[intro music] HIKI NŌ, Hawai‘i's New Wave of Storytellers.

Aloha.

Welcome to HIKI NŌ on PBS Hawai‘i.

My name is Koen-Zae Walker and I'm an eighth grader at Hawai‘i Preparatory Academy on Hawai‘i Island.

Thank you for joining us to watch the work of Hawai‘i's New Wave of Storytellers.

This past semester, my whole class at Hawai‘i Preparatory Academy worked on HIKI NŌ student reflections.

I'm excited to share them with you, along with other stories from HIKI NŌ students from across the state.

The stories you're about to watch include stories about moving away from home and finding new connections in the place that you land.

You'll see what it takes to become a competitive hula dancer, and what it's like to battle anxiety from a student's perspective.

And you'll discover what it feels like to find a new sport after saying goodbye to an old one.

I can tell you from personal experience that it takes so much sweat and teamwork to make videos like these.

It also takes a lot of time.

So, let's enjoy the final product and start the show.

This upcoming student reflection comes from a student named Marcos who moved to Hawai‘i Island all the way from Brazil.

He now goes to Waiākea High School.

He tells us about how he's kept his focus on his goal of becoming an actor and working in the film industry.

Check it out.

Hi, I’m Marcos Belloto Portes.

I am 15 years old and I’m a student at Waiākea High School in Hilo, Hawai‘i, but not originally.

Originally, I lived in Brazil in a small town called São João da Boa Vista.

That's where I found my roots, when I found out I wanted to be an actor.

I even acted in an indie project with my friends.

Playing the main character in a psychological horror movie.

I owe it to them that I found acting in the first place.

I didn't want to leave.

I really wanted to stay with my friends, but I had to go.

It was for the best.

My dad just wanted to give me a better life.

So, he brought me to my new home in Hilo, Hawai‘i to live with my stepmom in July 2023.

The flight was super boring.

I slept through most of it.

24 hours from Brazil to Panama first, then to LA, and then finally to Hilo.

First impressions: from what I could see at night time at Hilo airport, Hawai‘i was beautiful, but hot, very hot.

I was pleasantly surprised I could get a Pepsi for $2 and free refills, since five Brazilian dollars is barely enough for me to get an ice cream.

I am currently at Waiākea High School.

I love this place.

The public schools here are much better, and I have already made new friends and found new roots.

I'm taking acting classes so I can try to make it to Performing Arts Learning Center.

My goal is to act in and possibly produce big movies.

Not just famous, good, original movies.

No matter what, I want to stay connected with my childhood friends.

I love those guys.

I hope to see them again.

I feel lucky that I could come to the United States and pursue my career here.

I never like giving up on things.

I'm very obstinate, which is why no matter what, I will be an actor, all with the support and help of my friends.

[ocean wave] We have another story about growing up between two homes.

My classmate, Umi Radcliffe-Suzuki,   an eighth grader at Hawai‘i Preparatory Academy on Hawai‘i Island, shares this student reflection about learning to make friends in her second home, Japan.

[speaking Japanese] This is Umi Radcliffe-Suzuki, an eighth grader at Hawai‘i Preparatory Academy on the Big Island.

When I was younger, I lived in Oakland, California with my mom.

I lived there all my life and my entire dad's side of the family lived there as well.

My mom was a college professor at St. Mary's College.

And when I was five, she was given a four-month sabbatical, the leave that professors get for travel or studies.

During this time, she decided to move us to Chiba, Japan, to be closer to her side of the family.

Although I had been going to Japanese immersion school all my life in California and often spoke Japanese at home, I was still nervous about being behind and not understanding what was going on.

I was nervous to go to a new school in a country where I had only been to a couple times.

I felt anxious about making friends and fitting in.

When I first arrived at my new school, Hinowari Uchien, it was only my second time in Japan.

For a while, I just sat quietly in the back.

I didn't know anybody, and I was too shy to talk to any of the other kids.

Because of this, I spent most of my time by myself.

I don't think there was a specific moment that made me put myself out there.

But after realizing everyone there was really nice, I just slowly started to open up.

Once I broke out of my comfort zone, I actually made pretty good friends.

I even continued to go back to school in Japan for years after that.

This experience taught me that I need to put myself out there in order to meet new people and make new friends.

Now I live on the Big Island, where I had to make new friends again.

But thankfully, having grown up in two countries, I’m not as intimidated by moving somewhere new and making new friends.

[ocean wave] Thanks for taking us along with you to Japan, Umi.

In this next story youʻll visit a special mochi   shop that brings a sweet taste of Japan to my home island of Hawai‘i.

The story was produced by students at Waiākea High School and first aired in 2015.

When I first started this shop, we had probably seven different kinds.

However, now 20 years hence, we have probably 20 something varieties.

Two Ladies Kitchen started out small, but soon things picked up and business started rolling.

I believe that when you have a small business in Hilo, they're very supportive.

Because we were sort of hidden away and I didn't advertise, it was a word-of-mouth product.

Right now I’m shaping sunflower mochi.

In   the middle, it has koshi-an.

Koshi-an is the smooth paste of the red bean.

After picking up steam, the shop quickly gained loyal customers.

And I love mochi.

So, when I heard she was open I went and I was so impressed.

So, I kept going back.

I went about two or three times a month.

Two Ladies Kitchen is truly a homegrown business.

In the very beginning there were only two of us who really made the mochi, my aunt and myself.

We would practice in my mom's kitchen every Saturday, and she would just teach me different aspects of mochi-making.

Family has always been a central component of the mochi and laundry shop.

Uchida and her aunt, Tomi Tokeshi, are the two ladies that started the small shop over twenty years ago.

Tokeshi has since retired, but Nora continues to run the business with the help of other family members.

These are my parents, Sachi and Toshiiyasu Kishimoto.

Sundays are their day off and then every day they come here after their exercise.

And that family atmosphere extends to the workers as well.

We all know each other as like we're brothers and sisters.

And of course, everyone loves mochi.

You know, just the atmosphere that we give to the people, the greeting, you know, the smile.

You just get a feeling that it's welcoming.

I really liked that.

Fans of Two Ladies Kitchen stretch from Hilo to the neighbor islands, to the mainland and beyond.

One thing's for sure, their customers know to stick to a good thing when they find it.

Customers who keep coming back, they're like boyfriend and girlfriend when they first come here.

Then I do their showers, their weddings, their first babies, you know, grandparents celebration, their whole family.

And this is what I look forward to.

This is Kacie Laguire from Waiākea High School for HIKI NŌ.

[ocean wave] Now I'd like to share an impressive Student Reflection from my talented classmate Khloe Nakagawa at HPA.

She has dedicated   her life to hula and tells us about following in her mom's footsteps.

This is Khloe Nakagawa, an eighth grader at Hawai‘i Preparatory Academy on the Big Island.

I'm recording this at HPA on December 5, 2023.

Ever since I was little, I used to watch my mom dance hula.

I used to go to her practices and want to dance as well.

And I couldn't wait till I could start dancing too.

When I was three years old, I started dancing for my kumu, Kumu Aloha Victor, for Hālau Kala‘akeakauikawēkiu, as a part of the class for the younger kids, where everyone was around my age.

And I was very excited to start dancing hula, just like my mom.

[Hawaiian chant] I started competing for the Queen Lili‘uokalani keiki hula competition at the age of six.

I got to fly up to O‘ahu with my halau for this competition.

I got very anxious about going to O‘ahu by myself without my parents and having to dance on such a big stage.

But once I performed, I realized how much fun I had, and I couldn't wait for the next year's competition.

At the age of nine in 2019, I got chosen to be the soloist for the Queen Liliuokalani keiki hula competition.

This has always been my dream because I used to watch the other girls do their solos, and I knew I wanted to do it as well.

I had to work very hard for this.

I had to memorize my song well and perform it well on the actual competition day.

When the competition day finally came and I was backstage, I was extremely nervous.

But when I got on the stage, it made me more relaxed knowing I had hours of hard work and practice for this song.

I was really happy to know my family was there to support me, especially my mom, who was now watching me dance hula.

I know that you always have to work hard and have confidence in yourself to achieve your goals.

My three-year-old self would have never thought that I could accomplish this and gain so much confidence in myself.

Hula continues to be a huge part of my life, and I love dancing.

[ocean wave] It's so cool to see how much goes into hula.

So, thanks Khloe for taking us behind the scenes.

Now I'd like to share a How To video that breaks down the art of preparing hala leaves for weaving.

It was produced by Hana School students on Maui in 2014.

The lauhala plant has been a part of Hawaiian history for many years.

Hana is known to have one of the largest lauhala groves in the state.

Many of our Hana kupuna were skilled in the craft of weaving lauhala.

It is a valuable resource that can make very beautiful functional items like bags, purses, bracelets, earrings, fans, mats, and much more.

Today we'll be demonstrating how to pick and prepare the lauhala leaf.

Even though it is a difficult process, we are hoping that more of the younger generations will be interested in learning this craft.

First, you must gather your supplies.

Some of the supplies you may need would be a rag, a small bucket of water, scissors, string, and a pipe with a slit in it.

As you're gathering your materials, you must find a hala tree to pick your lauhala leaves.

The leaves on the hala tree have to be appropriate for the projects you are doing.

Make sure the leaves you choose do not have any holes, rips, stains, or bug bites.

Next, cut off the head and tip of the leaf.

With the scissors, make a slit on the thick end of the leaf about an inch down on both ends of the leaf lengthwise to begin to take off the thorns.

With a wet rag, slide your thumb down the edge of the leaf to take off the thorns.

Wipe down the whole leaf on both sides with a wet rag.

Slide the thin side of the leaf through the slits in the pipe.

Wrap the leaf around the pipe from one end to the other end.

Repeat that process the other way around.

Wipe down the leaf again and wrap all of your leaves together into a kuka‘a.

The leaves should be stored in a safe place away from direct sunlight or wet areas.

Now it is ready to be stripped and woven into a beautiful work of art.

This is David Wischemann from Hana K-12 School for HIKI NŌ.

[ocean wave] If you don't know what it's like to battle anxiety, the next Student Reflection might provide you with some ideas.

The heartfelt and personal story was produced by a student who attends Ka‘u High and Pahala Elementary School on Hawai‘i Island.

Hello, my name is Kamamalu Kauwe.

I'm a senior at   Ka‘u High School and today I'm going to talk about my anxiety.

I think of it like a shadow monster.

I started to feel anxious in ninth grade, when I had to stay home during the pandemic.

The shadow monster was a small cloud under conditions kept changing and I got more anxious and worried.

When I went back to school in tenth grade, I was scared of getting sick.

When I was in big crowds, I would wear my earbuds   and ignore people.

My friends and teachers helped me feel better.

I didn't wear my earbuds as often with them.

But my anxiety kept growing.

The monster now has three heads.

It affected me a lot and made it hard to talk to people.

I meet with my counselor, and she helped me with understanding what I was feeling.

And I liked that she had coloring books.

She also shared different exercises to minimize my anxiety.

Now, when the shadow monster visits me, I close my eyes, count to ten, take a deep breaths, and I will think of good memories and positive thoughts.

Doing things I enjoy also helps, like reading, cooking, drawing and listening to music.

I got used to it now and I know how to deal with it.

I no longer think of my anxiety as a bad thing.

With help, I can manage it, and it made me a stronger person.

[ocean wave] Alright, it's time for me to share my own Student Reflection.

At first, I was very nervous and scared because I've always been afraid of being on camera and talking in front of lots of people.

But with the help of my classmates, I overcame that fear and gained confidence.

I found out that the more patient we were as a team, the less stressed we were and the easier it was to focus and finish our video.

I hope you enjoy my story.

Hi, my name is Koen-Zae Walker and I'm an eighth grader at Hawai‘i Preparatory Academy on the Big Island.

I am recording this at HPA on October 3, 2023.

When I was five years old, I loved motocross, and it was my main passion.

After I got into a few accidents, my parents got worried because my uncle passed away from a bike accident before I was born.

They didn't want me getting into any more accidents and decided motocross was too dangerous for me at such a young age.

Once they made me stop, I felt like I lost confidence in myself and lost my happy place because motocross was a big part in my life and made me who I was.

Since I had nothing else to do, I began tagging along with my older brothers in a gym for basketball.

Once I saw them having fun and playing with friends, I decided to give basketball a shot.

When I was around six years old, I began to really like playing basketball with my brothers and started to make new friends on a team called DNA in Waimea.

I was getting better and kept playing until COVID hit.

It forced me to stop playing with teams, but it gave me a chance to connect with my brothers and play basketball with them more.

Since my entire family loved basketball, it helped all of us connect with each other.

Today, I practice with their high school team and also play club basketball.

I feel like as I keep working hard and practicing, I can get better every day.

Now that I found my new happy place, I feel more confident in myself.

This year, I assisted my mom and coaching our five- and six-year-old basketball team at HPA.

I helped them get better and connect with basketball just like I did when I was their age.

[ocean wave] Now I'd like to share a story from students at H.P.

Baldwin High School on Maui.

They profiled a passionate basketball coach who shares his personal story about an ear infection that changed his life but hasn't changed his love for teaching the sport.

You continue to achieve, and you continue to become successful because of what you do, whether it's in your favor or not.

So even if something happens that you don't expect, what are you going to do after?

My name is Gary Hall, but people refer to me as Coach Hall.

My hearing first affected me when I was around the age of 9, 10 years old.

I woke up one morning and immediately knew something was wrong because I didn't hear the ruffling of the bedsheets.

Well,   it happened kind of suddenly.

I just had a really severe ear infection.

Gary Hall lost hearing in both ears as a result of a severe ear infection.

He regained hearing in only his right ear, resulting in lifelong hearing loss in his left ear.

It affected me tremendously because I felt like I felt shame.

I was in a community that did not have anybody who had such disabilities, and I never came across any individuals who had hearing loss.

Whenever someone's like asking me questions that are talking to me on my left side, and then they get frustrated, or they're saying stuff on my left side and then they start making fun of me because I'm not responding.

It was discouraging.

If that didn't happen, I don't know if I would be here in this capacity today.

So, it's kind of like a blessing in disguise that happened.

In order to overcome his loss of hearing in his left ear, Gary Hall played basketball as an outlet to help him gain confidence.

My mental health went down tremendously, actually,   after it first happened.

But what kept me sane was being able to play basketball.

Basketball helped me because I had gained the ability to play the sport very well at a very young age.

So, my confidence was always high that I knew exactly what the coach wanted, even if I didn't hear what they said, because I've gone through the drills and trainings.

So being on the court meant everything to me.

Even if it was just for that short period of time, like that period of time was enough to get me through until the next game.

I didn't want anybody to outscore me, so it became a very, like, I guess what you want to say, very competitive thing to make sure that no one ever outshined me on that board.

What I love about coaching is being able to see players accomplish things that they didn't think that they would be able to accomplish before.

I can’t even describe it, can't put into words how it feels when you see that light, that light that you see, that gleaming they get whenever that first shot goes in, and it's just like, it's the same, you know, flicker or light that like, opens up in them every time.

And that moment for me, I just feel like that's the best thing to see.

So, this is more like you're connecting, you're inspiring, you're helping people who might have gone down a similar path as you be able to not take as many steps to get to a place where they can be happy.

This is Charlyn Flores from H.P.

Baldwin High School for HIKI NŌ, on PBS.

[ocean wave] Working on this HIKI NŌ project really helped me grow as a person.

I've become more comfortable with talking in front of a camera, as you might have noticed.

I feel like I know a lot more about filming now, and who knows, it could come in handy in the future.

Now I'd like you to meet my teachers who helped guide us to tell our stories in this next HIKI NŌ teacher spotlight.

That idea of being able to tell your truth in a very safe place to a community that is willing to hear it, I think is, I think is the magic of what HIKI NŌ brings to us.

This year, the HIKI NŌ project with our students was remarkable to me.

These students took these stories to a level that I didn't even imagine.

I'm the educational technology teacher at our school.

HIKI NŌ is something that was really important to me and of interest to me as a tech teacher, but I needed a class to work with.

So, when I started talking to Kumu Kūwalu, she also is very interested in project-based learning.

So, we thought this collaboration would be something that would be great in her Hawaiian studies class, but then it would also be a space where I could help provide the tools for digital media.

In Hawaiian studies, it's understanding who you are, and where you come from.

And so that's where we came up with the theme, I came up with a theme ‘O Wai ‘Oe?

Who are you?

What waters do you come from?

What experiences have shaped you over time?

And she thought it was a great idea, sent it to PBS, and thought that was a great idea.

So, we use that as our foundation.

Middle schoolers have a lot of stories to tell, and they often don't know that their stories have value.

And something that I feel is very important, and why I value digital media is amplification of voices and the storytelling, like we're talking about here.

So HIKI NŌ just felt like a perfect place.

So, the idea that we could have these stories told by these voices of our students who may not see their own value, or the value in connection with someone else, and then be able to show it with a nationwide audience, and then have these professional mentors come in and help the students was something that was really attractive to us for this project.

The other thing that we have at HPA is our four C's, which is our communication, collaboration, collaboration, creativity, and critical thinking.

HIKI NŌ hits all of these areas as well.

It's really hard even for us as adults to collaborate.

We made it a collaborative project between Hawaiian studies, our eighth grade English teacher, as well, and then our library media specialists.

So, we took these four specialists, and brought us all together and had the students work on the – bringing up the story in history class, and then working on the script in English class, and then cycling back.

What is your favorite part about it?

It required a high level of listening, but also understanding of that person's story, and an ability for the team or the group to help that person tell their story.

I saw a student rise and become a great interviewer.

And I was like, wow, this kid has compassion.

He has great listening skills and things that we might have missed in the classrooms, and you could see spirits just lift in the classroom.

You could see kids having a hard time with their writing, and students coming in, or what have you said it this way instead, is that what you're really trying to say?

So, seeing that collaboration and seeing them rise within their, their own selves, for us, I think as for us as teachers, and once in a while when we step back, and we actually see the organic chemistry that was going on within the students, that's why I started to like, okay, this works, Whether or not they use digital media as a profession, or even if they studied in high school or not, the things that they learned through this HIKI NŌ Student Reflection project are innumerable.

There's transferable skills to so many different things.

And if nothing else, the process of reaching towards excellence through revision and revision and revision, and that critical eye and critical ear to see what they need to change and improve upon is something that's going to be valuable across subject matter.

We find ourselves continually saying, well, HIKI NŌ, remember in HIKI NŌ project, you did this thing.

And remember, now we're doing this in English class, or now we're doing this in science class, and it's really valuable.

When seven or eight of our student groups decided we're going to keep working on this, the grade is done, but we still want this project to go to the next level, we were floored.

We were so proud because we thought a lot of times it's easier to just be done.

But some of these students said I'm going to re-record my A-roll.

I know I don't have to, and this isn't for grade, but I want to do it because we want to make it better and they'd come in after school and in their own time, they came in during lunch and recess.

And as a teacher, that's why we teach.

And it's not just about a grade, this intrinsic value that it has to them.

As she was talking, I got a little bit emotional, I am, because of the process because again, it's not just about the final product.

It's actually witnessing them throughout the process.

And then seeing the product and then seeing them in the audience and at first embarrassed, but then we see them just proud.

And we see just an elevation of pride, an elevation of self-confidence, an elevation even in their academic areas, many of their academic areas.

So really, truly, mahalo to HIKI NŌ for allowing us to have that space to share our voices of our people, and especially of our keiki here in Hawai‘i.

Well, that's it for our show.

Thank you for joining us.

You can keep up with Hawai‘i's New Wave of storytellers by subscribing to PBS Hawai‘i on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok.

Find this HIKI NŌ episode and more at pbshawaii.org.

And of course, please tune in next week for more proof that Hawai‘i students HIKI NŌ, can do.