Pearl Harbor Kai Elementary before moving to Wheeler Elementary, where she taught third grade for 32 years.
“I love children,” Shishido said of her 33 years in the classroom. “Children bring so much joy. It was nice to be able to help kids, and as a teacher, I was able to do that. I stayed with that career because it was that joy that actually continues when you work with kids; the light bulb moments, or when they don’t want to go home, or ask if they can go home with you. It’s just so fulfilling.”
HSTA union leadership a cornerstone of her experience
Shishido credits her many years spent in student government programs growing up, including student councils, for sparking her interest in union work. During her junior year in high school, she was asked to serve as a student panelist for the governor’s conference on education.
“I like to help people. It feels important and the right thing to do, to help make a difference. It was just sort of a natural thing, you know, because I’ve always done those types of leadership experiences as a student, and it was just natural to continue that as a teacher,” she said.
Shishido began union work as a college student, serving as Hawaiʻi’s first student delegate at the National Education Association’s Representative Assembly, the world’s largest democratic deliberative assembly.
When she started teaching in the Hawaiʻi public school system, she immediately became involved with the HSTA, serving in various leadership roles including Central Chapter president, a three-year term she began while only in her third year of teaching.
She served as state chair of the Strategic Planning Committee and the Youth, Human, and Civil Rights (now Human and Civil Rights) Committee. She was also a head faculty representative, APC (Association Policy Committee) representative, grievance representative, Central executive board member, and HSTA state director for Central Chapter.
“It was just nice to know that you were the one that teachers could come to for assistance, or for reassurance. Also when they had to go into conferences with the admin, to be able to prep them with what to say and what not to say, just be that support for them and have them come out of there not so shaken,” she said.
Shishido points to former HSTA staff members Joan Husted, Wilbert Holck, and Sharon Mahoe as mentors who helped inspire her to run for Central Chapter and become so involved in the union.
Life after retirement: helping teachers through UniServ director work
After retiring from the Hawaiʻi Department of Education last summer, Shishido says she felt lost.
“My life has always been HSTA and meetings. When I retired, there were no meetings to go to. It felt funny. So when I asked to help out, I was like, sure,” she said. “Again, it’s helping people.”
Shishido temporarily filled the position of UniServ Director for Kauaʻi Chapter and Waipahu Complex in the fall of 2021. When a full-time opportunity opened up for Leeward Chapter, she jumped at the opportunity.
She enjoys working with teachers in her district, because “that’s one of my things, is trying to empower the teachers.”
Shishido believes helping teachers become familiar with their contract, and encouraging them to work with their school-level leaders and administrators will create more harmony in the workplace.
“It’s kind of interesting,” she said. “I started as a student in Leeward and now that comes full circle with me helping Leeward teachers.”
In her free time, Shishido enjoys raising and releasing monarch butterflies, gardening with her husband, and baking. She’s also passionate about animals and routinely rescues strays when she’s not busy caring for her four dogs.