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

Aloha.

Welcome to HIKI NŌ on PBS Hawai‘i.

My name is Stephen Throne and I'm a junior at Ka‘u High and Pahala Elementary School on Hawai‘i Island.

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

I am excited to be your host.

In this episode, get ready to savor the delicious journey of a budding baker who uses flavors from her Italian roots and delicious Kona coffee in a recent baking showdown on the Big Island.

We'll discover what it takes to be a feline’s friend as we delve into the expectations of volunteers at the Hawaiian Humane Society from the perspective of a second grader.

We'll also go into the archives to watch other memorable stories about dogs.

Then, we'll meet a young student on Hawai‘i Island,   who shares the story of overcoming the jitters he felt during a school performance.

Finally, we'll enter the cinematic world of a young dreamer on Maui, who shares how nostalgia shapes her path in life.

Our first piece was produced by Jacquelynn Ellis, a student at Konawaena High School on Hawai‘i Island.

She shares this profile story about a young baker named Sophia, who recently received recognition at a baking contest for combining sweet flavors from Italy and Kona, Hawai‘i.

Konawaena High School junior Sophia Mastroleo is an award-winning baker.

Her passion for cooking began at nine years old when she and her family moved from New York to the Big Island of Hawai‘i.

We were all kind of really homesick, so my mom started baking as a way to connect us all to our family.

And that's when I kind of started taking interest in cooking just in general.

So, my mom included me, and we learned together.

Sophia loves to experiment and invests a lot of time and thought into her baking creations.

For five years she has entered her desserts into the Kona Coffee Recipe Contest.

One of her favorites was inspired by the rainbows of Waiānuenue Falls and her Italian culture.

My favorite recipe out of all my years competing in the Kona Coffee Recipe Contest has to be my Kona coffee rainbow squares.

They were an Italian rainbow bar soaked in Kona coffee.

Held every November as part of the Kona Coffee Festival, the contest encourages youth, college students, amateurs and professionals to create sweet or savory treats that capture the essence of 100% Kona coffee.

This year, the contest took place at the Outrigger Hotel in Keauhou where Sophie used her culinary skills to create a Kona coffee mocha pie.

She came up with this recipe all on her own.

She thought about it.

Her dad's favorite thing is chocolate pie.

So, she decided to incorporate the chocolate pie with the coffee.

The thing I like most about my recipe for this year's Kona Coffee Recipe Contest is the versatility.

The pie crust can be used in any number of pies, and the pie itself could be eaten with ice cream.

It could be eaten with whipped cream, you can use cocoa powder, you could use berries, you could use mac nuts, whatever toppings you want, you can mix and match.

But perfecting her recipe wasn't quite as easy as pie.

My biggest challenge this year in preparing for the contest has been oven troubles.

For whatever reason, our oven has not been holding temperature.

So, it made it really hard to bake pies consistently.

I'm nervous, as mom, I'm super nervous for her, but I'm very confident that she's gonna do good.

Despite these challenges, Sophia rose to the occasion.

Are you Sophia?

Congratulations.

There she is.

For Kona coffee mocha pie.

She claimed a first place victory, sealing her right to be called the best Kona coffee baker among 13-to-18-year olds.

However, she was the only contestant in her age group, so it would have been quite devastating of she had lost.

She won a custom cutting board, a plaque, and a gift card from contest sponsor KTA Superstores.

Sofia is already thinking of her next winning recipe.

No matter what she bakes, she is always happy to share.

I enjoy baking because of the joy it brings people, and it can turn somebody's really bad day into a really good day.

This is Jacquelynn Ellis from Konawaena High School for HIKI NŌ on PBS Hawai‘i.

[ocean wave] This next story, which was produced by Kapa‘a High School students on Kaua‘i in 2014, demonstrates how a local juice company is finding fresh ways to support local farms.

Hidden from the mainstream rush of Kapa‘a town is the Kaua‘i juice company.

They originally started off selling kombucha but branched out into selling juice for an interesting reason.

You know, we just thought, “We're selling so much kombucha now.

Imagine if these were 100% juice versus 10 or 20% juice.” That means we'd be buying thousands of pounds of produce a year.

And so, we just thought, we need to do this for local farmers to create an economy that is taking from local resources, giving back to local resources.

So that was really the motivation.

The juice company currently uses about 3,000 pounds of fresh produce per week.

Yet, this wasn't always an easy journey.

It took a lot of research on recipes, and it took a lot of sourcing finding that much local produce that wasn't already spoken for, that farmers weren't already selling to restaurants or markets.

They strengthened their existing relationships with local farms and focused on forging new ones.

With that, they are fulfilling one of their biggest goals: positively impacting the growth of Hawai‘i's agriculture.

And we've seen a lot of young people approach us about wanting to sell produce, and if I start planting this, can you use it?

And we're so excited to see young people getting excited about farming because it's kind of an aging profession.

I think it's really cool to see people wanting to support themselves, and in a way that requires a little hard work, you know?

But they're not scared, they're excited, and they're feeling empowered again.

It seems like in Kaua‘i, at the moment, we have quite a few young farmers still interested in trying something new and getting out of the city and getting out of their routine and getting back to the land.

To get their hands dirty that first time, you know, it's such a sensation, and then wash it all off and, and just get dirty again the next day.

Although there are many positive aspects to keeping a business local and organic, there's also a drawback.

A lot of people ask us in person or on our Instagram like, “It's yummy, but why is it $11 a bottle?” But for us, it's easier to answer that question than it would be to answer the question, “Why aren't you using organic produce?” Because if you're going to be juicing, you're getting that thing liquefied.

And if you're eating produce that's been coated in pesticides, you're feeding yourself liquefied pesticides.

The Kaua‘i Juice Company donates a portion of its proceeds to Hawai‘i Seed, a nonprofit organization that supports local, chemical free agriculture.

In turn, they fuel the seeds for their own business.

I think the juice company has been a really awesome tangible way to provide a service back to our community.

I think that's been the biggest thing for us is watching how much it's really brought life back into people, you know?

Passion and excitement.

This is Ethan Whatmore from Kapa‘a High School for HIKI NŌ.

[ocean wave] Ever been caught in the spotlight with your heart pounding?

Meet Summit Chun-Hoon, a fourth grader at E.B.

deSilva Elementary School on the Big Island, who tells the story of preparing for his nerve wracking May Day performance and how he learned to tame those butterflies.

I'm Summit Chun-Hoon, a fourth grader at Ernest Bowen deSilva Elementary School, and sometimes I feel nervous because I think   something bad is going to happen.

I do not like feeling uncomfortable.

My hands get sweaty, my thoughts start taking over, and I feel like I'm about to throw up.

And sometimes I do.

Big crowds also make me feel nervous.

Last year, I had my first ho‘olaule‘a, and I needed to perform in front of the whole school and their families.

I was right there in the first row, and so afraid of messing up.

I kept thinking about how everyone would be looking at me.

I did not like that.

During one of our practices, I had to hurry to the restroom, and bleh, and no one knew I needed to go to the restroom.

So, one day, I finally opened up and told my mom what was going on.

I learned some things that I needed to know to calm myself down.

Like I started to go to the restroom before our practices.

This helped me to worry less.

On the day of Ho‘olaule‘a, I was nervous about performing, but I knew that other people were probably nervous too.

After Ho‘olaule‘a, I felt like I climbed a mountain.

I still get nervous sometimes, but at least I managed to reach the summit that day without losing my breakfast.

[ocean wave] Let’s stick around on the Big Island to watch this next story.

We’ll meet a seasoned fire knife dancer who is passing the torch to the next generation.

It was produced back in 2019 by a talented student of Kealakehe Intermediate School.

My name Afa Tualaulelei and I am a teacher at   Kealakehe Intermediate School, and I teach fire knife outside.

When I was young, I got into fire knife dancing.

At the age of four, I would go with my dad to the luau shows and he would be the fire knife dancer.

So, I would sit in the back with the spotlight guy.

I would watch him on the stage every night and I kind of just watched and learned.

Fire knife dancing is an art that comes from Samoa.

It's called ailao, spinning of a stick.

It was a war dance that the warriors would do when they would come back.

They would celebrate and they would emulate what they did in battle.

Fire knife dancing represents courage, humility, and just bravery to even want to dance with fire.

You add fire to a dance, fire’s so destructive.

Everybody's mindset on fire is that, you know, people can get hurt, and that is such a dangerous element that when you see it being controlled in a dance, it makes it special.

Fire knife dancing is one of the art that will bring discipline.

It's not just something that you just have fun with.

You know, you have to learn and be disciplined about it and make sure you practice a lot, because it won't just come to you.

Growing up, it was very hard to learn from someone because not a lot of people were doing it.

And I think just whatever I learned throughout my years, I just want to pass it down.

I teach the art of fire knife because I want to leave a legacy.

A lot of the kids that come to the class, they gotta have that desire in them to learn because at the end of the day, you're dancing with fire and a knife.

So, if you're not as motivated, you're gonna get hurt.

My favorite part with practicing with Afa is that not only does he teach fire knife, he teaches, like, the values, like, along with being a better person.

Usually when people practice fire knife, or like, when they perform, like, it's all about the money, but what Afa tries to instill in us is that it's about like, respect and like, you do it out of respect.

You don't just do it for the money.

Fire knife kind of means everything.

It's, it's life in a dance pretty much.

I mean, you're gonna get burned, you're gonna get knicks and scars, and that's pretty much life.

You're gonna get burned in life, but you got to have the courage to stand back up and dance again.

This is Kaleihua Mederios from Kealakehe Intermediate School for HIKI NŌ.

[ocean wave] The next story I would like to share with you and was produced by students from Kapa‘a High School, who interviewed two Kaua‘i locals working as professional dancers at a luʻau.

They described the challenge of juggling multiple jobs to make ends meet in expensive Hawai‘i.

This story clinched third place and then 2019 HIKI NŌ Fall Challenge high school division.

So, I'm a hula dancer here at Luau Maka‘iwa three nights a week.

Basically, that involves drumming, dancing, as well as interacting with the public, so a lot of public customer service.

So, I have two jobs outside of school.

I work at McDonald's as one of the crew members, and my second job is a luau dancer at the Sheraton.

This is actually one of three jobs that I have.

So, in addition to this one, I'm an education assistant for Kamehameha Schools   extension program here on the island, and also working at Alaka‘i O Kaua‘i.

Starting at a young age, residents of Kaua‘i learn that multiple sources of income alleviate financial pressure.

For everybody to be, you know, financially stable   you have a lot of people working two jobs, three jobs, four jobs.

So, the way my family has dealt with the high cost of living here on Kaua‘i, my parents had to work multiple jobs throughout my life and throughout their lives just to help raise a family of five.

The responsibility of caring for loved ones and   contributing to the well-being of family can take its toll.

She balances everything at school and at work.

Just being a good multitasker.

It kind of surprises me how good she can balance homework, balance practice, balance events.

It's been a rocky road.

Since I've had these jobs,   I've learned to love them.

And the reason why is it has taught me to always be committed in what you do, and to also keep my time management and to always stay on track.

Julie's work ethic is probably one of the best you would see.

Hard to distract, always on task whenever she's needed to be on task.

Despite added strain, the desire to live on Kaua‘i justifies the workload because – I think a lot of people have to do with family, for one.

People are still really connected here, and also, you know, it's hard to be mad living on an island, I think.

You know, somehow you can realize that you basically are in paradise, and this is someplace that a lot of people I think for the most part would want to be, so, you know, no matter what the financial situation is you’ll try to make it work.

Cultural connections tied to the beauty of our island create unique living conditions that our residents love.

To pitch in, just help out with your parents and be supportive.

Be thankful for what they have given you to live comfortably here.

Also take the initiative.

If you really do want to find work, it's not that hard to find work here on Kaua‘i, even just for a couple hours as a benefit.

It'll give you some pretty good life skills.

I'll just help out your parents just by giving a little bit.

When you mix ambition with discipline, the cost of living in Hawai‘i becomes manageable.

This is Samuel Keopuhiwa from Kapa‘a High School for HIKI NŌ.

[ocean wave] You may have heard of the Hawaiian Humane Society.

But do you know what it takes to volunteer there?

Eli Yasuda, a second grader at Waikiki Elementary School on O‘ahu, tells us about his experience and what we can expect when interacting with the animals there.

Do you know what it takes to be a volunteer at the Hawaiian Humane Society?

According to their website, the Hawaiian Humane Society started in 1883.

King Kalākaua and a group of citizens organized the group to protect animals.

The first office was actually located in ‘Iolani Palace.

Recently, I volunteered at the Mo‘ili‘ili Humane Society for the first time.

Going to the Humane Society is a great way to help the animals.

I went to the Humane Society on O‘ahu three times for this project.

So, I can tell you all about what it takes to be a volunteer.

First, I want to read stories.

Reading with the animals is good for them, and it also helps us practice our reading too.

Then I went to visit and play with them.

When I went to the Humane Society for the third time, we went to see cats.

When we went inside, there were two rooms.

There could only be one cat out at a time.

A volunteer told me that when people come to play with the animals, they get more socialized so when they get taken home, it's easier for them to adjust.

There were playful ones, friendly ones, and there was a new one that was shy.

It only wanted to stay in its box.

Playing with it made it more comfortable.

I had a lot of fun volunteering and playing with the cats.

When I gave them love and spread kindness, the cats felt more comfortable in their search for a new home.

Even though I am only eight, I want to go back to the Humane Society and help cats find their forever homes.

This is Eli Yasuda from Waikīkī Elementary School for HIKI NŌ, on PBS Hawai‘i.

[ocean wave] Thanks, Eli.

Your story inspired us to go back into the HIKI NŌ archives where we found this next story about the Kaua‘i Humane Society, which allows volunteers to take dogs out for field trips.

The story was produced by Kapa‘a High School students who explore what a treat it is for both the canines and the humans.

Here on the island of Kaua‘i, the Humane Society offers a special treat for locals and visitors.

They allow them to take a dog out on a field trip.

This unique idea came about unexpectedly from an employee suggestion.

The field trip started about two and a half years ago kind of on a lark, if you will.

Somebody made an offhand comment about taking a dog out for a day, and it just expanded from there.

And over the first six months, we just put a lot of thought into how can we make this work as a program, rather than just something somebody does on a whim.

After months of planning, they launched the doggy field trips, the first of its kind in the United States.

And it was a success.

I’d never been in a humane society before till we got on vacation here.

And we took about four field trips.

We took her out in the morning and took her to Mahaulepu Beach.

She wore an adopt me vest.

A lot of people paid attention to her.

She enjoyed her day out.

And when we left here, it was a little emotional, wondering whether or not she was going to be adopted.

And she did get adopted.

And in that time while we were here on our field trip that day, we met another dog here who had been surrendered.

She was seven years old, and we adopted her last week.

Visitors arrive in the morning, pick up a dog, and take them to a variety of places suggested by the Humane Society, including dog friendly beaches, bike paths, and hikes.

So, they get to go out for the day, whether it's to the beach, whether it's a hike.

They get to get exposed by other visitors as well as themselves.

There may be somebody that has a home, or that is looking for a dog that has a home that will allow a dog, and they end up getting adopted because they fall in love with them.

The doggy field trips have led to an increase in adoptions with an average of two to four dogs a week finding their forever home.

I think it's amazing.

I think it's a great thing that they've done.

I think it's allowed for so many dogs to be adopted.

Visitors are the most frequent users of the field trips, and some find themselves with a furry souvenir from the trip to Kaua‘i.

Funny.

A lot of people that already have dogs,   two or three dogs back to the mainland, they come over here, do the doggy field trip, and all of a sudden they're bringing a fourth dog home kind of thing.

So, it's a great program.

With a total of over 200 dogs having been adopted so far, the field trip program is still going strong.

This is Samantha Gilbert from Kapa‘a High School for HIKI NŌ.

[dog barks] [ocean wave] Now let's meet a remarkable young volunteer dedicated to training service dogs featured in this heartwarming story back in 2015.

Most recently, the pups you're about to meet have been spreading comfort and hope on Maui after the chaos of the 2023 wildfires.

Kate Peterson loves animals.

She grew up on the family ranch in upcountry Maui, where she learned patience working with dogs and horses.

Kate volunteers at Assistance Dogs of Hawai‘i, a nonprofit organization that trains dogs to assist people who have disabilities and other special needs.

Well, I was around 10 years old when I started working here volunteering.

And I started because my mom's really good friends with Mo Maurer, who founded this organization on Maui and I started as a really young kid, just watching her train the dogs and watching graduations and seeing dogs get matched with people.

And as I grew up and got to the age where I could finally volunteer and work here, I took that opportunity.

Despite the demands of finishing her senior year at Seabury Hall School, Kate continues being an enthusiastic volunteer.

Dog training certification requires a four-year college degree and a two-year apprenticeship.

As a volunteer, Kate has assisted in training, and in the process of matching a dog with a client.

We normally look at traits of the dog first, and through the one to two years of training the dog before they're matched, we look at the dog's personality and how they act and what qualities they're really good at with the human.

So, we're not necessarily matching the human with the dog, we're matching the dog with the human.

And that kind of sounds similar, but it definitely has a really great success rate.

The joy Kate experiences when she sees the clients interacting with their dogs fires her passion for this community service.

Kate will never forget assisting with one very special match.

For my eighth-grade project I helped in the process of training a dog for a woman named Cami.

She used to be a beautiful hula dancer and soon was paralyzed where she was in a wheelchair.

And the dog Murphy, he changed her life drastically.

And I'm getting goosebumps because of it, because it was such an amazing experience to be able to see how happy she was with him.

Just having a service dog, even if you are capable of opening a door, even when you're in a wheelchair or little things like that, having a dog just makes it so much better and easier for you to get through your day.

And knowing that they're there supporting you all along the way definitely is one thing that has helped a lot of people all over the world.

This is Lucas DiMartino from Seabury Hall Middle School for HIKI NŌ.

[ocean wave] The next piece I'd like to share with you comes from Emma Jane Roy, a student at H.P.

Baldwin High School in Maui will sweep you away with her poetic HIKI NŌ personal narrative, a cinematic voyage to the corridors of memory and emotion.

Sit back, relax, and prepare to be transported into her world.

I am stuck in the past.

Every day I can't help but wake up longing to relive the memories I once made.

It's not that I'm scared of what lies ahead.

I think looking back is easier than looking forward, into the future where a million unknown possibilities can be seen.

I have this habit of comparing how life is now to what it used to be and letting it consume me and my thoughts.

Comparing has taught me to think about the 1,000s of moments that I took for granted in a time when I always assumed there'd be a thousand more to enjoy.

I found myself dwelling on the past instead of focusing on the present.

But I think I've learned that I have to look forward and make more memories so that someday I can look back at this exact moment and let myself reminisce.

Life doesn't end once I make a few great memories.

Life will continue, and as long as I stay with the current, the waves will crash on a different beach.

The wind will blow through a different forest.

And I will make new memories in a different place.

All I have to do is fully appreciate the experiences to come and endure them with the purpose of living and not simply existing.

[ocean wave] That concludes our show.

Thank you for watching the work of Hawai‘i's New Wave of Storytellers.

Don't forget to subscribe to PBS Hawai‘i on YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok.

You can find this HIKI NŌ episode and more at pbshawaii.org.

Tune in next week for more proof that Hawai‘i students HIKI NŌ, can do.

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