Aloha.

I'm Mina Suzuki, a HIKI NŌ journalist and senior at H.P.

Baldwin High School on Maui.

Welcome back for Part Four of our five-part HIKI NŌ on PBS Hawai‘i series, This Changed Everything: HIKI NŌ in the Age of COVID.

In our first three episodes, we've covered more than a year of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the radical changes it brought to our lives and learning.

We showed you highlights from the historical archive we've been building from our personal stories about the remarkable time we're living through.

At the beginning, we expected the pandemic, however dramatic, to be short lived.

But COVID came with a series of surprises that kept us on our toes and kept extending our time in lockdown and out of school.

In this episode, we begin the third school year impacted by the pandemic.

In the summer of 2021, the Delta variant showed up and COVID surged across the islands.

As school was starting in August, case numbers were higher than ever.

So, our baby steps back to normal remain just that.

In fact, it sometimes seemed like one step forward and two steps back.

Get to work and be quiet, please.

There's a lot of yelling going on in here, and then the teacher, like, tells everyone to like, stop talking, and then it gets noisy again.

And then it goes on like that for quite a long time.

I hate walking to my classroom and seeing a sign or somebody tells me, "Oh, Ms. Kay's in here,” or “This teacher is in here," and I have to go, "What?"

And then I have to walk all the way back, and then I have to sit here and do nothing for an hour.

It's kind of not fun being, just doing the computers every day.

It's like, it's more fun if you're with a teacher teaching you.

And where is this?

The cafeteria at Maui Waena Intermediate School.

They are here because of a serious teacher and substitute shortage.

So, when teachers are out, which is more often now with COVID, up to six classes are sent to the cafe to be monitored by administration, and students do work via Google Classroom.

I do feel kind of sad, because I do like participating in class and like, it's really boring just staying in the cafeteria and working on what the teacher assigned us to do.

Even teachers agree with this.

I'm, I’m sure it's no fun.

I could only imagine if I were a student, and I was just stuck in front of my Chromebook for possibly two or, you know, maybe more classes a day.

I feel like I could have learned a lot more if my actual teachers were here to teach me, instead of just making us do online, like, assignments by ourselves in the cafeteria.

Definitely different, and it makes me feel like, more disappointed than before because I really don't like staying in the cafe.

But no matter the circumstances the new normal brings, the students will always persevere.

Nobody's had an easy time with the past three years, and we just have to do the best we can.

The best we can won't look like it did pre-COVID, uh, but we just got to keep moving forward.

This is Sarah Rosete from Maui Waena Intermediate School for HIKI NŌ.

This virus infected our financial and mental health as well as our relationships.

HIKI NŌ students have given us a rare glimpse into their homes and families during difficult times, sharing some very personal circumstances.

Hello, my name is Marika Zialcita.

I'm a fourth grader at Waikiki Elementary School.

Today I'm filming at my school in Honolulu, Hawai‘i, and I'm gonna be sharing what happened during quarantine that really affected me and my family's life.

So last summer, my mom and dad told me, my sister and brother, that we were moving in with the grandparents.

One day I asked my mom if I was staying in my old school.

Sadly, she told me no because that was too far from where our grandparents live.

I was really upset when I first found out because my best friend was there, and I didn't have the rest of the year with my other friends and other teachers.

After a week or so in our new house, I saw that we live next to an amazing school called Waikiki Elementary.

They told me I was going there, and I was so excited because I had a chance to make new friends and start all over.

I started on a program called Acellus.

To be honest, it wasn't the best.

So, my mom took me off of it, and I started actual online classes with my new school, and it turned out to be great.

But because I was new to the school, I was shy and on mute for a few days.

But everybody was so nice and kind to me that I thought I could open up and be friends with them.

I started talking to a lot of people I was hoping to be friends with, and I was so happy.

After a few months of living in our new house, the school announced that we're going in-person for half the week, and I was so excited because I got to meet all my new friends in person.

On the first day of school.

It was one of the best days of my life because all my friends are so sweet and caring.

Even though we had to say six feet apart and with our masks on, it was totally worth it.

The experience was one of the best things ever.

[schoolyard shouting] I haven't even met everybody in my class yet because some people go on different days as me or a different schedule.

But I'm very excited for the day that we all get to be together in person.

Hi, I'm Gabrielle Kia, an eighth grader at Highlands Intermediate on O‘ahu.

I am recording this at my home on October 3, 2021.

Before the pandemic hit, you know, life was normal.

My brother was in golf, my other brother, he was in baseball, my sister was doing hula, my other brother had a job at a hotel to pay for himself.

My parents were working and I went to school like any other kid.

We were all just a typical family.

All is going well until the pandemic hit.

Schools, sports and activities shut down.

And for school, we do classes online and sometimes, you know, the connection would lag, and it would be hard for us to hear or communicate with the teachers.

And because school was online, it was also very hard for us to see our friends in person, and that honestly made me feel really down and very lonely and sad.

But now, life is slowly getting back to normal.

My brother is now back at his job at the hotel, sports and activities have started back up again, and now my parents don't work from home anymore.

School has started up again and I'm really happy because now I gett to see my friends more.

And learning is easier, so, because I get to see my teachers in person.

Hi, my name is Ivory Chun-Hoon, and I'm a second grader at E.B.

de Silva Elementary School.

I have a really big family, and we're really close.

We used to eat there two, or maybe three times a week.

But because there's more than 10 of us, we can't, and the adults are vaccinated, but the kids can't yet.

My cousin and her family will text and FaceTime to keep in touch, and sometimes our grandparents would join in, too.

It doesn't really make sense to me, since in school we have more than ten children in one classroom.

This year is going to be the first year I'm going to be in school for the full year, so I'm trying to make the shift from being in Google Meets to going to school every single day.

When I was at home, I could do my work at my own pace.

But in school, we have to follow the same schedule as everyone else.

What helps me to get used to this, I tell myself, yeah, these are the toughest times I've had, but I'm tough, too.

I hope they get vaccinations soon that’s safe for children, that way, we can all be safe and get together again.

This is Larissa MacKnight, a senior at Kapa‘a High School in Kaua‘i.

I'm recording this in my bedroom on November 19, 2021.

Right before the pandemic hit, my parents sat my sister Caitlin and I down and broke the news that they were separating.

We were both shocked.

My little sister is five years younger than me, and before this, we really weren't that close.

Looking back, I don't think she was old enough to understand what was happening.

She didn't really want to talk about it, even though I did.

I had a lot to process too, and it was hard for me to see her struggle.

However, during quarantine, with nothing else to do, we decided to learn how to skateboard.

We went to the skate park every day.

Helping each other learn how not to fall off and hurt ourselves brought us closer together.

Now, we're pretty much joined at the hip.

We go to the beach, watch movies, cook, and even share a room.

When I drive her to school, we listen to music, talk about our plans for the day, and sometimes stop for hot cocoa.

Even though we never really talk about our parents’ divorce, we are stronger together, going through this hard time as our family changed.

Now, I worry what might happen after I graduate later this year and possibly leave Hawai‘i.

But I know no matter what, my sister and I have each other's backs.

COVID’S been hard on my family and me.

Both of my parents lost their jobs.

My father worked for the forest reserve and now looks for part time work.

My mother was a prep cook, but the restaurant she worked at closed during the pandemic.

Money is tight, living space is tight, and keeping up with school has been difficult.

We’ve had to make hard decisions and haven’t had enough money for all the things we need.

For example, one time we went to the store to buy diapers and didn’t have enough money.

So, we went home and made cloth diapers.

We have gone pig hunting so we can have meat for the family.

Adding to our challenges, we have adopted two new babies who needed a safe home.

So, we are now eight people living in a three-room house.

This means I have a lot of new responsibilities.

In addition to caring for my little brothers and sisters, I help with the new baby.

I also cook and clean, and I am really missing in-person help from my teachers.

With all these changes, I’ve been feeling depressed, so I try to take time to myself to write and play music.

[ukulele music] [Sings: This is a song of … ] In spite of all these challenges, we are a strong family and are there for one another.

If one of us is struggling, we call a family meeting and address the issue together.

For example, we noticed that my brother wasn’t talking.

We all sat down and found out he was having a hard time at school, so we took turns helping him catch up with his work.

In my case, the family noticed I wasn’t doing any schoolwork.

We met and I told them I was feeling overwhelmed.

They hugged me and told me to try my best.

That encouragement was all I needed.

I appreciate our strong family support, and I know we will get through these difficult times together.

Akeakamai’s close knit family is getting through these toughest of times by pulling together and supporting each other.

And sometimes family goes beyond biological ties to describe a group with a common purpose or interest, whether it be in the arts, or sports or almost anything that brings people together.

As the pandemic dragged on, these groups started to gradually come back in person and rediscover the collaboration and camaraderie that are so important to our human experience.

Hawai‘i Children's Theatre on Kaua‘i is working on the show Moana, a step back into the theater world for everyone at the company and audiences alike.

So, with the pandemic, theatre, and I think the arts mostly everywhere, kind of really got shut down, and so, this will be our first step back.

So, the play this year is Moana Jr., and it is a hour long musical that is about this brave girl who is destined to be the chief of her tribe.

Moana's destiny takes her across the sea.

And during her journey, the tides of the ocean can sometimes get rough, much like challenges faced throughout the process of bringing a show to life.

As an audience member, when we come and watch a show, we always think how effortless it looks.

But what the audience doesn't know is the months and weeks and hours of practice that come, uh, from the cast members.

A lot of things play into this play.

Like, it's not just the, the actors, it's like, the crew that like, works nonstop, and like, the makeup, the hair, the costumes, everything.

Yeah, it's just crazy to see how much, how much effort gets put into this thing.

Four hours learning You're Welcome for Moana Jr.

So, it took us four hours to learn the song.

While challenging, another hidden aspect of theater is how rewarding it can be and the impact it has on everyone involved.

All of a sudden you see this kid who came in a little unsure, who all of a sudden blossomed and is this confident person on stage.

I think those aspects of spontaneous moments of joy that you couldn't create any other way, they just kind of happen, um, those are some of the most fun things that people don't know about.

And those are really the jewels and hidden gems that everybody takes with them as sort of these memories that they tuck into their heart.

[sound of sewing machines] On O‘ahu, Pearl City High School fashion students are hard at work creating garments for the end of the year fashion show.

Luckily this school year students are back in classrooms.

But unlike past years, the new normal for fashion students comes with a lot more challenges.

Well, the pandemic really hit, you know, schools so hard last year and the year before, which affected the amount of time students could be in the class.

We have very little, um, hands-on time to do skills as well as machine work.

So, it really did affect the productivity.

Due to unpredictable circumstances, preparations for the end of the year fashion showcase might look a bit different.

So, in the past, we actually had an in-person fashion show where they would, um, have students and models at the auditorium, and, um, we would invite guests and parents to physically be there at the show.

We may need to pivot a little and to kind of make a fashion showcase, but a video.

We can have a lot more people actually see the product, if we're just going to have to kind of change a little bit about how we do the showcase.

With the obstacles ahead, fashion students continue to persevere to make this year's virtual fashion show the best one yet.

I think students really want to showcase what they make because we work so hard on it.

It's just really cool to show our peers like, this is what we're working on.

This is what we can do, especially for our families, too.

It's just something that you don't really get to see us working on often, so.

Well, the fashion show is a year-end showcase, and it really shows off the skills and all the hard work that our fashion students have put in throughout the year.

The fashion students are so proud of the work that they've done that to share it with the public is such an important part of the process.

This is Olivia Faiola from Pearl City High School for HIKI NŌ.

[taiko drums] In 2019, Puna Taiko performed at around 100 events, but in 2020, they performed only 30 times before COVID-19 pandemic sent Hawai‘i into lockdown.

We shut down for several months.

Of course, all of our, our gig calendar completely evaporated.

The one that really hurt, we had a trip planned for, um, for a tour of Japan.

Yeah, we had a, we had a break of about three months, and then we had to kind of figure out how to get things back together.

[taiko music plays] Group members have to get creative to keep up their skills and practice in isolation.

A year later, they were able to resume practices in person with safety protocols in place.

We would wipe everything down.

We spray everything down afterwards.

We wear masks all the time.

Every day when you come in, you have to take your temperature.

You have to answer your questionnaire.

Puna Taiko is also finding new ways to perform.

The group took part in an online taiko-thon and restaged in-person performances to be socially distant.

So, the pandemic has been challenging.

Members are learning a lot.

I've just came up with a couple, um, online drumming games that we can actually, I can actually chart our music and then people can practice it at home, online, and even compete for a high scoring and whatnot, and that’s definitely something that we're going to carry forward even after COVID.

No matter what happens next, Puna Taiko will continue to find new ways to share the magic of drumming with others.

You know, we just got to keep the fire lit.

We're trying to keep everybody excited and engaged in, in their art form.

I think we've done a pretty good job about that.

This is Ashley D’Ambrosio from Kua O Ka Lā Public Charter School for HIKI NŌ.

I can definitely relate since the toughest part of COVID for me was missing my dance classes.

So it's heartwarming to see these groups getting back together and renewing friendships in the process.

However, not all relationships survive the time apart during the pandemic.

Next is a brutally honest reflection about the bonds of friendship that came apart.

During the pandemic, I made the decision to cut ties with my friends.

I thought I really had wonderful friends.

We would hang out each weekend, go to parties, malls, and skateboard together.

They’re my homies ever since middle school.

Then the virus hit us.

At first, the school said lockdown would only last two weeks.

Then months pass, and eventually a year.

Within those long days of not doing anything, I would check up on my so-called friends.

But to my surprise, they never answered or reached out to me.

That got me thinking, “Are they really even my friends?” I spent endless nights trying to figure out what I did wrong.

Then one day, I decided to move on.

So, I started to focus on things I like to do the most, which was playing video games and filming.

It opened my eye to new people who have the same interest as me.

It made me realize I don't need to be popular or perfect for anyone.

Over time, my shyness faded away, and now I'm really happy with my new friends.

Pandemic showed me that people in your life will come and go, and my advice to you is to focus on yourself, and don't waste your time on people who won't be there for you.

Fortunately, Christian found his tribe and earlier we saw how Akeakamai Cho found some peace in her music.

It turns out quite a few kids found creative outlets to nurture their well-being.

Some found new ways to practice pre-COVID activities, and others discovered brand new interests and talents.

This next group of storytellers shows us how they eventually learned to use the extra time at home to their advantage.

Hi, my name is Saige Adaro, and I'm a senior at Pearl City High School.

When the COVID-19 lockdown was put into place and quarantine started, I decided to quit dancing.

For ten years of my life, it was my main creative outlet and allowed me to express myself freely and tell a story through movement.

But since the pandemic started, dance classes were just too expensive, and everything was online.

Now that I was so isolated and had just lost something I was passionate about, I found myself losing a sense of direction, especially with so much talk and pressure about college applications coming up, and I still had no idea what I wanted to do.

One afternoon during the summer, my mom showed me a flier she had found for an all-virtual film program for girls in Hawai‘i.

At first, I was really hesitant because I did not know anything about film, and I never really had the urge or interest to learn about it, and it all just felt really outside of my comfort zone.

But eventually I pushed myself to do it, and I am so glad that I did because I discovered a new passion of mine: film and storytelling.

During the program, I was challenged to create a short film from home in just a week.

Altogether, I found a new way to express myself, and even though it was all online, I got to connect with new people and experience new things.

It's all still new to me and I'm constantly learning.

COVID-19 may have taken away a lot of opportunities for me, but it challenged me to find something fresh and new that I'd never tried before and venture outside of my comfort zone.

And scene.

Hi, I'm Santana.

This isn't really me.

But today, I'm going to show you what my life is like.

I grew up here.

Oh wait, no, here.

Throughout all of my life, I grew up on Maui with a pretty social life: always had friends and someone to talk to, played ukulele, baseball, did cool stuff with cards.

I was always happy doing all of these things, but then, you know, stuck at home, wake up, go to school, log off, sleep.

But then I repeated all that: wake up, go to school, log off, sleep.

Over and over and over, it started to feel like normal.

But then, boredom turned into creativity, and creativity turned into wanting to make something of my time.

So, there it was, the camera in the corner of my room.

Finally, something new, something to kill time on, something to keep me busy.

Eventually, after a year and a half of being isolated from the rest of the world, I started to get pretty good at this camera stuff.

Here, let me just show you.

[music continues] But nah, back to normal now, kind of.

Things are weird.

People change.

Did I change, too?

Well, the thing about all of this was that before the pandemic happened, I was always looking for validation from others to fuel my passions for the things that I did.

But now, I'm comfortable with who I am.

This is Olivia Faiola, a senior at Pearl City High School on O‘ahu, and I'm currently recording at home on November 1, 2021.

When Hawai‘i first went into lockdown because of the pandemic, I wasn't sure what to do with myself.

Things like reading, journaling, and drawing started to feel like a chore.

Was it from the lack of creativity, or was I burned out?

And then it hit me: why don't I just try something new?

Maybe the reason why I was feeling so down was that my hobbies didn't excite me anymore.

Looking for activities to do online, I decided that I want to learn how to crochet.

After receiving a crochet kit for my stepmom, in a short amount of time, I made myself a whole new wardrobe consisting of bandanas, bags, and tops.

I also stumbled across a cooking YouTube channel and noticed that I had the ingredients and decided to experiment in the kitchen, where I had taught myself how to make homemade pasta from scratch and made lunch for my mom.

I also changed the style of video games that I play.

Building virtual worlds allows me to be creative and relaxes me whenever I'm feeling stressed or overwhelmed.

While this pandemic has had its ups and downs, it has given me the opportunity to explore new interests that I never saw myself doing and has helped me deal with the pandemic.

Now with things slowly getting back to normal, I enjoy incorporating my new hobbies into my routine and exploring even more in the future.

Hi, my name is Camrenn Cabalar.

I'm a junior in Hilo High School in the Big Island of Hawai‘i.

I'm recording this at my school on October 12, 2021.

During the shutdown, I spent each day playing video games and browsing the internet.

My dad would always tell me that there is more to life than just being in front of your computer screen.

He was right.

After a while, I grew tired of it.

One day, I was scrolling through TikTok and I stumbled across people giving out financial advice.

Something clicked in my head.

I have time now to plan my future to become a financially stable adult.

I dove deeper into these financial TikToks.

I’ve learned about credit cards and what they are used for.

I learned how I can invest all my extra money into stocks and real estate.

From my family, I learned the importance of having multiple skills for different sources of income.

With this knowledge, I feel as though I am a step ahead.

I have time now to set up the foundation for my future.

Looking back, the time that was given to me was an opportunity.

Now I am focused on reaching my goals of becoming a financially stable adult in the future.

That's what they're talking about when they say making lemonade out of lemons.

Camrenn is just one of the inspirational HIKI NŌ students making permanent positive lifestyle changes to take with them beyond COVID.

Next week will be the final episode in our series.

We'll take a look back on what we've learned from the pandemic and what might actually be worth keeping from our COVID experience.

And we'll see how storytelling helped us process and share our feelings and our living history.

I would have never imagined that I'd be having my own segment on TV about myself and being vulnerable in front of a camera.

That's next time in our fifth and final installment of This Changed Everything: HIKI NŌ in the Age of COVID on PBS Hawai‘i.

[outro music]