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

[intro music continues] Aloha and welcome to this week’s episode of HIKI NŌ, Hawai‘i's New Wave of Storytellers.

I’m Chloe Liu, an eighth grader at Kaimuki Middle School on O‘ahu.

Tonight, we get to watch some of the most memorable stories from HIKI NŌ's most recent spring round of shows, showcasing work from students ranging from third grade to high school.

In this compilation show, you'll see a wide variety of pieces from stories about student stress to profiles of family members and teachers.

There's even an instructional roller-skating How-To.

These standout stories are all emblematic of the creativity and diversity in student voices to be found at HIKI NŌ, each with a unique style.

So, let's dive right in.

Let's start with a story from some of the youngest HIKI NŌ journalists, the students of Ernest Bowen de Silva Elementary School on Hawai‘i Island.

This touching profile on one of their newest teachers took home a third-place prize in HIKI NŌ's Spring Challenge.

When COVID hit, schools closed, and we couldn't see our friends.

Some people even lost their jobs.

This happened to Punawai Rice.

Rice was the School Field Trip Coordinator at a science center.

That was fun, working with children.

My favorite school, um, was the elementary level.

And then after about eight years of, um, doing that, we entered the pandemic.

And at that point, I didn't have any school.

The – no schools were doing field trips.

And so, I was laid off, unfortunately.

But for E.B.

de Silva Elementary School, this was a blessing.

Rice was willing to help any way he could.

This school year, he has been a substitute custodian, tutor, educational assistant, and now he helps every class as our Hawaiian studies teacher.

When he comes in the classroom and he greets everybody, uh, he just has a very calming influence on our school.

My favorite thing at E.B.

de Silva is the excitement that the children come, and I want to make sure that learning is fun for all of you.

Mr. Punawai is interesting and teaches us about Hawaiian culture.

Every week, 460 students are lucky to learn from Rice.

If it wasn't for COVID, we wouldn't have met this shining gem.

This is Kairi Rodero from E.B.

de Silva Elementary School for HIKI NŌ.

[sound of an ocean wave] Now let's meet one of the newest competitive teams at Sacred Hearts Academy on O‘ahu in this next story, which takes us into the virtual world of eSports.

Sacred Hearts Academy students have joined the growing arena of competitive video gaming, or eSports.

I joined eSports because I enjoy being in the competitive scene.

I also like to hang out with friends and interact with, uh, other people from other teams who share the same interests as me.

I like how the eSports community is very welcoming for new players.

Like, it became a mushroom.

When the coronavirus pandemic hit the world at home, students from this all-girl school jumped online through multiplayer video games.

They made connections and formed a virtual community.

Gaming was very important during the pandemic and making sure that you are connected with friends.

Last school year, eSports became a sanctioned high school sport in Hawai‘i.

This year, the Academy's Lancers formed its own esports team and started competing.

The team competes, uh, once a week.

Uh, competitions are three matches, about six races.

Uh, it's best out of three.

So, if we win the first two, we don't have to play the third.

The Lancer team competes weekly against other schools in the Pacific region.

They race other teams in Mario Kart.

We gather together and we just play the game.

At first, they weren't really familiar with it.

But over time as they practice more, they got better.

There are certain things that they can do in order to win.

Uh, get better at driving, uh, timing, usually.

The Lancers also compete with teams across the country in a national league called PlayVS.

Organizers say eSports’ growing popularity is changing the way students view gaming.

You first hear the term, uh, video games, there's a lot of negative stereotypes that float around like, oh, it's a loner activity.

It's, it's people that are very inactive, it's an unhealthy lifestyle.

eSports really breaks down a lot of those barriers.

Gaming can have structure, gaming can be organized, and gaming can be healthy as well, too.

eSports isn't all fun and games.

Students are scoring major points for their education.

I think the schools that are catching on really quickly are recognizing the, all the potential that there is but also that the, the avenues that they could take them afterwards with, with, with scholarships with, uh, college teams as well.

I know that getting scholarships is pretty hard.

Like, I'm currently in the process of trying to find scholarships myself, and just having the factor that if you are in eSports or not just evens out the playing field.

We did pretty good in our match last week.

The Lancer team is just getting started.

With just five members, they're looking to add more players to their roster.

So, we’re a small school, uh, therefore, we have a small talent pool.

We're hoping to build up excitement for the competition and get girls ready and used to it.

[laughter] These players may be new, but they're eager to top the leaderboard.

My goals for this year's team are to win and to have fun, but mostly to win.

We've beat most of the competitors in our region, and hopefully we'll see how we do when we get to the playoffs.

This is Holden Aniya from Sacred Hearts Academy, for HIKI NŌ.

[sound of an ocean wave] This next story created by students at Kapa‘a High School on Kaua‘i tied for first place in HIKI NŌ’s Spring Challenge.

It's a feature on a special thrift store that gives back to the community’s most vulnerable.

They come out, they get a hot meal.

So, today our special is loco moco.

And people in the community volunteer and contribute to us.

Located next to the Wailua bridge on Kaua‘i, the Ho‘omana Thrift Store is more than a place to buy used items.

It is a resource providing assistance to the houseless.

They get, um, sheets, blankets, whatever just to keep them clean and warm.

We also have hot showers.

It's Rowena.

It's her dream, her vision.

She opened the thrift shop, you know, now they have hot showers, now they have hot food, now they have the Grocery Assistance Program.

It's her hard work and the people that she's gathered around her.

We wanted to help the Native Hawaiian people to become self-sustainable and be able to say that, due to the fact that they have support, that they could continue to reach their maximum dreams and their maximum potential.

The blessings and just, all, all their help they have done for us and just everybody in general, you know.

Growing its community with the help of volunteers, the Ho‘omana Thrift Store impacts the lives of those needs.

We have my hanai dads, they're doing GAP, Ho‘omana’s Groceries Assistant Project.

We have Auntie Pat Coon, who's our nurse, she does bandage and wound care.

We have a wide variety of people that come in and help our houseless people to get care as well as services that are available here.

We used to stay at the Lidgate Homeless Camp for the pandemic, and Aunty Rowena used to come down there and, um, you know, bring food.

When getting back to the less fortunate, relationships are built.

And upon those relationships, community bonds grow stronger.

We're here every week.

We get most of our food from the food banks.

We need to know if they're Hawaiian, we need to know if they’re a veteran, just a few basic questions.

Do they have a refrigerator?

Do they have a stove?

Do they have a freezer?

So that we can kind of tailor what they get to their needs.

And people are very honest and open with it so we know what we can do to serve them the better.

We are their families away from their families.

A lot of them have been disowned because of their choice, drug addiction, alcoholism, and just don't want to follow the rules that mom and dad has put before them or their family members.

So, this is their choice to live out in the community.

Striving to understand and provide for each individual that comes their way is true Ho‘omana, creating empowerment and purpose.

Here, you really get to know them, you get their personality, and they’re people just like us, you know.

And that's what a lot of people forget because they don't interact with them.

I'm not here to judge anybody.

I'm just here to love upon them.

This is Gavin Leines from Kapa‘a High School for HIKI NŌ.

[sound of an ocean wave] Now let's travel to Maui to meet a dedicated musician in this profile filmed and produced by Santana Sebastian, a HIKI NŌ student at H.P.

Baldwin High School.

The subject happens to be his own father.

My name is Derick Sebastian.

I'm a ukulele artist, singer, songwriter, composer, producer, and friend.

Well, my childhood growing up in, uh, Kahului.

A lot of childhood friends hanging out skateboarding, playing baseball in the streets, uh, that led to baseball on the field.

And, uh, I just grew up loving sports.

My asthma got really bad in sixth grade, where, uh, I was pulled away from sports, and what happened was, I had nothing to do.

And when that happened, um, it was like a shock to me, you know, not being active at all.

And, um, lo and behold, my school security was playing his ukulele, Mr. Sam Ellis.

And I remember I was like, in awe, you know, that was like, wow, this is so cool.

He has an ukulele.

He's making it sound good.

He's playing it.

And I thought, "Man, this is so awesome."

Because I was so active in sports.

All of a sudden, everything was just taken away, and I wasn't feeling well, my asthma was bad.

And all of a sudden, I found the ukulele, and it just gave life to me and it inspired me, and I started to, you know, play songs that made me happy.

If I was sad, I would play sad songs.

If I was feeling the good vibes, I would play reggae songs.

And it just gave me, um, the option to emote.

It allowed me to emote to where it just felt good, and the ukulele just gave me that direction, you know, to help me find my way.

From then on, the ukulele has been with me ever since.

The biggest takeaway, or at least the best advice I could possibly tell somebody, is to always believe in yourself, is to always realize that you're on Earth for a reason.

You have a purpose to fulfill.

You're not here to just wake up, live, and then go to sleep.

You're here to make a difference.

And whatever that may be, then you go after it, and you make that happen.

You find something that you are being fulfilled by, and you change the world by doing that.

[sound of an ocean wave] Now let's take a quick break to learn a new hobby in this next How-To from students of Kalani High School on O‘ahu.

When you think of skating, what comes to mind?

Ice skating, skateboarding, or what about roller skating?

Roller skating is a popular recreational activity that many people in the country love to do.

Let's learn how to do this fun hobby.

First, you will need to put on your skates.

Place your skates as if you're lacing your sneakers.

Make sure the upper middle part is tight.

You shouldn't feel any pain or uncomfortableness, and your toes should be able to wiggle.

Next, keep your stature straight.

Keep your chin up and straighten your shoulders.

Make sure to keep your core tight and lower your hips.

Now it's time to get moving.

To begin, put your feet in a V position.

Then with your arms and palms down, begin shifting your weight to the left side of your body, then shift towards the right.

Continue this pattern and don't look down.

If you want to stop, try to use the toe stop wheel.

Shift your weight towards one side of your body.

With your other foot, begin dragging your toe to the ground until you stop.

If you cannot use your toe stop just yet, find a wall and skate up to it with your elbows and hands bent.

Now it's your turn.

Remember, practice makes perfect.

This is Stacie Bae from Kalani High School for HIKI NŌ.

[sound of an ocean wave] Let's travel back to Maui where students of H.P.

Baldwin High School share a story about how persistent stress can have consequences on high schoolers.

I think students are just faced with a lot of things to do that we can never, or we feel that we can never look at a situation differently because of how overwhelmed we are with all of the things that we need to finish.

I would say there is stress in schools, I think, like AP classes and like, IB classes put like, pressure on students to do a lot of coursework that might be unnecessary to them in the future.

I've had this mentality of 'I need to be the top person in my class if I want to get into so and so college, and I need to do this many more dance classes, this many more student council activities, this many more clubs just to out-compete them’ so that I can get into my dream school.

[slow piano music] So, I think the pressure exists, um, based on you know, family pressure to do well and, you know, the expectation to go onto college.

Um, also the pressure, uh, with other classmates and students to do well and go to the best colleges.

I come as a product of a grandfather who was a superintendent.

That's been honestly one of my biggest pressures to get a 4.0 because every single time I see him, he always tells me to study hard.

Technically, there shouldn't be any pressure because there's a college that’s available for everybody.

Schooling is so important to him, so I wanted to always like, make it up to him in that sense.

I, I do worry about, about a lot of students because I do see that they don't have the skills, the coping skills to handle all of that pressure.

I've seen them just do studies, do homework, uh, until 12 o'clock at night.

Some advice that I wish I'd gotten is that like, sleep is as important as doing work.

The easiest thing for high school students is to mess up your sleep schedule during the day and then the rest of your day is bad.

I wish that I spent more time trying to get my, trying to get to know my peers, rather than trying to, um, finish my assignments.

What I would like the kids to do or have ready for them is to figure out how to balance and experience life first.

Some things are not as important as they seem to be, um, because then you look back on like some of the things I was stressed about, like, freshman year, I'm just like, I would have had a lot more time if I didn't like, stress myself.

Like, I think that we're so focused on having good grades, that we're not really focusing on how much we've learned over the past years.

[sound of an ocean wave] It's not just those students on Maui, dealing with stress as a teen is universal.

This next story is from students of Kaiser High School on O‘ahu, who took a creative filmmaking approach to convey how tough high school can be.

[alarm clock blares] Life is tough.

That's what they say.

But they don't know what it's like every day.

That pressure and stress that you must hide away, parts of yourself beginning to fray, just repeating this ongoing relay.

That constant expectation to obtain that A, to wake up in the morning and to go to school, just so people can test you and prove you’re a fool.

This routine seems to repeat, a constant ongoing feeling of defeat.

The teachers say you obviously didn't try, but they don't know you go to your room and cry.

You did put in effort; you did your part.

They just don't understand you're not that smart.

Then comes the pressure from your mom and dad, who were so clearly disappointed that your grades are bad, you are punished and picked on for the rest of the year because you finally gave up on that future career that was once so close but it's now so distant.

It's hard enough getting up and going to class without the pressure and expectation that you have to pass.

The worst part, however, is not that you're a disappointment.

It's the permanent, never-ending embarrassment of always failing and coming last, of never been good enough.

Your confidence dropping fast.

Everyone else seems to be doing just fine.

Their parents are all proud, unlike mine.

Honestly, I can't think of a worse place than this, when in reality, it's made out to be somewhere where we should miss.

We should all take a moment to reflect on ourselves.

All these high expectations can damage one's mental health.

If I was a teacher, I would always try to make sure that fear of failure is not a reason to cry.

People need to understand school is no longer fun or good ‘cause some of us don't fit in, although we wish we could.

[sound of an ocean wave] Thinking about future plans after high school can be overwhelming.

That's the next topic of this student reflection from Waiākea High School on Hawai‘i Island.

[sound of ocean waves] Aloha.

My name is Taylor McCann, and I'm a senior at Waiākea High School in Hilo, Hawai‘i.

Since the school year started, I've been struggling to find the motivation to keep up with my schoolwork.

As a senior, it's really difficult for me to not channel all my energy into my post-graduation plans.

I'm planning on pursuing a career in the film industry, and I've been fortunate enough to get the opportunity to travel to New York City later this semester to participate in an International Student Film Festival.

Around my travel plans, I continue to work every day to produce independent short films for other organizations around the country.

I've also been working part time to save money for my education and housing after high school.

I know high school is important, but I'm finding it increasingly difficult to apply myself when I could be preparing for the other exciting experiences to come.

To keep my head on straight, I've been sharing my struggles with my friends so we can help each other feel understood and stay on track together.

And like, turning them in to schools.

Dude, good luck with that, it sounds stressful.

I feel the same.

I feel the same way, honest.

No, ‘cause seriously, like - This is Taylor McCann from Waiākea High School for HIKI NŌ.

[sound of an ocean wave] Now let’s travel back to Maui and take a moment to de-stress.

This story from students at Maui Waena Intermediate School won first place in the HIKI NŌ Spring Challenge and it shows the power of a community garden.

We did harvest one full row of a seed crop, which was carrots, beets, and radish.

And just from that one row, we got over 400 pounds of food.

And all this food is grown by Common Ground Collective, a local nonprofit that started off by collecting discarded food.

Their garden is tucked away on the acreage of the historic Baldwin Estate.

This is the first physical garden for this group and is run with just two employees and a handful of volunteers.

You know, in the year, one year that I've been with Common Ground Collective, I've seen it grow tenfold.

And that just shows how amazing and how needed and necessary it is.

Easy statistic, everybody, you probably heard, is over 90% of our food is imported.

You know, what's going to happen, you know, one day and one day might be any day, what will happen?

The boats stop coming, what do we do, are we going to eat each other?

Her solution is to give all the food they grow back into their community.

We also harvest produce and, and bring that to other community organizations, but it's always just feel-good work, wherever we go.

Whether it's a Maui food bank, or Feed My Sheep, or you know, Ka Hale A Ke Ola, the homeless shelter, you know, it's always happiness, you know, smiles.

So, we're actually starting to see, you know, what we've planted come to fruition and then be able to, you know, donate it to those in need.

So just coming full circle, it's just been really fulfilling.

Food is connected to so many different things, including like, mental illness and overall physical health and well being.

So, I think that providing healthy and nutritious locally grown food that's like, you know, just a basic right for humans is really important.

And not only are they ensuring the community's health with the food they grow, but they're also ensuring that they keep the culture of Hawai‘i alive.

One thing that always stood out the most to me is how we care for our land, how we care for our ‘āina.

In Hawaiian culture, first and foremost, the most important thing is the ‘āina, the land.

I'm blessed to be here on Maui.

So, I need to give back to Maui because Maui is giving me Maui.

So, you know, and, and that should really apply to wherever you live.

For me, the purpose of life is like serving other people and making a difference.

We're only here on this earth for like, you know, like a short period of time.

So, it's important to do the best you can and help as many people as you can to make a positive impact.

I do feel like I'm living my life's purpose.

Tenacious.

Although few know about this garden, the impact it creates allows the community and the culture of Hawai‘i to flourish.

This is Capriana Nozaki from Maui Waena Intermediate School for HIKI NŌ.

Thank you for watching this episode of HIKI NŌ.

We hope you enjoyed the work of Hawai‘i's New Wave of Storytellers.

It was a pleasure to share these stories with you.

Don't forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel and follow us on Instagram and TikTok to keep up to date with us.

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

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