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Broadcasts of HIKI NO are made possible by the support of viewers like you —mahalo.
And by HIKI NO founding underwriter Bank of Hawaii, investing in Hawaiis future by promoting
collaboration, critical thinking, and other twenty-first century skills through HIKI NO.
And HMSA, helping Hawaiis youth and their families stay healthy today, tomorrow, and
for generations to come. HMSA —trusted for generations.
Next, on HIKI NO, stories from across the island chain.
From Maui, students at H.P. Baldwin High School open our ears to children who make a thunderous
noise together, and in the process, learn about leadership and life.
On Oahu, students from Ka Waihona o ka Naauao Public Charter School tell one towns version
of how the shaka sign was born. At Waianae High School, well meet a former homeless boy
who is now an A-student and a captain on the basketball team.
Also on Oahu, students from Moanalua High School introduce us to a gay cheerleader who
found support from his team members and coach on his decision to come out.
From Hawaii Island, students from Konawaena High School tell the story of a shy girl whose
reasons for competing in the Miss Kona Coffee Scholarship Pageant go deep below the surface.
On the Friendly Isle, students from Molokai High School explore the aerodynamic potential
of paper. Students from Chiefess Kamakahelei Middle School tell the story of a new building
in Lawai that is modeled after a 13th century hand-carved Japanese Hall of Compassion.
And back on Oahu, this episode of HIKI NO comes to you from the campus of St. Andrews
Priory, home of the Pride.
Thats next on the nations first statewide student news network, HIKI NO…
Can do!
Welcome to St. Andrews Priory. Hawaiis beloved Queen Emma Kaleleonalani is important to the
Priory students lives. Queen Emma founded the school in 1867, along with Queens Hospital
and St. Andrews Cathedral. This way, the people of Hawaii are given a well-rounded education
of the mind, body, and spirit. We honor her today by remaining an all-girls school and
upholding our schools motto, Kulia i ka nuu, strive for the highest.
Our first story takes us to the Salt Lake district of Oahu, where students from Moanalua
High School tell a story of a male cheerleader who gained the support of his coach and teammates
after revealing his *** orientation.
The sport of competitive cheerleading goes far beyond the routine. Behind each cheer
stands a strong, passionate, and peppy cheerleader.
We have the same passion. We all actually offer ourselves …
Chad Godinez is one of them. The Moanalua High School cheerleading team has an Eastern
Division title. However, the most important thing that they have …
[CHEERING]
Is each other.
We are the Hawaiian word of ohana. I think weve grown to be very, very close this year.
And ohana, or family, is exactly what Chad needed when he opened up.
I just told them straight up, which was, If you havent noticed by now, Im gay, and I know
it shouldnt change anything, but if it does, I understand.
But some were not as understanding.
Just that comment is, Oh, hes gay, dont talk to him. Oh, hes gay, dont even go by him.
Hes gay, dont even hang out with him. You know.
[CHEERING]
The words hit him hard. In the United States, eighty-four percent of lesbian, gay, bisexual,
and transgender teens face verbal harassment. Chad fights to not be one of them.
I actually closed myself for a while, to be honest. But what changed me as a person, personally,
is cheerleading.
[CHEERING]
Chad found a home within the Moanalua High School cheer team, where his team members
and coach helped him to flip his life around.
I told him, I said, No matter what, Ill be there to support you, the cheerleaders will
be there to support you. Most of the people, teachers in the school will always back you
up with whatever you feel like you want to do.
He also taught me that being gay isnt different as everyone else, were exactly the same, that
you shouldnt care what other people think about you.
With that in mind, Chad learned to deal with the negativity by kicking it aside and dancing
to his own beat. Along with his teammates, of course.
To my team, no matter what gender you are, no matter what *** orientation, it doesnt
matter. Youre seen as a winner.
Because of that, Chad doesnt have to hide, finding his outlet to be himself.
I want to focus on me, I want to focus on my growth, and I want to focus where I want
to go in life.
And everyone will continue to cheer him on.
[CHEERING]
This is Leah Miyasato reporting from Moanalua High School, for HIKI NO.
Were back at St. Andrews Priory in Downtown Honolulu. While every high schooler looks
forward to the glory of being a senior, the juniors at St. Andrews Priory have a special
opportunity to honor the senior class. Every May, the junior class decorates the schools
coral cross, courtyard, and cathedral with flowers to celebrate Ascension Day and the
founding of the school. These students spend the entire night decorating the whole school
to celebrate the special event and bond with their classmates to create memories they will
never forget.
Our next story takes us to the Leeward Coast of Oahu, where students from Waianae High
School introduce us to a straight-A student and basketball team captain who, years ago,
was living on the beach.
[INDISTINCT CONVERSATION]
There are two places Jamal Lopez feels at home. Here, at his home in Nanakuli …
[BALL BOUNCING]
And here, beating his brother on the basketball court …
[BALL BOUNCING/SCUFFLING]
The biggest impact upon my life, I think, would be basketball, because it taught me
to never give up.
And its that never-give-up attitude that will help him move his entire family into their
new home down the road.
[INDISTINCT] my family, cause I think where my family is, thats my home.
Come on, lets go, Dad.
Moving twelve people into a new home is actually pretty easy, because six years ago, he had
no idea where to drop the boxes.
The first couple of years was really hard, moving from place to place, staying at the
beach, not having light, you know, then moving to emergency shelter, living with other people
and sharing bathrooms.
Today is not as dark as it seems. According to a 2012 report from the Department of Human
Services, Waianaes homeless population has decreased from four hundred ten in 2010, to
two hundred eighty in 2012.
I think families call when theyre ready to call.
And one call is all it takes for Renee Bongo and the Department of Educations Homeless
Unit to…
Make sure that theyre receiving their free or reduced lunch through the school, transportation
to and from school if feasible. You know, you are in a homeless situation, youre not
thinking about your grades, or youre not thinking about the report thats due tomorrow. Youre
thinking about helping your family out, seeing what you can do to better provide for your
family, whether its you know, maybe working a job after to get a paycheck, or even helping
out with watching your little siblings.
I was in the seventh grade, so it played a huge role in my life. I had a hard time doing
my work, and so did my brothers and sisters. But we just had to adjust to that way of living.
[INDISTINCT] documentation.
My mom and dad encouraged me to keep going, and dont give up. I think thats why I got
here, and I got to where I am now.
Hes doing so well now, he was named captain of the basketball team, and …
Im a straight-A student right now, and I think Im doing pretty well for myself in the school.
In May, Jamals final move will be to a place he never thought hed go … graduation, and
then …
I was really looking into going into the military. I want to stay physical after high school.
I dont want to get lazy. Plus, you can play basketball there, so … I think that would
be a good opportunity for me.
Charlemaine Blue from Waianae High School Searider Productions, for HIKI NO.
If youd like to comment on this story, or anything you see on HIKI NO, join the discussion
at facebook.com/hikinocando, or send us a Tweet at twitter.com/hikinocando.
In large schools, whether private or public, it seems that students are given the responsibility
to fight for their education and the attention they need in the classroom setting. However,
this is not the case at the Priory. At St. Andrews Priory, girls are all given an equal
opportunity to learn and grow along with each other with their small class sizes and encouraging
sports teams, setting the students up for success and a great learning development.
Our next story takes us to the Island of Maui, where the HIKI NO crew from H.P. Baldwin High
School introduce us to a group of students who really feel the beat.
[DRUMMING]
Everyone here has one thing in common; theyre all a part of the taiko group, Zenshin Daiko.
Zenshin Daiko is a childrens group where we have children that perform.
Formed in March of 1999, Zenshin Daiko has performed at over six hundred cultural and
community events.
[INDISTINCT CONVERSATION]
Besides being one of the few all-childrens groups in North America, Zenshin Daiko has
many different features that set them apart.
Were unique in the point that we dont have a real taiko sensei. So, the responsibilities
of working and bringing along the younger kids fall to the older kids. So, a lot of
the teaching is done by the older kids and the more experienced kids.
The kids that I teach, theyre about seven to thirteen years old. Theyre in the intermediate
group. And basically, I teach them the songs that we learned, and I touch up on their skills
and make sure that theyre able to play the song correctly.
With all the leadership opportunities that the older students have, Anthony Jones believes
that they are learning many important life skills.
Children all start off, you know, basically not knowing nothing, kinda intimidated by
the older kids and how good they are. And before you know it, they become good, and
learn the skills necessary to continue to pass on down their skills to the next generation
of players.
I think one thing that Ive learned that I will carry with me is how to be a good leader.
Because without all these skills that were learning in taiko right now, like being a
leader and being focused on working hard, we cant really come together and be a group.
Despite the multiple weekly practices, the feeling of pure joy the kids have while performing
keeps them coming back for more.
The best thing about playing taiko, I would say, is when were performing. Not like, when
were getting ready to perform, but the actual moment when were performing. When we hit that
very first beat, the rush that you get in your body is just undescribable, and I think
we all love that.
When we walk on the stage, its pretty scary at first. But then, once you start playing,
it like, all goes away.
Even though these kids perform in crowds ranging from three to three thousand people, they
all say the same thing.
Our group is … were based on fun. It doesnt matter how many mistakes you make, as long
as you can fix it, and its supposed to be about having fun. And were all growing up,
so were just here to have a good time and to learn taiko.
To these kids, it is more than just being able to say that you play taiko. It is about
the experience you have with your friends, doing something that you love. This has been
Andrew Teoh for H.P. Baldwin High School reporting for HIKI NO.
[CHEERS/APPLAUSE]
Were back at St. Andrews Priory. Every February, we have an opportunity that no other school
has; the Father-Daughter Ball. This is a ball where Priory girls take their fathers to dance
the night away. The ball is for girls from kindergarten to senior year, and the school
comes together for an evening similar to prom, but with their fathers.
We take you now to the Friendly Isle, where students from Molokai High School show us
how to build an aerodynamically sophisticated airplane out of paper.
Hi, welcome to Molokai High School. Today, we will be showing you how to make a simple
paper airplane, which also ties into aerodynamics.
Step one: take the top right corner and bring it down diagonally at a forty-five-degree
angle, making a right triangle.
Step two: take the top left corner and bring it down diagonally to the opposite corner.
Step three: take the top of the triangle and bring it down half an inch past the bottom
of the triangle, then tuck it under the flap.
Step four: fold your paper in half so that both sides are equal.
Step five: fold each wing down, leaving one inch of width.
Step six: fold the edges of each wing up about one-fourth of an inch.
Congratulations! You have made a simple paper airplane.
Queen Emma was the founder of our school. She gave many girls, including us, the opportunity
to study in a comfortable environment at an advanced level. In order to celebrate her,
every year St. Andrews Priory sends the senior class to Mauna Ala, the burial site of our
beloved Queen. We sing and put leis on her crypt. It is a special day to honor and send
our prayers to Emma.
We travel now to the Kona side of Hawaii Island, where students from Konawaena High School
tell the story of a shy girl who overcame her fears by entering the Miss Kona Coffee
Scholarship Pageant.
[CHEERS]
Shy and reserved girls typically do not participate in scholarship pageants. But there is nothing
typical about Konawaena senior, Rebekah Mersburgh, who challenged herself by competing in the
42nd Annual Miss Kona Coffee Scholarship Pageant.
Aloha, [INDISTINCT].
The Miss Kona Coffee and Miss Aloha Scholarship Pageant opens many doors of opportunity for
women in Kona. Young ladies between the ages of seventeen and twenty-three years old learn
confidence, poise, and how to speak in public. The winner gets to travel to Japan, while
representing the culture and traditions of Kona Coffee.
[INDISTINCT CONVERSATION/APPLAUSE]
This year, Konawaena senior, Rebekah Mersburgh, was one of the eight contestants. While many
pageant girls are comfortable with being in the spotlight, Rebekah is the type of girl
who shies away from having the attention on her. In fact, she has never sung or danced
in front of an audience before entering the pageant. But Rebekah viewed competing in the
pageant as an opportunity to challenge herself and to try new things.
Through this experience, you can … find out new stuff about yourself, and stuff that
you didnt know you liked to do. Like, for me, for example, I do not like dancing. And
I actually had some fun doing the dance numbers in the pageant. Through this experience, I
learned that I can do the sports and be a tomboy, but I can still act like a girl.
This opportunity gave Rebekah a chance to talk about something close to her heart.
The reason why I chose that platform is because when my sister was four years old, she was
diagnosed with neuroblastoma, stage four, and that has about a thirty percent chance
of surviving. And I wanted the community to know that its stressful and *** the family.
Rebekah shares that there were some joyful times during this rough period, and fortunately,
Rebekahs sister has been cancer-free for seven years.
At the end of a stressful evening, Rebekah won Miss Photogenic, sang on stage for the
first time in her life, and was able to share her concern for childhood cancer.
My family has been very supportive of me. They say if I want to do something, I should
go and do it, and try my best even if I know its gonna be hard.
This is Alex Miyashiro reporting from Konawaena High School, for HIKI NO.
Welcome back to St. Andrews Priory in Downtown Honolulu. Just a short walk from the State
Capitol, Priory students enjoy exploring Downtown Honolulu as part of their classroom curriculum.
Whether it be the P.E. students running their Monday mile at the Capitol, or the art class
taking a tour at the Honolulu Museum of Art, Priory students take advantage of their ideal
location and connect to history.
Today, it is not uncommon to see teenagers using their Smart Phones devices or laptops
in public. Furthermore, these same teenagers will sometimes use their devices for schoolwork.
However, at the Priory, students have been using laptops and advanced sources of technology
since the 1990s, making them the first school to introduce the use of computers in the curriculum.
Our next story takes us to the Island of Kauai, where students from Chiefess Kamakahelei Middle
School show what a hundred volunteers can accomplish when they put their minds to it.
On a hillside in Lawai, a symbol of compassion is being built by Asian artisans and local
volunteers. Its modeled after a 13th century traditional hand-carved Japanese building.
There are special artisans from Asia who have come over to help us with the creation of
this building, which is no nails, and it has all interlocking wood pieces. Whats absolutely
beautiful is that, as you can see with the volunteers here, it is built purely with the
compassion from their hearts. Right now, we have eighty-five volunteers helping to make
this happen. Itll soon be over a hundred in a very short time. So, in the act of creating
this Hall of Compassion, every hand that touches the wood is in pure kindness of the heart.
At the start of construction, the project faced a huge unexpected problem.
The master artisan was supposed to come over with his apprentices, and was not able to.
And because of that, he has adopted local volunteers from Kauai to be his apprentices,
to help with the creation of this building. Usually, the wisdom and knowledge is passed
on from one generation master to the next generation master, from the heart of the master
to the heart of the apprentice. And because his apprentices are not with him, he is now
passing it on to the volunteers.
This project hasnt been easy, and the team has faced many challenges.
Its lots of fun, but quite a challenge, cause its a very different type of construction.
None of the contractors here know how to do it, so we have to have help from Taiwan and
Japan to tell us how the pieces fit together, which ones to put on first.
Part of the group is Taiwanese, and the other is Japanese. We neither speak Mandarin or
Japanese, and they dont speak English. Much worse, they dont speak between themselves.
So, we always have to try to get interpreters to tell us what they want. And sometimes,
even the interpreter or the translator will translate it wrong, so its quite a challenge
to do this.
After twenty-three years of planning, seven months of work, and the efforts of over a
hundred volunteers, the Hall of Compassion is scheduled to be completed in June 2013.
Was it worth all of this work? Well, youll just have to come and see it for yourself.
For HIKI NO, this is Melanie Matsunaga from Chiefess Kamakahelei Middle School.
If youd like to comment on this story, or anything you see on HIKI NO, join the discussion
at facebook.com/hikinocando, or send us a Tweet at twitter.com/hikinocando.
In Downtown Honolulu, there are many successful and well known women who have graduated from
the Priory; for example, Colleen Hanabusa, who proudly represents Hawaiis First Congressional
District. St. Andrews Priory has many famous alumni who became women of Hawaii, and women
of the world.
Our final story comes from the Nanakuli area of Oahu, where students from Ka Waihona O
Ka Naauao tell one towns version of how the shaka sign was born.
The famous Hawaiian hand sign, the shaka, which signifies peace, friendship, and the
aloha spirit for locals have gone global. You see it on tee-shirts, hats, posters, and
many times on television. People from all over the globe are using it, and on occasion,
you can even see our 44th President of the United States, Barack Obama, flashing the
shaka. But the question arises: How did the shaka get started? Little do people know that
it all originated in a little town named Laie on the Island of Oahu by a highly respected
pure Hawaiian man by the name of Hamana Kalili. He was born in 1882 and died in 1958.
He lost his three fingers in an industrial accident at the sugar mill.
It might have been awfully hurtful, because he lost below his second joints.
He worked for the plantation. He used to work on the cane train. And he would be on the
end, you know, to watch the kakalaka and all the cane that was going to Kahuku Sugar Mill.
So, we used to sit at the plantation store and when the train come by, wed pull the cane
off and sit over there and peel it and eat it. But when they knew Hamana was on the line,
they werent gonna touch the cane, because you were gonna get it from him. So, the kids
would signal one another with his sign to let them know that Hamana was on the train.
[CHUCKLE] But he always waved like this, and it got so everybody started doing that.
The youngsters in the community would often wave the shaka to the good-natured father
figure Hamana, calling him D.A, which stood for district attorney, in reference to a character
on a popular television show during those days.
So, I saw the children in the community way before shaka had spread throughout the island.
I saw the kids in Laie doing the shaka sign. And then, the kids in Laie with the football
team played the other football teams around the island, and carried this with them. And
thats where it originally spread.
Later on in life, that is Lippy Espinda in town, he started to use this sign, too, and
he used to say, Shaka. And then, Fasi, when he was running for mayor, he started to use
the word shaka, so everybody started using the word shaka.
Although most people are unaware of the origin of the shaka, the old-timers of Laie will
be sure to let you know who and where the shaka started.
It originated in Laie, with my granduncle. Thank you.
He was such a special man. He was so kind, so loving, so Hawaiian.
Well, we hope you enjoyed this rich historical story as much as we enjoyed producing it.
The knowledge and relationships that we fostered with our kupuna in Laie are all so rich and
invaluable. We want to say a great mahalo nui loa to all of them, and we bid you all
a farewell with the Hawaiian hand sign, the shaka, and say to you, right on and kini popo.
From Ka Waihona o ka Naauao Public Charter School for HIKI NO, Im Pumehana. Aloha.
Well, weve come to the end of this episode of HIKI NO. Remember that all of these stories
were written, filmed, and edited by students just like us.
We hope youve enjoyed them as much as weve enjoyed making them and sharing them with
you.
Be sure to tune in to next weeks episode, where we show you how Hawaiis students
HIKI NO …
Can do!