[HIKI NŌ Theme Song] HIKI NŌ… [Wave splash] …Hawaii's New Wave of Storytellers.

[Guitar strums] Aloha and welcome to this episode of HIKI NŌ on PBS Hawaiʻi.

My name is Kylie Cardenas, and I'm a recent graduate from H.P.

Baldwin High School on Maui.

Thank you for joining me for this special edition of HIKI NŌ, the annual student voice award show.

This show will feature stories from this year's awards, as well as some outstanding stories from previous winners.

PBS Hawaiʻi has long been inspired by the stories students share.

So much so, that in 2020, they partnered with Mental Health America of Hawaii to create the Student Voice Awards, celebrating how storytelling can support youth mental health and well being.

Since then, these awards have honored young storytellers for their courage, creativity and powerful reflections on mental health, both personal, and in the community, and this year, I was honored to be one of the awardees.

On May 29th, 2025, students, families and educators gathered at the Ala Moana Hotel on Oʻahu to recognize these brave voices.

We had the opportunity to share some of the experience.

Let's take a look.

I didn't even know that they held ceremonies like this, and I've always thought mental health is such an important thing that people don't talk about as much or take seriously.

So knowing that there's an entire society that does really believe in changing people's lives through mental health, I think it's very important that those people are recognized and get awards.

Mahalo awards is a yearly event from Mental Health America Hawaiʻi and it's a really great opportunity to highlight the work that's being done in the community.

We're able to look at some of our youth that are doing the work in the community, some of our advocates, community leaders, business partners.

We're really trying to find the people that are going above and beyond to be able to provide that care, to show kind of how mental health is important and to really highlight it in the work that they do.

HIKI NŌ it's just a wonderful way for people to see what our youth is going through, and it was such a unique opportunity for youth to be able to have a platform to speak about what they're concerned about, to be able to talk about how they feel, what their experiences are.

I mean, I think this is a really cool event, and the concept of this is just really, really awesome.

I feel like through filmmaking, people have been able to find their voice and just find a passion through I know I have.

So it's just really cool to be able to be recognized for all of our hard work and this dedication.

I'm very grateful.

I didn't think that was going to happen.

I just kind of made the video to kind of just share my story, but I'm glad that, you know, people can hear about it, and people can relate to the story and realize that they're not alone.

You know, I really wasn't expecting it to come out as anything, but hearing that it helped others getting this award was like, Oh, I could continue doing this and maybe have a future helping others.

When I saw that other kids were doing HIKI NŌ projects on like their own struggles, I really wanted to do one on depression, but I didn't exactly know how to channel that, and I started showing a lot of my poetry to my teachers, and she really recommended you should do one about poetry.

So I decided that I wanted to kind of put two and two together, since poetry is a really big part of how I deal with those feelings.

My father passed away five years ago.

It's about, you know, my family members, my friends, my ʻohana, everyone around me that has helped me, you know, supported me and allowed me to get through that hard time.

(The) assignment that Tricia Roy gave me was “personal narrative.” And I remember in class, I was sitting there, everyone had their ideas, and I was clueless.

I didn't know what to do.

And she gave me this idea, she inspired me to write a letter to my – to my dad.

It really gives students a way of sharing, you know, their deepest thoughts and emotion.

For example, my own daughter, Emma Jane, we have a really good relationship.

She shares things with us, but, you know, when we watch her personal narratives, it's kind of like it's even telling us a bit more about what's going on in her life.

I feel like students, they just sometimes need outlets, ways of expressing themselves, other than just, you know, taking pictures and putting on social media.

The personal narrative I think it is a valuable thing for our mental health.

It really it challenges us to delve into ourselves and pull out feelings that maybe we don't understand.

My video is called “Privilege,” and it's basically just my everyday cycle that I Myself (was) going through usually, students kind of overlook, just like the daily, little things, and I think seeing stories like this could really benefit them.

Mental health is a really important thing, and it helps with everyone's total well being and just being able to be seen and feel heard, I think is a very important thing for students.

Students can be really creative in this genre.

So if they ever go through something, I think they have a more open mind when expressing it.

So if this keeps going, I'm sure that the overall situation will get better.

This was so heartfelt.

This was so meaningful.

And today, actually, we got to see a lot of people in the back just kind of tearing up a little bit and really talking about how it just it really hit home for all of them, because it was such an empathic, compassionate portrayal of their own experiences.

And it really crossed all the ages.

And so it's one of our favorite parts of the program, because that's what it does.

It really connects us all and shows us what our youth are going through, but also why we need to provide platforms for them to talk about their experiences.

There's a lot of struggles that I've seen people around me, and I think, I think we're just lacking a lot more love and a lot more serving others.

I want to show that serving others and loving others helps you inside too.

I didn't expect other people to see my story so much, but I'm kind of glad that they did, and I'm glad that I saw that there's other students who also have the same way of channeling it.

Looking back now, like I can see like this is really about mental health, and students could like relate to this and just find closure.

Now for this year's 2025 student voice awardees.

The first student voice awardee is Jazalle Amps, a senior at Kaʻū High and Pāhala Elementary School.

This HIKI NŌ student reflection shares her love for poetry and how it's helped her through life's challenges.

Hi I'm Jazalle Amps, a student at Kaʻū High School on Hawaiʻi Island, and poetry is my passion.

Middle school was a particularly hard time in my life.

I was never able to really connect with my classmates, and I felt so unhappy and alone.

Then in 8th grade, we analyzed poetry in English class, and everything changed.

I discovered poets like Nikita Gill and I found that poetry was something I loved.

Nikita is poetry talked of struggles with power and self love.

One of my favorites is called “Hearts like wildflowers:” ʻI hope you are blessed with a heart like a wildflower, strong enough to rise again after being trampled upon, tough enough to weather the worst of the summer storms and able to grow and flourish even in the most broken places.’ I knew then that I wanted to take a similar route and talk about experiences I've had in my own life.

I found that poetry helps me navigate through my feelings, whether it be sadness, anger or loneliness.

For example, when I found myself struggling with a complicated relationship, I wrote “Moon cycle.” ‘She'll drown in his light and fall for him all over again, wiping herself of a light that was never fully his, but she'll come back as she always did.’ Writing this helped me realize I was caught in a cycle and I can't keep making the same mistakes over again.

Poetry lets me express my feelings in a way that is meaningful to me, a way that brings me joy and lets my creativity turn a whim into art.

Poetry also allows me to look back at a situation and see how much I've grown.

I've realized I need to speak up for myself more, voicing my feelings, not just in the written word, but in my own life.

Poetry will always act as a best friend of mine, though she's not there all of the time, she will always be there for me when I need her most.

One of the many challenges students have always faced is fitting in.

This 2023 student voice, award winning story from Sacred Hearts Academy on Oʻahu highlights a special program at their school that helps students find a sense of belonging.

Going from a co-ed to an all girls school was definitely different.

I felt kind of stressed because I didn't know if I was going to fit in.

I didn't know if I was going to make more friends.

So how's your school year?

It's been pretty good so far.

A new student group called the BIONIC Lancers quickly put her fears to rest.

BIONIC has really helped me have people to rely on and kind of trust while moving to a new school, and they kind of gave me people to really communicate with, and just made me feel comfortable.

All right, ladies, we have so much to plan for the month of September.

BIONIC, which stands for, believe it or not, I care,ʻ started this school year to support students during challenging times.

Our mission is to make everyone feel welcomed here and to build relationships and community and who doesn't like to belong to a school community right now, our focus is new students to the academy and first year students that way, you know, we can, kind of, like, see where they're at as far as their transition.

The student led team welcomed new Lancers with a fall social.

I think it was important for the new students to have the social, because when new students come, it's kind of stressful for them, because they never know, ʻOh, what if I'm the only one here.

Oh, what if I'm the only new student.’ So it gives them a chance to relate to other new students coming.

BIONIC member Miki Cheung knows what it's like to be new.

She transferred last year from Macau and had to navigate a new country, a new school and even a new primary language.

I'm like, insecure, and I don't really like to ask questions, especially during class, during breaks.

Miki and other BIONIC members chat with students around campus.

Actually, we often see students like eating alone, and especially for those new students, they are unfamiliar with the school, and they probably feel insecure.

They also support students like senior Rory Redila, who recently experienced the loss of a loved one.

It kind of helped me and my sister, because we got a card and, like, flowers, and it kind of, like, just brightened the day.

It also feels good, too, because then I know that my own classmates are there for me, even though they might not know what happened.

Just being there like as support is enough.

The BIONIC Lancers are making a difference at school and getting more requests for help and support.

We're getting our name out there, and we just hope that people will use us to help support students here at the academy.

They run to you and then, like, greet you, like, wave at you, like, smile at you.

Like, these moments are the moment that I really know that, oh, I made a difference, and I like, I helped them.

This is Kira Wheeler from Sacred Hearts Academy for HIKI NŌ on PBS Hawaii.

This next Student Voice Awardee is Lily Lawrence, a student at Waikīkī Elementary School.

She opens up about the difficulties of a friendship ending and the important life lessons she learned through the experience.

It sure is difficult when you work so hard to create something special, and it all gets taken from you in the blink of an eye.

My name is Lily Lawrence, and I'm a fourth grader at Waikīkī Elementary School.

It's a story about me learning to take risks.

I really like a game called Gods of Gravity.

It's a virtual reality game where you try to build your own civilization and protect it from the enemy.

At the same time, you need to send your ships out to destroy the enemy planets.

The catch is those same ships also served as your planet's protection.

So you have to take a risk.

Putting your ships out there leaves you vulnerable.

In some ways.

It's like the risk you take when you make friends.

You have to put yourself out there that can make you feel anxious and vulnerable.

And you know what?

Sometimes it doesn't work out.

In 2nd grade, I had a friend.

We were super close, but at the start of third grade, she started to ignore me.

The problem was I still really wanted to be her friend.

I didn't understand what had changed.

This left me feeling confused and alone.

I felt like our time together and memories with her had become meaningless.

It actually took the entire school year to recover.

And when I think about it, one thing that helped me start making new friends was playing Gods of Gravity.

Gods of Gravity allows you to connect with other people who are playing online at the same time.

I decided to put myself out there and make new friends virtually, just by being a good sport and having a fun time.

It was my first time making friends from all over the world.

Now I have made new lasting friends from New Zealand, Australia and Canada.

Playing online has also made me more open to reaching out to make new friends at school.

If you take a big risk, it can be a big change, but it does not have to be a big loss.

I've learned that even if you lose a game or a friend or things change, that doesn't have to make what you experience less valuable.

As a matter of fact, it makes it more valuable.

I now believe that taking a risk is always worth it.

All experiences, both good and bad, help us see who we really are.

Waikīkī Elementary school places a strong emphasis on supporting students’ mental health.

Here's a student reflection from 2022 Student Voice Awards winner, Isaiah Matsunaga.

Hi this is Isaiah Matsunaga, and I'm recording this at Waikīkī Elementary School on April 22, 2021.

It's been an interesting year.

Now that we're back in school, I've been thinking more and more about what class was like online, what it was like before the pandemic, and how things have changed since then.

One of the first things I noticed when we came back to school was how much taller my classmates looked.

Some even look older or just different than they do at Zoom, I feel like I'm seeing the real version of themselves.

I wonder why that is.

When we first got back, everyone was pretty quiet and didn't say much.

Mr. Marvel would ask us something, and I was one of the only people to answer.

I think we're all a little nervous and maybe surprised by how things have changed.

It's hard making friends online.

So I didn't really have a friend in our class.

Most of my friends are in a different group in another class, but this past week, we got pool noodles so we could play tag during recess without touching one another.

It's been lots of fun, and sure enough, I've started making some new friends.

It's funny how friendships are made.

So being back in school has its pluses and minuses.

Yes, we can't play certain games like we used to, like the ones that involve touching one another, but we can think of new ways to play together, like the noodles.

It was nice not to wake up so early to get to school.

Was nicer not to look at a screen all day be sitting down for so long now we're standing up and moving around more often, doing Zumba and P.E.

and working in the garden.

Being back in school has been, well, different, but I'm grateful.

I'm grateful to get a chance to come back to Waikīkī Elementary School and have one last time with my friends and teachers before I graduate on to middle school and begin the next part of my life.

Things change.

Change is good, if you hope, let it be.

These next stories all come from my school, H.P.

Baldwin High School on Maui.

Student, voice, awardee and my classmate Emma Jane Roy will sweep you away with her poetic HIKI NŌ personal narrative, a cinematic voyage through 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 thousands of moments that I took for granted in the time when I always assumed there would 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.

Student Voice Awardee, Jamie Subaru Thompson from H.P.

Baldwin High School shares a touching cinematic tribute to his late father, which is sure to tug at your heartstrings.

Dear Dad, I wish I could talk to you in person, but I wanted to thank you for everything you have done for me.

You've taught me many things, and you were the best role model for me.

A lot has happened while you're gone.

You've got me into soccer from when I was five, and it's still a big part of my life.

Yay!

Oh yeah, I also wear a number for Baldwin.

I made a pass to Tsubasa and we scored in the last minute.

Pretty cool, right?

Both of your sons, making goals on the same team.

But a couple weeks later, I fell off a cliff doing dumb stuff with my friends like you always used to do.

But the friends I have are the best friends I could ever ask for.

And I could really consider them my brothers.

I can be myself when I'm with them, and I don't need drugs or alcohol to have fun with them.

Of course, I love spending time with the family as well.

It's really fun, especially when Tsubasa and Sakura don't argue all the time.

Me and Tsubasa have been going to the gym together, which is good.

We push each other to become stronger, and overall, it's just really fun.

Kahili has been looking cute as always.

I love taking him on walks, or to Iau Valley like you used to.

You miss you a lot, and I know Kahili does as well.

I have a girlfriend now, who I wish you could meet.

She's really amazing, and I love spending time with her.

The truck looks the same as always.

I've been taking care of it as best as I can.

Once in a while, I'll have fun with it, of course.

I'm about to graduate high school soon, and I'm planning to go to college to play soccer.

I have many goals for my future, one of the big ones being that I want to be as good as a father, husband, friend, co-worker and person as you were.

There's many more things I want to tell you, but I'll just tell you when I see you.

Thank you.

I love you and I miss you.

To finish off this episode, I would like to share the story that earned me my student Voice Award this year.

In today's world, it is easy to take things for granted, although we all go through hardships, sometimes you just have to take a moment to be grateful for life's privileges.

[alarm goes off] I live the same repetitive life every day.

My daily morning routine consists of getting up, brushing my teeth, putting on makeup, brushing my hair, struggling to pick out an outfit, and then rushing out of the house to get to school on time.

On the way to school, I complain about the traffic and how people shouldn't be able to drive in the morning, the treacherous school parking lot, and the unnecessarily loud sounds at 7 in the morning.

During school, I protest against the 70 minute long periods, the school workload that is getting too much to handle, and the fast approaching upcoming deadlines creeping up on me.

But wait, let's start my day over again.

I spend so much of my time grumbling about all the burdens in my life, when in reality, I should be appreciating them instead.

I mean, if you really think about it, what a privilege it is to get up at 7 in the morning daily.

What a privilege it is to not know what to wear.

What a privilege it is to have transportation that gets me from point A to point B.

What a privilege it is to have assignments to complain about.

What a privilege it is to be stressed about upcoming exams and deadlines.

What a privilege it is to be overwhelmed by the future and the endless possibilities it holds.

What a privilege it is to have so much to be grateful for.

Overall, what a privilege it is to live another day and just simply exist.

Congratulations to all of the 2025 Student Voice Award recipients.

Thank you for your courage in telling your stories and your generosity in sharing them with others.

By revealing your own experiences, you let others facing similar challenges know that they are not alone and that there is hope.

We'd also like to thank Mental Health America of Hawaiʻi for all their staff does and for their partnership with HIKI NŌ on PBS Hawaiʻi to promote the healing power of storytelling.

You can find this HIKI NŌ episode and more@pbshawaii.org keep up with PBS Hawaiʻi on YouTube, Instagram and Tiktok.

Tune in next week for more proof that Hawaiʻi students HIKI NŌ, can do.

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