Honolulu, Leeward chapter educators reflect on eye-opening 2023 NEA RA experience
Posted: July 26, 2023
Two Hawaiʻi State Teachers Association members represented Hawaiʻi for the first time at the national level with special advisers at their side: their mothers.
Waipahu High English language arts teacher Nicole Ehara became a delegate to the 2023 National Education Association Representative Assembly (NEA RA) at the suggestion of her mother and fellow delegate, Joyce Nakamura.
Nakamura, a first-grade teacher at Nanaikapono Elementary and six-time NEA RA delegate, said, “It took me 28 years before I finally started coming (to the NEA RA), and I wish I had come earlier in my career.”
She didn’t want Ehara to wait that long to “see the issues of other states and to see what they’re going through and to compare it to what we’re going through in Hawaiʻi.”
Turns out, mother knew best.
Joyce Nakamura and Nicole Ehara sit together at the 2023 NEA RA in Orlando, Florida.
“[RA has] been overwhelming,” said Ehara, who is entering her third year of teaching, “but it totally makes me grateful to be teaching in Hawaiʻi.”
Ehara said book bans by extreme politicians in states like Florida and Texas to erase race, history, sexual orientation and gender “came as a surprise to me. I kind of knew that was happening, but I didn’t realize how big of an issue it was for other states. I’m teaching a ‘banned book’ in my own classroom, and I really want to teach that book because it’s important to me and I really enjoy it.”
As part of the RA experience, Hawaiʻi delegates joined more than 3,000 delegates from across the country to rally for honesty in education and demand that politicians stop politicizing public education and banning books.
“To have that taken away from me, I just wouldn’t know how to react to that,” Ehara said. “Being at RA helps me understand that process and what I can do to prevent that, or if it comes up, what I can do to help fight back against it.”
Like Ehara, McKinley High School band and orchestra director Joseph Nakamoto attended NEA RA at the suggestion of his mother and fellow delegate, Jennifer Nakamoto, who teaches math at McKinley High.
Joseph Nakamoto said, “I kind of went in almost blindly, kind of taking her advice on ‘Oh, you should just check this out and see what experiences you can get from it.’ For me, it was an experience to see how things work with the union and see what needs to be done in order for things to happen.”
He said witnessing testimony and interactions on the convention floor was especially eye-opening. “I remember certain ones where I just really thought that their speeches were very eloquent and made me think, oh wow, I want to aspire to be like that,” he said. “Others made me question my own perspective. I still feel like my opinions are valid, but they made me realize, oh, I should have thought about that when I made my decision.”
Mother Jennifer Nakamoto, a four-time NEA RA delegate, enjoyed sharing the experience with her son and watching him grow as an educator: “I thought it’d be just a really good experience for him, especially to see where all of our beliefs come from, like our governing system and our rules, and what the issues are nationwide.”
She added, “As a mom, I get to be there when he experiences things for the first time. I was lucky enough that, because I taught at the high school he went to, I got to be there for everything he was involved in. Even now, that’s why I get to be here watching him experience RA.”
Waipahu High teacher Nicole Ehara had additional guidance from another fellow delegate and mentor, her former fifth-grade teacher. Sonia Peralta of Nanaikapono Elementary said Nicole’s presence marked a full-circle moment: “It is so rewarding and an honor to see Nicole here. It’s what this profession is all about.”
Both Ehara and Joseph Nakamoto said having their mothers as fellow delegates helped them better understand their role and responsibilities.
Ehara said, “Whenever I have questions or I don’t know what’s going on, I can just be like, ‘Mom, what’s going on? Why are they holding up red cards or green cards or yellow?’ And she’ll explain it to me.”
Joseph Nakamoto said his mother would “give me her points of view on things, because even me and her disagree on certain things. So we would kind of hash things out and talk it out. It is a very unique experience.”
He plans to take the lessons he learned at RA back to his school and union as a member of HSTA’s SHiNE (Supporting Hawaiʻi’s New Educators) Committee.
Nakamoto, who is entering his third year of teaching, said, “As new teachers, we’re just figuring out everything, and so now, it’s more so like we’re looking at it on a broader scale. We’re looking at how the rules affect our everyday teaching and everyday work life, and because of this experience, I can definitely say that my perspective has definitely broadened a lot more.
“Not a lot of young educators are doing these types of events. I would really want new teachers to want to experience it too, or even if they don’t get the opportunity, that they still strive to do it,” he added. “I think they will just change their perspective and have a better idea of how everything works within the school system.”
Hawaiʻi’s delegation to the 2023 NEA RA consisted of 90 HSTA members, seven HSTA-Retired members, and one Aspiring Educator. Each year, educators from every state including Hawaiʻi debate and vote on vital issues that impact American public education and set NEA policy and activities for the year ahead. With 3 million members, the NEA is the largest union in the country, and its annual RA is the world’s largest democratic deliberative assembly.
HSTA delegates to the NEA RA are elected at the state and chapter level in February.
Jennifer and Joseph Nakamoto pose at the entrance to the 2023 NEA RA in Orlando, Florida.
Meet Hawaiʻi’s Aspiring Educator delegate
Tiana Mahi is a University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa senior studying elementary education. “My first experience at an RA has been really rewarding to see the different sides toward education that I honestly wasn’t even aware of. I’ve been having a lot of fun and learning a lot, and I’m very grateful for my experience,” she said.