She is an elementary school teacher at Lincrest Elementary School, Yuba City Unified School District. Nakashima serves as the teacher liaison for the California Science Project and coordinates CSP's affiliation with the eMentoring for Student Success (eMSS) program, a National Science Foundation funded project providing online support for new science teachers. She was named Outstanding Elementary Science Teacher for the Sacramento Area in 1994, and is a National Board Certified Teacher (Middle Childhood Generalist).