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HIKI NŌ 509
Next on HIKI NŌ, stories from across the island chain.
When the dogs come, I feel happy. And I like to brush them, because they're so cute.
The healing powers of the animal-child bond.
Plus, a teenage swimmer conquers one of the roughest bodies of water on Earth.
Also, how butterflies are helping the victims of Typhoon Haiyan.
How developing photos in a darkroom is making a comeback.
And how to plant a pineapple, Lanai style.
Meet a skate park community builder.
And find out why an alternative lunch menu is no longer an option for this West Kauai
school.
All on this episode of HIKI NŌ, coming to you from Lahainaluna High School in West Maui,
home of the Lunas.
That's next, on the nation's first statewide student news network, HIKI NŌ...
Can do!
Aloha, I'm Kainoa ...
I'm Sophia ...
And I'm Kim, and we're all students from Lahainaluna High School ...
The oldest school west of the Rockies.
On the west side of Maui, our school overlooks the historic town of Lahaina. In this episode
of HIKI NŌ, we'll take you on a tour around our town and
show you what really makes Lahaina special.
Our first story takes us to the Salt Lake district of Oahu, where students from Aliamanu
Middle School show how butterflies are helping people in
typhoon-ravaged areas of the Philippines.
People sometimes release butterflies at weddings or funerals as a way to symbolize a change
in their lives, and may represent their dreams and hopes for
a better life to come. At Aliamanu Middle School, the
students are using the butterfly as a unique symbol to represent their care and concern
for the people in the Philippines who were devastated by Typhoon
Haiyan.
Many of our students have families in the Philippines, along with a lot of our teachers.
So, there was a great movement by the students as well as
the teachers to purchase a butterfly, and we were blessed to
have these donated by a teacher, Mr. Varney and his wife. And then, Miss Young had a poster
in which the kids could place their names underneath
there, and that was displayed in the cafeteria.
The butterfly display is highly visible in the cafeteria, and reminds students that even
they can help people in many ways.
What inspired me was knowing that we have so much good stuff, and they almost lost everything.
I felt really good after buying the butterfly, knowing
that I was able to help a lot of people who were in need of
it in the Philippines, especially because I have friends who are Filipino and have family
back there, along with a very close family friend of ours.
Well, I was actually in class one day, and Mr. Varney was talking to us and he was telling
us that it would be a good thing if we bought a butterfly.
And he was saying that it would really help out. And I was like,
hmm, that would be a good idea. So, I decided to go get one.
A small gesture, something that we consider to be small, like a dollar, could probably
provide seven whole meals for people out there. A dollar
can go a long way.
So, what exactly happens with the monies collected? Mrs. Young, the student activities coordinator,
explains where the funds go.
The program that we're donating through is called Episcopal Relief and Development Fund,
and they do a lot in countries around the world through
the infrastructure that they have in the church. And so, there's
not a lot of money for overhead; most of the donated money goes straight to the people
that are being helped.
I come from an area in the Philippines, and they needed the help. They still need help,
so it's a good idea and a good thing that we're doing. I'm pretty
sure the people in the Philippines appreciate what we can
contribute.
Around the islands of Hawaii and the United States, many other groups have also raised
money for the people hit by this terrible disaster. At Aliamanu
Middle School, the students are doing their part of giving
aloha to those in need. And to think it all started with an idea and two wings. This is
Aviana Manuma from Aliamanu Middle School, for HIKI NŌ.
Here we are at Lahainaluna High School on the island of Maui. Behind me is our school's
historic Hale Pa'i. In 1834, a press was shipped here from
Honolulu and installed in Hale Pa'i, which at the time was
just a small thatch-roof building. That same year, the original press printed the first
newspaper west of the Rockies. The paper was a four-page weekly
school paper called Kalama Hawaii, which means The
Torch of Hawaii. At Hale Pa'i, Lahainaluna students were taught how to set type, operate
the press, and bind books.
Our next story comes from the Kona side of Hawaii Island, where students at Kealakehe
High School introduce us to a swimmer who tackled some
of the roughest seas on Earth.
If you have not yet picked up your binder from the round table, please do.
It's not unusual for high school students to face difficult challenges, such as an AP
calculus course, but this unusual student strove to accomplish
what for most would be considered unfeasible.
My name is Leahi Camacho. I am 17 years old. I am a senior at Kealakehe and August of this
year I swam the Kaiwi Channel.
The Kaiwi Channel, one of the seven great long-distance swims scattered across the globe.
It is 26 miles wide and up to 2,300 feet deep. It is especially
known for its grueling conditions, strong winds, powerful
currents, and an abundance of jelly fish and sharks.
Leahi began her swim at night and finished the next day after 14 hours and 43 minutes.
This accomplishment was so impressive that it caught
the attention of Hawaii Island Mayor Billy Kenoi who
visited Kealakehe High School to present a special proclamation to Leahi on the school-wide
broadcast.
I'm thinking like a little jellyfish. It's not like that. It's a big...
No, I didn't see it unfortunately. I felt it...
But it wrapped around you, though...
Yeah, it wrapped around both my arms and around my back. And I still have some scars, like,
on the side of my arms and it hit part of my face, too.
Um, my lower body started convulsing and my lower back
tightened up and I started dry heaving...
Leahi was the youngest ever to complete the swim and only the 27th person in the world.
She was inspired by a friend who completed the swim several
years ago.
I guess when I went into this I didn't think that I was going to be a role model. Instead
I kind of just wanted to show people that they can do anything
they want. It was kind of like the cliché message with
anyone, like I want to show people that they can accomplish anything. But I always wanted
to portray a message that you shouldn't be the person that
tells someone no, just because you're that one person who
could get them to not do it.
I kind of want everyone to support their friends and family and acquaintances in dreams and
whatever they want to accomplish.
[CHEERING]
I believe that the good life involves making yourself happy and being able to go to sleep
at night, knowing that you did something, you made someone's
day, you made even your day, and you just know
that you're doing something that betters yourself, or that betters the world around you.
And with one challenge met, one of our own, one of your own, here at Kealakehe, Leahi
Camacho takes on another challenge, to pass AP calculus.
Oooh.
And wish Leahi Camacho, a champion in our hearts, the very best in all of her future
endeavors. Please join me, Kealakehe, in celebrating Leahi Camacho
Day in the County of Hawaii. Aloha.
An unusual day for an exceptional young lady. This is TC Guccione from Kealakehe High for
HIKI NŌ.
If you'd like to comment on this story or anything you see on HIKI NŌ, join the discussion
at Facebook.com/hikinocando, or send us a Tweet
at Twitter.com/hikinocando.
Welcome to the beautiful town of Lahaina. Behind me is the U.S. ***'s Hospital, built
in 1833. The hospital was built to care for the whalers
who were not covered by the Act for Relief of Sick and Disabled
***. It was only open for nineteen years before its doors closed. Eventually, it was
leased as a boarding school. Today, the ***'s Hospital
is property of the Lahaina Restoration Foundation.
And now, I am proud to introduce the very first HIKI NŌ story by students from Lanai
High and Elementary School on a subject that is very
familiar to their island.
The Lanai Plantation was once the world's largest single producer of pineapple. Pineapple
planters quickly created a hole, planting each crown
by hand. Often, they planted ten thousand pineapples a day.
Though pineapple production ended in 1992, it is still a big part of Lanai's living heritage.
Today, you will learn how to plant a pineapple.
First, find a pineapple and twist the crown off. Let it dry for four days. Pull the weeds,
and clear the land. After that, grab a shovel and dig a
hole about one-foot deep and one-foot wide. Put some compost
and manure into the hole. These will nourish the pineapple without chemicals or pesticides.
Pull its bottom leaves off to expose the root stalk,
and use your trowel to dig a small hole and place the crown in.
After planting, you'll have to water it. It will need daily watering in the first few
weeks. About eighteen months later, you can enjoy the sweet and
juicy pineapple you planted yourself. This is Jonah Choo from
Lanai High and Elementary School reporting for HIKI NŌ.
We're here once again in historic Lahaina town on the island of Maui. Welcome to the
Wo Hing Museum. Before the whalers and missionaries
arrived, the Chinese were a part of Lahaina. The Chinese
population slowly grew, and in 1912, the Tong Society, a fraternal organization, built the
two-story Wo Hing along traditional lines. In 1983, after
the last member of the Tong Fraternity passed away, the Wo
Hing Museum was created by the Lahaina Restoration Foundation. It is a popular attraction on
Lahaina's Front Street and stages cultural events such
as the Chinese New Year celebrations.
We take you now to the island of Kauai, where journalists from Waimea High School look at
what happens when something students have come
to expect gets taken away.
When Waimea High School students started their second quarter of the 2013-2014 school year,
they immediately found something was missing at
lunchtime: a second meal choice, also known as Wiki.
Bottom line is the executive decision would come down to between myself and the cafeteria
manager. But it's nothing personal; it was something
that we had to do. And in light of the fact that we lost
cafeteria workers, it was a prudent financial decision that we had to make at the time.
The second meal choice, Wiki, was a nonrefundable ala carte meal choice such as saimin, chicken
tenders, or a sandwich.
I don't really care about the second choice or Wiki, because like, I'm happy with whatever
there is for lunch.
Many people wish they still had a second meal choice.
I think it's a real inconvenience, because sometimes the cafeteria people write down
what we're having for lunch one day, but we show up, and it's
a totally different lunch, and they didn't follow the lunch
menu. If you don't eat it or you're allergic, you pretty much have to starve for the rest
of the day.
This decision has also affected faculty members.
I think it was nice when students and faculty had a choice between Wiki or lunch, and it
was good to have options. So, it is unfortunate that we no
longer have the choice. But I can see where sacrifices or
decisions had to be made based on budget cuts and resources not available anymore. So, we
all have to just make do. And again, if you don't like
what's offered, you can always bring your own.
This is Emily Iannucci from Waimea High School, reporting for HIKI NŌ.
We're back on Maui in front of Lahaina's original courthouse. Built in 1859, most of the material
used for the courthouse came from King Kamehameha
III's palace, which was destroyed in a storm. The
courthouse building included a post office, a collector's office with a money vault, the
governor of Maui's office, a courtroom, a sheriff's office, a
district attorney's office, and a jail. Now, the Lahaina Art Society
occupies the jail, showing the work of local artists. The rest of the rooms house museums
that are open to the public.
We remain on the Valley Isle for this next story from Maui Waena Intermediate about a
man who builds communities.
Look at that. Ahhh!
Sam Peralta has spent half of his life at the skate park. Skating is one of his passions.
His other is building community. To do this, twenty-five-year-old
Sam has started Maui Community Support, which brings together business owners, teachers,
and youth workers for the purpose of putting resources back
into the community. He and his group plan many activities to gather the youth of Maui.
One of these events is skate competitions.
Every Tuesday, so what we do is a once-a-month contest. And all of it is for everybody of
all ages, and we just give away free stuff, and kind of
create a community and get everyone together.
Another aspect of Maui Community Support Group is supporting schools.
This year, our school has been Iao Intermediate.
Exactly, to build one another up.
We look at all the surrounding neighborhoods and community centers, and we do programs
there.
Sam feels that a program such as his is needed for the neighborhood children. According to
a national report created by After School Alliance, the
hours between 3:00 and 6:00 p.m. are the peak hours for
juvenile crime and experimentation with drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, and sex. This is the
main reason Sam's organization exists.
This is important to me, because I don't see anybody really stepping up to the plate. You
have programs and grants and nonprofits that try to do a
similar thing, but they're just so burdened down. I'm just here
as a community member, and I just really want to make a difference into the next generation's
lives, and the people of the neighborhood.
Facilitating these programs takes a group effort that Sam spends most of his time coordinating.
So, I've been on Maui for two years, and since I came back I've been working with, you know-
Organizing all of these volunteers, running activities at Iao School and the surrounding
community, and putting on monthly skate events all in the
name of the community building seems like enough to keep
anyone busy. But Sam does not stop there.
Maui Community Support also does Hana Camps. We do one-on-one mentoring, we do home visits,
and we also do seminars on relationships, leadership,
and communication.
Sam is not ready to rest. He sees Maui Community Support expanding.
In five years, Maui Community Support really is just gonna be an umbrella of lots of nonprofits
and business coming together to function in the
community, where there are games and activities or camps, or
outings or excursions, even trips to different countries. We really want to do it all. We
don't want to be put in a box. We want to pretty much be a
family member to you. As Maui Community Support, we're
pretty much family, and that's why we exist.
And this family member, along with his group, is striving to bring unity to each community.
Whoa, that was way closer.
This Skyler Stook from Maui Waena, reporting for HIKI NŌ.
We're back in Lahaina town on Maui. I'm in front of the historic Baldwin House. Construction
on the Baldwin House began in 1834 and was finished
a year later. Its walls are made of koa and stone. The
house was built for Reverend Dwight Baldwin, who studied medicine at Harvard. He championed
the education of the Hawaiian people and helped
establish a system of just and democratic laws under the
Hawaiian Monarchy.
We take you know to Oahu, where students from Kamehameha Schools Kapalama have rediscovered
an old-fashioned way of bringing photos to life.
In this day and age, our media comes to us at the push of a button or click of a mouse.
Though underneath all this craze, there is still
a passion for classic film photography, especially here at
Kamehameha Schools. To learn more about this method of taking pictures, we had to go into
the dark. The darkroom is a second home for students
in the film photography classes. Here, they learn to develop
film and process prints in the traditional ways.
I think black and white photography or film photography, it's just so different and unique
from digital photography. Like, now especially, everyone
has digital cameras, everyone can press a button, take a
picture, and edit it and make it the way they want. But not everyone knows how to develop
film and use prints, and use the darkroom. And I think
that's why, like, film photography is really unique and really
fun.
You can express a lot in the pictures you take. Like, you know, your feelings, you can
express what's going on in your life. And for me, this is
like where I release like all my worries from the day. This is
just kind of like my sanctuary. It's where I love to be all the time.
I see the images coming out every semester. We start very basic with Photo I students
just learning how to operate the camera, not worrying too much
about the outcome, the quality of the images. By the end of
the semester, I see wonderful work coming out. So, I'm always pleased.
It's a long process, and so it takes lots of patience and time, but it's all worth it
in the end.
The delay allows you to think of what you want in the end, and to make little tweaks
along the way. It's a more deliberate process, and it creates, I
think, more of a focus on the final image and raises the quality of
the images. Puts the focus on the craft and the effort. There's been a technological revolution,
and it's swept photography along with it. The effect
on photography has been wonderful. I mean, I scan my
negatives. So, we're integrating the new processes in with the old, and creating kind of a hybrid
workflow that I think works really well with the students.
Beyond technology, the digital world has popularized a new way in capturing ourselves that even
these serious photographers cannot resist.
I take a lot of selfies, actually to post on, you know, Instagram and Facebook.
A lot of people define selfies in different ways. But I'd say yes, I think they're fun,
they're instant.
That's just alien to my frame of reference. I'm sorry; I guess I'm too old. I don't know.
[CHUCKLE] I don't do the selfie thing. [CHUCKLE]
With technology changing so fast, we have to remember to slow down our shutter and capture
every frame that matters. For HIKI NŌ, I'm Cayden
Robison, Kamehameha Schools Kapalama.
Here we are, once again, in the historic Lahaina town on Maui. This large smoke stack in the
center of town is all that remains from the Sugar Mill
which was demolished at the end of the sugar plantation era.
The stack was set to be torn down as well, but people came together to save this beautiful
structure. It stands as a reminder of Lahaina's past. Held
around the base of the smoke stack, Lahaina's Plantation
Days event features food, music, games, and displays of memorabilia from the plantation
times. Along with great history, Lahaina's Plantation Days
is a perfect opportunity to catch up and talk story.
Our final story comes from students at Kainalu Elementary in Windward Oahu who show us the
special healing bond that can take place between children
and animals.
[MUSIC]
Tails of Aloha is an all-volunteer animal-assisted therapy organization that visits children
in the classroom. Their mission is to provide the
healing animal bond through animal-assisted therapy.
[INDISTINCT] really likes it when the dogs come in. Makes her happy. It actually helps
with her muscles and it relaxes her. And actually,
we've checked her heart rate, and it lowers her heart rate. So,
we know that physiologically, it relaxes her as well.
Tails of Aloha works with the Humane Society and goes on visitations to schools, nursing
homes, private homes, and hospitals. The program has only
a limited amount of volunteers and animals, while the
demand is greater.
We have about fifty dogs that go out throughout the community to visit all the other facilities.
Now, not all dogs can do therapy. So, we have a special
program where we take dogs and train them to do therapy
work.
Tails of Aloha accepts all therapy dogs, as long as they are friendly, healthy, and at
least one year of age. Before a dog can become a therapy dog, it
has to pass the Canine Good Citizen test.
Any breed is fine; it's just about temperament. You know, they have to be patient and gentle,
and you know, willing to learn.
Sometimes, the children feel lonely. But when the therapy animals come, they help the children
overcome their loneliness.
I think it's a wonderful program. I love that they're able to come into the schools and
that they provide them with opportunities to interact with different
animals.
The children look forward to the dogs coming. They get excited on Tuesdays. They look forward
to finishing their work. As soon as they see
the dogs coming around the corner, they all cheer and get
excited. So, we love it; we love the Tails of Aloha.
I think reading to the dogs helps build their confidence. They're worried about making mistakes
with their reading; with the dogs, they don't worry
about that.
[INDISTINCT]
When the dogs come, I feel happy. And I like to brush them, because they're so cute.
Tails of Aloha's motto is Changing Lives One Visit At a Time. Whenever the children see
the therapy dogs coming, they get excited and they can't
wait to see them. This is Maddie Prislin from Kainalu
Elementary, for HIKI NŌ.
We end our tour back on Lahainaluna's campus, where dedicated agriculture teacher, Keith
Ideoka, has brought students and the community together
to plant a hillside entirely out of native Hawaiian plants.
Begun in 2003, with the efforts of over one hundred volunteers preparing and planting
seeds, the hardy Hawaiian dryland forest has thrived. Cared
for by our students, this garden is a seed bank for growers, a
resource for native cultural practitioners and artists, and an inspiring place to hang
out and soak up good vibrations from Hawaii's past.
Well, we've reached the end of this episode of HIKI NŌ.
Remember, all of the stories were written, shot, and edited by students like us.
We hope you've enjoyed the show. Make sure to tune in to next week's episode of HIKI
NŌ...
Can do!
[END] Hiki No 509
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