Stacey Chang now advocates for former colleagues after 33 years at HIDOE
Posted: September 18, 2024
I
t’s not an understatement when Stacey Chang says “We have a lot of teachers in our family.”
Chang began working at the Hawaiʻi State Teachers Association this week as a UniServ Director representing educators in the Pearl City, Waipahu and Campbell complexes of HSTA’s Leeward Chapter. Before that, she spent 33 years as a public school teacher, 31 of them at Mauka Lani Elementary in Kapolei, the last eight years as an academic coach.
Her mother retired after 52 years teaching at Nimitz Elementary. One of her sisters is a high school teacher and the other is a principal. One of Chang’s sons and two of her daughters in law are also teachers at Leeward public schools.
“I just always loved working with kids. My mom was a teacher, and I saw her passion for what she did and I just fell in love with it too,” said Chang.
Chang said she’s excited to join the HSTA staff because, “I learned a lot and felt the support from the UniServ directors who supported me over the years and I feel like I’m at a place where I want to do that work now.”
“Mentoring was one of the favorite things about my previous job” at Mauka Lani Elementary, she said, where she spent an academic year as a mentor teacher.
“I loved mentoring the new teachers and watching them grow and seeing them five years later so confident in the classroom. I want to be that support,” Chang added.
Chang has a lengthy and distinguished record as an HSTA volunteer leader.
She began decades ago as a faculty representative and went on to serve as one of three strike captains at Mauka Lani Elementary during the HSTA’s last strike in 2001.
Over the years, Chang also served as a delegate to HSTA state conventions and to the National Education Association Representative Assembly.
She joined the union’s Charter, Bylaws and Resolutions Committee on which she served for 13 years, rising to vice chair and then chairing the committee for six years. Chang also served on the HSTA’s Judicial Panel for more than five years.
She says all of that time serving fellow educators has prepared her for her next chapter.
“I want to be an advocate for them. I want to support them in their teaching in whatever way possible,” she said.
“I’m excited about being able to support teachers in a different way. To still be able to work with teachers as they support their students,” Chang said.
Chang graduated from Pearl City High and majored in elementary education at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. An animal lover, as a college student, she was torn between going into teaching or veterinary medicine.
“After working in an animal clinic for a semester, I realized I couldn’t do it because I just cried all the time,” she said with a laugh.
“So now I just foster animals. We take in a lot of kittens and sometimes puppies,” Chang added.
Chang and her husband, who’s a firefighter, live in Pearl City. They have six children, aged 34 to seven, and two grandchildren.
When they aren’t working, Chang says her family “enjoys camping. We enjoy going to the beach and most outdoor activities. We spend most of the time out at the beach, out in Makaha.”
She and her family enjoy traveling together and “finding new places to visit,” she said.
Next month, they will travel to Alaska, “hopefully to see the northern lights. That’s been one of my bucket list items,” Chang added.