Sarah “Mili” Milianta-Laffin supports equal opportunity for girls, students of color
Posted: May 27, 2022
The National Education Association (NEA) honored an ʻIlima Intermediate teacher with the prestigious Mary Hatwood Futrell Human and Civil Rights Award. Sarah “Mili” Milianta-Laffin, a STEM teacher, works tirelessly to ensure her students, regardless of gender identity or race, are provided equal opportunity.
The award is named after former NEA President Mary Hatwood Futrell, who advocated for women’s rights throughout her career leading ERAmerica, NEA, Education International, and the George Washington University Graduate School of Education and Human Development.
When Milianta-Laffin began teaching as ʻIlima Intermediate’s STEM teacher in 2017, about 75% of her science and computer science students were boys.
Through networking with local elementary schools, doing career day presentations, and having her students speak to the Hawaii Board of Education about the importance of getting more girls involved in STEM, girls now comprise nearly 50% of her STEM students.
Milianta-Laffin works with the Hawaii State Department of Education (HIDOE) Office of Curriculum Instruction and a team of fellow STEM teachers to craft expanded policies and curriculum that are more gender inclusive. She also serves as the communications chair for the Hawaii Society for Technology in Education. In 2021, she was instrumental in getting teachers to submit testimony for Act 158, which earmarked special funds for computer science education encouraging female students to get more involved.
Milianta-Laffin has been the faculty sponsor for the Rainbow Royales, ʻIlima Intermediate’s gender and sexuality alliance, since 2018, and works to create a caring, inclusive environment for all students, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression.
“Students don’t need a perfect teacher. They need one that cares enough to create space for them to be who they are,” she said.
Milianta-Laffin’s advocacy has also been recognized by the Hawaii State Teachers Association. She was awarded HSTA’s Pono Award in 2020 and the association’s top S.T.A.C.Y. Award for teaching excellence in 2021.
Milianta-Laffin spearheaded period poverty bill
When Milianta-Laffin saw a student being bullied for bleeding through her pants at school, she realized that not all students had access to quality period products. This experience sparked her passion to address period poverty in Hawaii.
In addition to setting up a menstruation station in her classroom with free products for her students to use, she connected with state Rep. Amy Perruso, a fellow educator and former HSTA state leader. When Perruso introduced the first bill to provide free period products in all Hawaii schools in January 2020, Milianta-Laffin’s students took to the Capitol to testify and have been actively involved in the period poverty movement since.
While efforts during the 2020 and 2021 sessions stalled, breakthrough success happened in the 2022 session when Senate Bill 2821 passed both the House and Senate full floor votes, appropriating $2 million for free menstrual products on all HIDOE school campuses. The bill is scheduled to be signed into law next month and will become the sixth state in the country with such a law.
She joined the NEA’s national podcast “School Me” this week to talk about the experience. Listen to her episode here.
Milianta-Laffin continues to fight for women’s rights and gender equity with her advocacy reaching far and wide. HSTA applauds her well-deserved award, and will be there when she is recognized at the 2022 NEA Human and Civil Rights Awards Ceremony on July 2 in Chicago.
Congratulations, Mili!