2019 S.T.A.C.Y. Award recipient Molokai High School librarian Diane Mokuau
Nominations are being accepted for one of the Hawaii State Teachers Association’s highest honors: the 2020 S.T.A.C.Y. Award for Teaching Excellence.
The S.T.A.C.Y. Award for Teaching Excellence was established to celebrate the outstanding work of the late Stacy Nishina, a public school teacher, longtime HSTA staff member and supporter of all HSTA state candidates for the NEA Foundation Awards for Teaching Excellence. Each year, a winner is chosen based on his or her ability to demonstrate leadership, dedication and passion in five categories: scholarship, teaching, advocacy, community, and youth.
The winner becomes HSTA’s nominee for the NEA Foundation’s 2020 Horace Mann Award for Teaching Excellence and NEA Member Benefits Award. These prestigious awards recognize, reward, and promote excellence in both teaching and advocacy for the profession. They also honor public education and dedicated National Education Association members.
Nomination process
Nominations are due Feb. 14 at 5 p.m. HST and will be judged on the following criteria:
Scholarship: Engagement in experiences to improve his or her own practice and commitment to use one’s own professional development to positively impact the profession as a teacher, as a member of the school community and as a member of the larger community.
Teaching: Demonstration of instructional expertise, leadership, creativity and innovation that effectively addresses students’ different learning styles and needs.
Advocacy: Advancement of the teaching profession, public education and public school students as an active and vocal union member and union leader.
Community: Interaction with parents and other community members regarding substantive education issues and the opportunities to connect the community to the classroom.
Youth: Development of a learning environment that appropriately supports the diversity of strengths and needs of all students through curriculum, instruction, climate setting and interaction.
Click here to submit a nomination.
After the nomination window closes, nominees will be contacted to provide supporting materials and answer the following questions:
- How have you demonstrated improvement of his/her own practice and commitment to use one’s own professional development to positively impact the profession as a teacher, as a member of the school community and as a member of the larger community?
- How have you demonstrated instructional expertise, leadership, creativity and innovation that effectively addresses students’ different learning styles and needs?
- How have you contributed to the advancement of the teaching profession, public education and public school students as an active and vocal union member and union leader? [Please be specific as to how you have used union experiences to advance the teaching profession]
- How have you interacted with parents and other community members regarding substantive education issues and the opportunities to connect the community to the classroom?
- How have you developed a learning environment that appropriately supports the diversity of strengths and needs of all students through curriculum, instruction, climate setting and interaction?
Nominators are encouraged to notify the nominee ahead of time so they can prepare responses and gather all materials for submission by Feb. 28.
Deadlines
- Feb. 14 at 5 p.m. — Nominations due
- Feb. 28 at 5 p.m. — Nominee follow-up submissions due
Click here to watch this video on YouTube.
2019 recipient
The recipient of the 2019 S.T.A.C.Y. Award is Molokai High School librarian Diane Mokuau.
Mokuau has lived on Molokai for nearly 30 years and is instrumental in shaping the island’s learning environment. After teaching for six years, Mokuau transitioned to the role of school librarian. She worked for seven more years at the elementary level before transferring to Molokai High School, where she’s been for the past 15 years. Determined to elevate her profession even further, Mokuau became a National Board Certified Teacher (NBCT), a designation that she has proudly held for the past eight years.
Mokuau is an unwavering advocate for educators across the state. She currently serves as HSTA Molokai Chapter secretary and is a former chapter president, and is a key member of the association’s Negotiations Committee and Team and the Educator Effectiveness System Joint Committee with the Hawaii State Department of Education.
Mokuau helped pave the way for Molokai High School’s maximum six-year accreditation by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, and co-wrote a five-year, $1 million grant to develop the Molokai LIVE 21st Century Community Learning Center, which provides homework assistance and enrichment activities for middle and high school students.