Page 6 - MidWeek West - June 9, 2021

6 JUNE 9, 2021
‘Ewa Beach’s Sarah ‘Mili’ Milianta-Laffin Earns HSTA Award
‘Ilima Intermediate School teacher Sarah “Mili” Milianta-Laffin (in rainbow hat) recently won Hawai‘i State Teachers Association’s Award for Teaching Excellence for her leadership, dedication and passion. Milianta-Laffin is a policy director for GLSEN Hawai‘i, a national organization fighting for every student’s right to a safe, supportive education. PHOTO COURTESY HAWAI‘I STATE TEACHERS ASSOCIATION
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Hawaiʻi State Teachers Association re- cently named ʻIlima Intermediate School educator Sarah “Mili” Milianta-Laffin as the recipient of its Award for Teach- ing Excellence. This honor, which is the highest given by the organization, was established to commemorate local public school teacher and HSTA staff member Stacy Nishina.
mediate’s gender-sexuality alliance, the Rainbow Royales, and is a policy direc- tor for GLSEN Hawaiʻi.
According to HSTA, the annual win- ner is selected based on the ability to demonstrate leadership, dedication and passion in five categories (S.T.A.C.Y): scholarship, teaching, advocacy, com- munity and youth.
“Years ago, someone once asked what ‘radicalized’ me as a teacher ... First, I was irritated, because I didn’t consider myself a radical. But looking back, if wanting our students housed, fed, cared for, and given the best free and public education possible is a radical idea, then yeah, I’m a radical,” states Milianta-Laf- fin.
Over the past year, Milianta-Laffin, who was also the recipient of HSTA’s 2020 Pono Award for social justice, worked with Hawaiʻi Kids Can and alongside fellow educators to build Wi- Fi on Wheels pilots, during which vans could park at community centers so stu- dents can access the internet. She also serves as the adviser for ʻIlima Inter-
Milianta-Laffin also sponsors the ʻIlima Activist Club, which participated in the In- ternational Youth Climate Strike with Gre- ta Thunberg in 2019.
“Bell hooks (pseudonym of author, pro- fessor and social activist Gloria Watkins) tells us that, ‘There can be no love without justice.’ Justice for some is not justice at all, and I’m proud to be working in a state and national union that understands that,” states Milianta-Laffin. “Let’s continue to be radical for our students together.”
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