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	Last updated 9/23/03

The NEA Foundation Award for Teaching Excellence

2003 Finalist and Recipient of The Horace Mannö
NEA Foundation Award for Teaching Excellence

Vaughn Tokashiki
Hawaii State Teachers Association

Vaughn Tokashiki teaches fifth grade at Benjamin Parker Elementary School. Over his thirty-two year career he has taught in six elementary schools in Oahu's Windward and Central districts. The diversity in his classroom serves as a constant reminder that it is necessary to teach in many ways. Ms. Tokashiki prides himself on his multicultural approach to instruction. Because he believes passionately that “children should be given the opportunity to excel in different ways,” he uses many creative strategies to reach students with special needs, including athletics and public speaking.

Active in the community, Mr. Tokashiki coordinates Jump Rope for Heart, a program of the American Heart Association. He chaperones a high school band at parades, annually provides a safe environment for high school students on prom night, and judges high school debate competitions.

Colleagues value his counsel. As fifth grade chair, Mr. Tokashiki regularly conducts workshops to share his professional knowledge with colleagues. The governor appointed him to serve on the Hawaii Teacher Standards Board, through which he works to develop standards and guidelines for licensure and re-licensure.

Much of his professional leadership has been facilitated by his active participation in the Hawaii State Teachers Association, including a six-year term as president of the Windward Chapter. For example, he led the development of the New Hire Program to provide peer assistance and review to help novice teachers. This program has charted a course for other local associations.

Mr. Tokashiki’s advocacy is both extensive and varied. He chairs the Voluntary Employees Beneficiaries Association Trust, which makes affordable insurance available to members throughout the state. Under his leadership, the trust has become self-sustaining. As part of the state negotiations team, he visits schools to provide members with information about the status of contract negotiations and seek their feedback. A political activist, he is especially proud to have led Windward’s effort to support two of the late Honorable Pasty Mink’s re-election campaigns to the U.S. Congress. According to one colleague, “Vaughn listens to people. Such a seemingly small thing, and yet I truly believe it is a key component to his success with students, as well as with the teachers association members.”

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