HIKI NŌ 1303 [intro music plays] [sound of ocean waves] HIKI NŌ, Hawai‘i's new wave of storytellers.

[intro music continues] Welcome and thanks for joining us.

We're proud to present the second special episode of the 2021 HIKI NŌ Triple Crown Storytelling Challenge.

This was the first ever HIKI NŌ Triple Crown of Storytelling.

Why is it the Triple Crown?

Because we could enter three categories: the Story, How-To, and the Student Reflection.

Only one school could become the official HIKI NŌ Triple Crown of Storytelling Challenge titleholder if they swept all three categories in their division with first place.

We also had a fast turnaround.

Teams had just four days to complete a project.

Tonight, we'll reveal the winners of the story category from both the middle and high school divisions.

Scoring was based on how well we were able to meet the prompt, More Than Meets the Eye.

We also had to meet production criteria and tell a compelling story.

Let's watch all the stories that wowed the judges in this competition.

[sound of ocean wave] And now the results of the story category in the high school division of the 2021 HIKI NŌ Triple Crown of Storytelling Challenge.

Receiving an honorable mention is Moanalua High School on O‘ahu, with Stories Through Stamps.

This story profiled a teacher and her unique hobby, and shows how stamps can come with stories of their own.

Congratulations.

So, your task was to find where empathy was in the present.

When Moanalua High School teacher, Jessy Shiroma, isn't teaching, she spends her time doing her favorite hobby.

So, my stamp collecting hobby started with junk journaling, since I like, I like art and hot, like, crafts and things like that.

So, scrapbooking, um, and junk journaling was something that was, like, the segue into it.

So, one of the things I would buy for, um, the junk journaling would be stamps, and then I realized I think I like this a lot, too.

So, I started to buy more stuff and kind of stopped junk journaling after a while and just kind of became fixated on just buying the postage stamps.

Miss Shiroma feels that there is more than meets the eye when it comes to stamps.

Um, I like that it's a piece of artwork, and there's some kind of story behind every design.

And my favorite would be especially like, the international stamps from especially like, Asia, Japan, Oceania, just to see what different countries have produced, to sit down and to research them.

So, yeah, just kind of uncovering the story behind it.

Um, what's the story behind this actual stamp?

Like, where has it been?

What has it held?

I first started to just collect whatever I could find in terms of being like, mint condition, like, unused or canceled.

I go for canceled because I like that they've been used, and I like that someone used it for something.

There's a story behind it.

As her collection grows, her love for stories grows with it.

Well, I have a lot of hobbies, but I value this particular one, I think, because it's something that not a lot of people appreciate and understand.

And so, um, that has some kind of appeal to it.

But also just the fact that it's, it's stories, and I've always loved stories and, and what people are about, and how each stamp has just so much to uncover and think about.

Um, you can, like, investigate each little story and it's like talking and interviewing different people.

With a strong passion for arts and crafts, Miss Shiroma looks to share her love for stamps with others.

Yeah, I've always been looking for ways, what else can I make jewelry out of?

Because, you know, shells and gemstones, I love it, but it's been done, but postage stamp jewelry.

I've been putting them in resin and making earrings out of them, too.

There's a deeper meaning.

There's more than what you just see on the surface in that sense.

This is Jade Battad from Moanalua High School reporting for HIKI NŌ.

[sound of ocean wave] Coming in third place in the Story category of the high school division is Pearl City High School on O‘ahu for their portrait of how a band is keeping friendships strong during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The story is entitled More Than Lovesick.

Congratulations.

[music plays] At first, starting a band for this group of teens was just a way to pass time.

Freshly out of high school, many of them had no idea what they wanted to do.

A lot of them struggled to find direction and motivation and their young adulthood.

Issac Tamashiro, a 2021 graduate of Pearl City High School, decided to start Luvsic, a pop rock band, in May of this year to bring people together and play music.

[short guitar riff plays] I wanted to start this band because over social distancing, I really missed the feeling of performing in front of others, and I wanted to share that experience with others.

I pretty much had a solid idea of who I wanted in the band before I even asked them.

Made me really happy to, um, to find out that everybody said yes to the invitation.

And so the band was formed.

When practices started, they all realized they had something special on their hands.

They all joined the band expecting to just play music together in their free times.

But they ended up finding something more: connections.

I wanted to join mainly because I felt like I had nothing else to do.

I didn't really have anything to do, like, ever since graduation.

But now that I've joined and I've been occupied and got closer with other people, like Sarah and Charlie, and Zyris, um, they're just a big part of my life.

The big little chunk, or section of my life that I won't forget.

They definitely impacted me in a good way.

We've never had any fights.

We're always like, basically chilling and always working on music.

[music plays] [Charlie sings: “Driving slow on Sunday morning…”] They make COVID and quarantine a lot better.

This band impacted me in, like, very good way.

I just feel comfortable with them because we have music to relate to and get to have fun along the way.

[base riff plays] Well, definitely, I've gotten better as a musician.

I feel like our band has a special connection and special friendship.

It's, it's more family than it is a band.

What started as a group of people with a common interest became a tight knit friendship that has made a lasting impact on the futures of these young musicians.

I definitely see myself with this band, or at least in the music industry, many years from now.

Like, I feel like if we really tried, we could definitely play longer.

Coming into the band, many of them just wanted a hobby or something fun to do on the weekends.

Joining the band has proven to be more than meets the eye for these six talented teens.

[sound of ocean waves] Coming in second in the middle school division of the Story category, Maui Waena Intermediate School for their story, Painting Connections, a story about friendships made at a local nail salon.

Congratulations.

In a warehouse located in the heart of Wailuku’s Industrial Park, behind this door with a simple sign lies Lehiwa Beautique.

I mean, a lot of other nail salons is they, they want the focus on the money, right?

That, that dollar, and they need to get as many people into their salon as much as possible.

The goal is the first one you want.

So, they're not going to spend the time to talk to their clients.

They want to just do the work, get it done, so that they can get somebody else in their seat.

I went for my run, and what I came home – And that's never been my formula.

My formula has always been quality versus quantity.

You know, I enjoy making the nails and then, you know, you go into the whole artwork of it.

And creating, um, designs and using different nail enhancements, um, embellishments, like crystals and stickers and, you know, different types, and glitter, you know, to create designs there.

So, some places you go and they have this nail chart with nails in different designs.

So, you pick it and you go, “I want this one,” and everybody and their mother’s aunt has had it for the last 20 years or however long the shop has been.

I take in a design to Reese and I say I want it to look something like this, and make it your own.

No matter what you say.

So she does.

She makes it her own and it's always beautiful.

But Reese's real artistry goes beyond the designs.

She's a nice person.

Um, she's more like a therapist, too, sometimes.

Besides, you know, she does my nails.

A lot of times we talk and stuff we can, you know, tell other people, you can tell her.

Oh, my gosh.

What were we saying?

A lot of the time it's, it's, you know, it starts off as a client-nail tech relationship.

But he doesn't like working with people.

And then it grows into a friendship, um, and sometimes even, you know, we even consider each other family because we've been with each other for so long.

Oh, it makes me feel so special.

It makes me feel like she cares about me as an individual, and not just a paying customer.

Those who find this hidden gem in Wailuku will not only have one of a kind nails, but may just find a new family.

This is Alyza Sitts-Leyva from Maui Waena Intermediate School for HIKI NŌ.

[sound of ocean wave] Coming in second place in the high school division Story category, Kaua‘i High School, with “A Paradigm Shift,” a story about first impressions and the importance of empathy.

Congratulations.

[sound of ocean wave] You know, and I'll tell you why.

Since 2006, Kathy Morishige has been teaching the freshman seminar class at Kaua‘i High School.

So, when I think about how we interact with the world, one of the interesting things for me is that teaching paradigms has caused me to have to self-reflect as well.

A paradigm is really how you see something, how we see the world, how we see ourselves, how we see others.

It's our perception or point of view.

And the reason I teach this is because how we see something, especially ourselves, has everything to do with how we interact in the world.

But we never know what's behind that face of the person next to us.

And as a teacher, I've had to make many paradigm shifts about my students.

And one in particular, who has been, I think, my greatest paradigm shift, is Wailana.

A former student, Wailana Gandeza had a traumatic childhood, and as a result, impacted her life.

So before meeting Mrs. Morishige, I experienced my parents going through a divorce, and also my mom taking her own life.

And, you know, that happened when I was in seventh grade, and then I ended up meeting Mrs. Morishige my freshman year in high school, and then from there, we just started this whirlwind of a journey.

Wailana, when I first met her, Wailana Gandeza, to me was a loud, not necessarily obnoxious, but attention-seeking student who would walk in and pull or draw energy or attention to herself.

And I never knew what was behind that face.

Uh, and Wailana was one of those that sometimes rubbed me the wrong way.

And it wasn't until I heard her story.

Along the path, Wailana looked at things from a different perspective, and so did Mrs. Morishige.

Like, for Mrs. Morishige, you know, it’s a great example.

Of course, if you were to look at me and probably see me, you know, when I was in high school, I'd probably seem like your average, you know, happy high schooler.

That's what I looked from the outside.

And the reason why I say this is because, you know, the brightest smiles can be hiding the most pain, and you have no idea, you know.

The most troubling, you know, kids in class, the ones that are always, you know, causing a commotion and being disruptive, you know, they're the very ones that could be going through something that none of us know about, you know, and I'm gonna go back to, you know, my favorite thing, you know, never judge a book by its cover.

You know.

Love you.

Wailana’s story reminds all of us that every person has more to them than meets the eye.

From Kaua‘i High School, this is Katelyn Lopes for HIKI NŌ.

[sound of ocean waves] And now the first-place winner of the Story category in the middle school division of the 2021 HIKI NŌ Triple Crown of Storytelling, Chief Kamakahelei Middle School, for their profile on the custodial staff at their school, entitled “Our Custodians' Hard Work.” Congratulations.

The students don't realize how hard the custodians work and how important they are to our school.

Custodians are usually known as the people who just clean our school and often aren’t given the respect they deserve.

So, they're so important in that process of, of keeping people healthy and safe.

Uh, because of COVID, we've had to almost double what we usually do.

So, we, not saying we didn’t disinfect everything and stuff like that, but we will make sure doubly now to make sure that all the campus, the railings, the ceilings, the bathrooms especially, that we disinfect it, like, really, really good just because of COVID, just to make everybody safe in this school.

In addition to what they do during the school year, they do so much more during the summertime when students aren't around.

And a lot of times I tell people that you guys try come summertime.

You guys think we work hard, summertime, summertime is when, is a real, real stuff, we, because we gotta move teachers from one building to the other.

Then sometimes when school starts, we gotta move ‘em to another building.

So, we are constantly moving stuffs and doing all kinds of stuff, and moving furniture and all kinds of stuff.

Yeah, summertime is real different.

Everybody thinks we're relaxing, but we're not.

Custodians are usually known for just cleaning our campus, but did you know they do so much more?

So they are our eyes and ears in terms of telling us what's going on, what needs to be addressed, um, how we can improve again, safety and security on our campus, as well as the maintenance and repair of our buildings and facility.

Yeah, fire drills when you guys go on the yard and then also, like, when you guys, a few times, to you guys go across the campus, you know, and so we help out a lot with that, you know, we're kind of like, we kind of like a, like, a security, you know, like we help the security.

And in that, you know, we put on the vest, and we help guide you guys and stuff like that.

Um, but it's that, you don't see that, you know, in and I've worked at a number of different schools, and I have never seen a custodial staff such as this, where they go out of their way to help, again, teachers, staff administration, especially when it comes to safety and security, um, and just the overall maintenance of the school.

Um, the passion, again, of, of our team is, is something that's very unique to CKMS.

Without our school custodians, our school will not only be dirty, but it would also be very unsafe and unsanitary.

Yeah, without our, our custodial staff, there's absolutely no way that we could run school, and definitely no way to make it as safe as it is.

When it comes to our custodians and how important they are to our school, they do more than meets the eye.

This is Laney Carvalho from Chiefess Kamakahelei Middle School for HIKI NŌ.

[sound of ocean waves] The story coming in first place and the high school division Story category hails from Maui.

This story shows how grief can be an iceberg with so much beneath it.

First place goes to H.P.

Baldwin High School with their story, Massy.

Congratulations.

On Sunday, March 3rd of 2019, Massy Cashen-Suguitan experienced something no mother should ever have to go through.

Ethan is my only child.

He was born on November 30, 2002.

He was 16 years old when he passed away.

He died of inhalant abuse.

It has been two years since Massy tragically lost her son, Ethan.

And while on the surface, it may seem that life has returned to a somewhat normal structure, behind what people may see, she is still burdened with overwhelming grief.

Speaking about my son, I struggle with past tense and present tense, because he is very much part of me.

Every waking moment I think about Ethan.

At work, sometimes I have to pretend I'm fine so I can perform my my job.

With my friend sometimes I also have to pretend I'm okay, just so they feel that I'm not needy of their attention.

I feel extremely sad when we have family gatherings, and no one mentions Ethan’s name.

It's as if he never existed.

I realize, however, that maybe they just don't want me to be upset, but what they might not know is that it gives me joy, hearing them talk about Ethan.

When things get especially hard, Massy knows she can count on her husband, Dominic, to support her and comfort her.

The, the, the grief is so dark, it's real.

It led me to have a suicide ideation.

At first, I kept it to myself, and when the thoughts were becoming frequent and stronger, I decided to talk to Dominic.

At this point, it's not as frequent, but I was thinking, “What if?

Maybe I should try.” Massy continues to go to work, spend time with friends and live her life.

But when it comes to how she's really feeling, there's more than meets the eye.

Death is something that should not be uncomfortable subject to talk about.

This is Mikaela Tirona from H.P.

Baldwin High School for HIKI NŌ.

[sound of ocean waves] Those are some amazing stories.

Congratulations to all of the schools who entered.

And congratulations to you and your team, Mikaela, for taking first place in the high school division.

And congrats to you, too, for the first-place story winning the middle school division.

Mahalo!

We'll find out if any school took the Triple Crown home, but first, let's take a look behind the scenes.

Throughout this four-day challenge, HIKI NŌ also asked students to post on social media about the experience.

The top three entries had the most likes and generated the most engagement.

It was a sweep by one school which took first, second and third place for their engaging posts.

Let's see which school is a master of social media.

And now the school that took first, second and third place in the HIKI NŌ Social Media Challenge is Moanalua High School on O‘ahu.

Congratulations.

[upbeat music plays] HIKI NŌ, can do.

Let's watch more of the behind the scenes captured by other schools that entered the Social Media Competition.

[pop music continues to play] Now all the awards have been distributed, but only one school placed first in all three categories.

They were competing in the middle school division, making them the first ever HIKI NŌ Triple Crown titleholder, and that school is Chiefess Kamakahelei Middle School on Kaua‘i.

Congratulations.

That's awesome.

You guys took the Triple Crown.

Thank you so much.

It's almost unbelievable, but we did it.

That concludes our special showcase.

Mahalo for watching the results of the 2021 HIKI NŌ Triple Crown of Storytelling Challenge.

Be sure to tune in next week for some stories from students across the islands as we continue to prove that we, HIKI NŌ, can do.

[outro music plays]