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

Aloha and welcome to this episode of HIKI NŌ on PBS Hawai‘i.

My name is Nai‘a Ka‘aikaula and I'm a seventh grader at Highlands Intermediate School on O‘ahu.

We have a special show for you.

In this episode, I have the honor of revealing the winning entries of HIKI NŌ's 2024 Winter Challenge competition.

Each season during the school year, HIKI NŌ challenges student reporters to produce stories in just five days.

These contests are called Challenges.

I've competed before, and it is exciting, stressful, and so gratifying.

For the 2024 HIKI NŌ on PBS Hawai‘i Winter Challenge, the call was for videos based on the prompt “Common Ground.” Usually, students have weeks to work on projects for HIKI NŌ and lots of help from our teachers and industry mentors.

During these challenges, students are on their own to film and produce stories on their campus or in their community.

And again, they had only five school days to complete their stories.

Let's watch what they captured behind the scenes about their experience.

[ocean wave] [upbeat music] [ocean wave] During HIKI NŌ Challenges, judges look for stories produced with technical skills and storytelling finesse.

They also have to meet the prompt.

I'm ready to watch the winning entries, are you?

Let's start with the honorable mention from our middle school division.

[ocean wave] In the middle school division of the 2024 HIKI NŌ on PBS Hawai‘i Winter Challenge, receiving an honorable mention is Ho‘okele Elementary School O‘ahu.

Congratulations.

[ocean wave] This was the first time Ho‘okele Elementary School entered a HIKI NŌ Challenge.

Even as beginners, these young students impressed the judges with their storytelling and exploration of how different generations approach their local library.

A library is a place where you can discover a wide variety of books, videos, and other reading and research materials.

Libraries play an important role promoting literature and creativity.

In the past, libraries were focused on providing printed books to people.

When I was little, when I was your age, libraries, we didn't have computers then.

And so, there were these things called card catalogs that had-they were like little drawers with cards and that had all the names of the books and you had to look for books that way.

Today, libraries are very different from the way they are in the past.

So, since technology has become such a big part of our lives, students need access to books, whether it's the in-person book or digital books, librarians have had to really work hard to make sure that the community knows that they and their families can have library resources in many, many, many different ways.

There are people who prefer to read printed books over digital books.

On the other hand, there are people who like to read digital books.

I like digital more, because I just have to click one button and I will immediately go to the chapter I want to go to.

I don't have an opinion that one's better than the other.

I think that each person has to decide how they best like to experience library resources.

So, if you want to hold a book in your hand, hold a book in your hand.

If you want to have it on a device, you know, have it on a device.

Whether it's reading digital or printed books, in the end, the common ground is you're still reading.

Libraries are the ultimate common ground because we are the center of information.

It is the one place where people can get printed or digital information to have common ground with the whole world.

This is Mason Marquez from Ho‘okele Elementary for HIKI NŌ on PBS Hawai‘i.

[ocean wave] In the middle school division of the 2024 HIKI NŌ on PBS Hawai‘i Winter Challenge… receiving third place is… Chiefess Kamakahelei Middle School on Kaua‘i!

Congratulations.

[ocean wave] These middle school students decided to explore the pros and cons of tourism on their home island of Kaua‘i.

Let's watch.

For decades, tourism has been the lifeblood of the Hawai‘i economy, generating jobs, tax revenue, and keeping businesses afloat.

It estimates to directly employ around 200,000 people and contribute roughly 29% of the state's GDP.

However, this dependency comes with a complex flip side: over-tourism.

We don't have a lot of economic drivers on the island beyond tourism.

We have some, you know, agriculture is one of them.

Government's another.

Military, Pacific Missile Range Facility, is another one.

But the economy of tourism is about 30-40%.

Sometimes when you put in value added it's a little higher, to maybe 50, 60% The key lead is tourism.

I am a hostess/greeter at Duke’s Canoe Club Kaua‘i.

I think our place relies a lot on tourism because honestly, most of the people that come in are mostly tourists.

Hawai‘i's postcard perfect beaches and vibrant culture attracts millions each year.

But beneath the surface, a critical issue simmers: over tourism.

While tourism fuels the economy, too much can be harmful.

When you live on an island, you have to consider the capacity of that island and the infrastructure of that island.

And so, you want to see what is capable for that island as far as the number of people, your roads, your airports, your harbors, all of that.

So, what you want to be careful about is not doing too much, you know, too many people.

And then you want to make sure you have the workforce to serve that many people that come here as visitors.

So, it's kind of a balance thing that you have to do is to make sure you have enough for the people that live here and work here, and then enough service for the people who come here to enjoy the island as a visitor destination.

Now that we have heard about the positives and negative tourism, what is the common ground?

How do we do balance, right?

How do we have people come and enjoy, but are some areas overdone?

So, part of why Hā‘ena master plan has been so successful is we limited the amount of people that can now go into that area.

We realized if we hadn't put any rules, then it was too many people.

It was too many cars, it was too many people, it was just too much for that area.

So, I think there's been a shift in the kinds of visitors that we have coming and traveling these days, and I think why we're focused on the words mindful travel.

If you're going to come here, know little bit before you get here, learn a little bit before you get here.

Be respectful.

You know, if somebody says, “Please don't sit on the monk seal.” Say, “I'm so sorry, I didn't know.” Right?

We don't come back with a sassy comment.

You would say, “Oh, gosh, I didn't know, I'm so sorry.

Thank you for letting me know.” In Hawai‘i, tourism is both good and bad.

It feels the economy but unchecked strains paradise.

Finding common ground isn't just possible.

It's essential.

This is Waileia Ibbs from Chiefess Kamakahelei Middle School for HIKI NŌ, on PBS Hawai‘i.

[ocean wave] In the high school division of the 2024 HIKI NŌ on PBS Hawai‘i Winter Challenge, there was no third place.

Receiving second place is Kalāheo High School on O‘ahu.

Congratulations.

[ocean wave] This story explores the benefits and drawbacks of using artificial intelligence in classrooms.

The judges enjoyed the variety of interviews included from both teachers and students about how AI is already changing their lives.

Artificial intelligence, or more commonly known as AI, has become increasingly advanced in recent years, and has begun to be used by a majority of students around the country, sparking a nationwide debate on the ethics of using AI.

AI exists as a tool that ultimately is going to eradicate some of the pointless things that we spend too much time on.

As the world adapts to AI, we have to as well.

Right now, we're in competition of recreating the old, instead of trying to recreate something new.

So, we're going to be facing a bit of an uphill battle in trying to really prioritize what skills are we replacing, or which skills are we actually emphasizing are important when we have a shortcut to getting to what we've been traditionally working towards.

I went to a workshop recently where it was focusing on the positives for AI, and I was introduced to a lot of new ideas there that I hadn't really considered.

So, I do think as we learn more about it, I think we're going to figure out what we should be fearful about, and what we can get excited about.

The other day, I tried to save myself from time as a teacher last weekend.

I had to write a multiple-choice test, and I asked AI to generate all the wrong answers for me, and it saved me probably four hours’ worth of work last weekend.

So that to me was like, okay, now I see like, it can help me with some of that busy work, not the big thinking ideas.

So, I saw some positives there.

Most students will use AI programs, like Chat GPT, to actually help their cause instead of creating entirely new one.

That's when students or many people start to abuse it, is when they let the AI do everything for them.

There needs to be a balance between your input and maybe an AI’s help.

But the bottom line is that everything needs to come from you.

The AI can only support, not create.

I am hopeful that with like, any ethical use of technology, it can ultimately make life for us humans more convenient.

I also think that we have to really critically relook at what it is that we're teaching and how we're teaching.

I think there has to be a common ground between these two viewpoints because people are already using it, and as teachers and educators that work with students, it's our job to kind of teach them how to use things appropriately, when is the appropriate time to use it, and just really start the conversation at least about the ethical use of AI.

This is Emi Nishimura from Kalāheo High School for HIKI NŌ, on PBS Hawai‘i.

[ocean wave] In the middle school division of the 2024 HIKI NŌ on PBS Hawai‘i Winter Challenge, receiving second place is Maui Waena Intermediate School on Maui.

Congratulations.

[ocean wave] In this story, student reporters discover the important reason why renovations to their campus’ field have been delayed.

We're not doing anything.

We haven't done anything in almost six months.

Dan Blackburn of F&H construction is referring to Maui Waena Intermediate’s only field behind me.

This field has been under construction and unusable since the beginning of the school year.

We started construction during the summer months.

It was supposed to be wrapped up shortly thereafter.

Unfortunately, we ran into a Native Hawaiian burial site that created a delay in the project.

This state, I don't believe they had funding set aside to deal with the issue.

So, they had to go back and get additional funding, and that took some time.

With the discovery of the remains, cultural practitioners were needed to ensure their remnants were treated with respect and handled properly.

But the need for the improved field is urgent.

The field was extremely hard.

They felt it was a safety issue because it was clay, and so if your kid fell and hit your head on it, you could have some serious damage.

The new field, it's a much softer design.

With over 1,100 students on campus, and over half of them enrolled into a P.E.

class, it has not been an easy year for the teachers or the students.

Not having the area or the space for the kids to be at has been very difficult for the students to learn what we've always had to teach.

Not being able to use the field has affected our students here by not having an area for them to run around and be loud.

So, we've been using outside classrooms, wherever there’s space, in front of the library, around any grassy area that we can come up with.

It was supposed to have been all completed by January, and here we are.

It's February, and we're still waiting on a job that's not done yet.

Our students have been using our fire lanes as their PE classes.

They're using it as their play space, in hallways in between classes.

And it's just, it's not a safe area.

Not only are the PE classes impacted, the after-school sports programs have been getting creative with their soccer and flag football practices.

I feel like it kind of strips away from our practices because we're limited to only one space.

It really breaks my heart because the middle school age students need a common ground to play on.

Ms. McCandless is hopeful that they'll be able to kick off next school year with a field that is finished and usable.

This is Sarah Rosete from Maui Waena Intermediate School for HIKI NŌ on PBS Hawai‘i.

[ocean wave] Coming in first place in the middle school division of the 2024 HIKI NŌ on PBS Hawai‘i Winter Challenge is Highlands Intermediate School on O‘ahu.

Congratulations.

[ocean wave] The students of Highlands Intermediate School impressed the judges with the script writing and production of this story, which explores local efforts to preserve Hawai‘i’s land and communal heritage.

I'm proud to call them my classmates.

Kamuela Ka‘apana is a project associate at Trust for Public Land, which is a nonprofit organization that works to help preserve Hawai‘i's common grounds.

We basically work with partners to help protect ‘āina that is threatened, whether it's with subdivision development or sale, and the community does not want that to happen.

And so, what we do is we come in and we can work with the private landowner.

We will handle the negotiations, we’ll help raise the public money to purchase the ‘āina, and then we return it back to that organization.

One such space is Loko Ea, which TPL is partnering with to protect the land of its sacred local ea.

Makua Perry, the ‘Āina and Kaiāulu Outreach Coordinator for Mālama Loko Ea, tells us more.

We're slowly seeing places like Loko Ea turning into a new space for condos or a new space for shopping centers, and I really hope that we see Hawai‘i as this beautiful space and not as a space that should be overtaken by concrete.

You know with the fishpond at Mālama Loko Ea, there is a property that you know, we have the potential to protect, and we're working on it right now.

But it would be a way for Mālama Loko Ea to expand their work.

If we can acquire that property with TPL and zone it conservation so that it can never be developed, we're hoping to replant native plants there, hopefully turn it into a space where community can congregate and enjoy a beautiful open space.

Preserving these spaces isn't just important now, but for future generations to come.

I want those seven generations from now to know and be able to look at this mountain, to be able to go into this fish pond, to be able to eat our foods that our kupuna and our elders have eaten.

That's one of the most significant parts of helping to protect ‘āina, because it's giving back a sense of ea, a sense of sovereignty as rights.

Without fishponds, without lo‘i, without other types of cultural spaces, Hawai‘i would not be Hawai‘i anymore.

Hawai‘i is full of beauty, and with the help of organizations like Trust for Public Land, we can keep these places accessible for years to come.

This is Emma Forges from Highlands Intermediate for HIKI NŌ, on PBS Hawai‘i.

[ocean wave] Now that the middle school division results are in, I want to share a special teacher feature.

While our teachers aren't allowed to produce any of these challenge stories, they often provide us with helpful feedback to guide us to make winning entries.

This next video spotlights my teacher at Highlands Intermediate School, Jacob Tamaye, or as we call him, Mr. Tamale.

[piano music] So, a few years ago there was a student that called me Mr. Tamale.

My name is Tamaye, but they call me Tamale, and ever since then, it's just caught on and everybody starts calling me Mr. Tamale now, even though that's not my name.

My name is Jacob Tamaye and I teach at Highlands Intermediate School in Pearl City.

I teach the media production class and I've been there now for 12 years.

I think my whole life, I've always been just a very physical person.

So, I'm active, I like to work out, I like to run.

I like to do shore fishing called whipping, and I love to catch papio.

Just that most of the time I'm not catching fish, I’m fishing and not catching.

I am more of a spam musubi guy, even though I like to go fishing.

I like spam musubi.

Oh, my favorite thing about participating in HIKI NŌ is really just catching up, I think, with all the other teachers and seeing former students as they progress through their journey from elementary to middle to high.

It's always so amazing to see them grow and to just catch up with old friends.

[ocean wave] And now, coming in first place of the high school division of the 2024 HIKI NŌ on PBS Hawai‘i Winter Challenge, Waiākea High School on Hawai‘i Island.

Congratulations.

Waiākea High School students found a way to meet the prompt “Common Ground” literally and figuratively.

In this story, they shine a light on a unique collaboration between two high school athletics programs.

The campuses of Hilo High School and Waiākea High School sit two and a half miles from each other.

But with Hilo in need of a new track, a chance meeting between athletic faculty made the two schools reach a common ground.

We asked your athletic director if she would be kind enough to let us share your facility, and she said, “Absolutely, no problem,” with open arms.

When Hilo first stepped on the field, some athletes felt uneasy.

We had a couple voice, ʻWhat are they doing here; why are they here?’ type of thing, but so far, there hasn't really been any animosity.

I was really surprised, and I also was just a little bit like, disappointed, just because that means that more people would be on the track and we already have a lot of people on our team, or we did last year so I thought that it'd be harder for us to do our workouts and it would take a longer time.

But it hasn't been bad so far.

We've kind of just been staying out of each other's way, and our practices are staggered, so it hasn't been as crowded as I thought it would be.

I got competitive because it's our home track, but it's good to share.

You get to see your competition and also makes you sprint faster.

I think they treat us the same as usual, like nothing too crazy, you know.

Just normal people as usual, but I don't think there's any like, you know, bad things between us, you know.

I think we're chill together.

But both schools respected each other and continued as usual.

It does pretty well, if you ask me.

We don't really interact as much though, because our practice times, but besides that, they've been really nice.

I used to think they were a little bit not so welcoming, but they seem chill.

It’s a good school, big school, actually, and the people from here is real nice, real respective.

Like, our track feels kind of like dirty, rusty a little bit.

And like, it’s more fresher here.

I’m more used to like these nicer track and field.

I’m more grateful that they let us use your field and they're more open to letting, you know, people use your guys's equipment.

We're just together now, instead of apart.

This is Moriah Amuimuia from Waiākea High School for HIKI NŌ, PBS Hawai‘i.

[ocean wave] Behind every student team is a dedicated HIKI NŌ teacher.

Donn Yamamoto, who teaches at Waiākea High School, is one of our HIKI NŌ teaching veterans.

Let's meet him in this next feature.

Hi, I'm Donn Yamamoto.

I'm a creative media teacher at Waiākea High School in the Big Island of Hawai‘i.

I've been teaching at Waiākea High School for 36 years, and I'm in the arts and communications academy teaching the creative media pathway courses.

Oh, my students, they call me Uncle Donn just because I'm that old.

I've been on campus for so long, my kids have all come through the school and graduated, and all their friends call me Uncle Donn.

And even though they have all, you know, since long graduated, the residual effects is everybody on campus still calls me Uncle Donn.

Malasada or shave ice, neither.

I'm from the Big Island, so we say ice shave.

I think the most important attribute of a successful HIKI NŌ student would be flexibility.

There's no one right way of doing things, and they have to be able to think on their feet and adjust.

You know, as I get older, I'm both.

I go to sleep really early, and I wake up in the middle of the night.

And, you know, sometimes my day starts at four in the morning.

Other days, I go to bed at 11 at night.

Whatever my friends want to eat, I'm happy to cook.

So, everything from shoyu pork to adobo, or yeah.

You know, the weirdest thing I’ve eaten for most people would probably be something that I just had last night.

Hake, which is raw beef liver poke, basically.

What I most love about participating in HIKI NŌ is seeing my kids’ work actually air.

A lot of hard work goes into their production pieces, and to actually see the payoff on air and actually hear their reactions to seeing themselves or their work.

That's probably the best bonus of my job.

[ocean wave] Well, that's our show.

I can't wait to see what's to come in the next challenge.

In the meantime, you'll be seeing more stories from us soon.

Thanks 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 to Hawai‘i students HIKI NŌ, can do.

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