HIKI NŌ, Hawai‘i’s new wave of storytellers.

Aloha, and welcome to this week’s episode of HIKI NŌ, can do.

I’m Ace Loftus, a fifth-grader Hōnaunau Elementary School on the Big Island and today, I’ll be your host for this edition of Hawai‘i’s new wave of storytellers.

Tonight, we’ll conclude our series of Student Reflections on life and school in the COVID-19 era.

We’ll teach you how to master an essential scoring maneuver in basketball.

We’ll continue to celebrate the 10th anniversary of HIKI NŌ by highlighting some of the top stories from the show’s early years and we’ll meet two graduates from the very first year of HIKI NŌ, who have gone on to high-profile careers in communications and journalism.

But first, I’d like to give you some tips on the perfect sport to practice during the lockdown.

Today, we’re talking about basketball.

Basketball is a fun sport to play at recess or anytime with your friends.

However, if you want to be good at it, you have to know how to make a key shot called a layup.

First, you get a basketball and a basketball hoop.

For a Riley layup, start about 10 feet away from the basketball hoop on the right side and dribble towards the hoop using your outside hand.

As you dribble towards the hoop, the most important thing you need to worry about is your footwork as you get close to the basket.

Coming from the right side, your final two steps should be started about three feet away from the basket.

As you get three feet away, step with your right foot and jump off of your left and extend your right leg, your right hand, and try to aim for the right corner of the square on the basketball hoop backboard.

This should give you a bank shot layup that hopefully goes in every time.

If you are doing a lefty layup, just reverse everything to the other side.

If you mess up, don’t worry, just keep practicing until you get it right.

Practice until you can make a hundred out of a hundred.

Then, once you can do that from both sides, celebrate because you are a layup master.

After you become a master of the regular layup, try different layups like the Euro step or the reverse layup.

Then, once you master that, you’ll be the layup grand master.

Now you can show your friends how good you are at layups.

This is Ace Loftus from Hōnaunau Elementary School, reporting for HIKI NŌ.

This is Navie Domingo, a senior at Wallace Rider Farrington High School on Oʻahu.

I’m recording this from my home on November 10, 2020.

My mental health has been declining during this pandemic.

I really miss being able to physically hang out with my friends and family.

I feel unmotivated and uninspired to do what I used to be so passionate about.

Actually, my friends and I were going to film a music video for a song she wrote.

We planned to film outside and on the beach surrounded by people, but when COVID hit and we couldn’t leave our homes, those plans went out the window.

We can’t film virtually because the song is all about relationships and finding yourself.

So, for now, our plans are on hold.

I see creativity as a form of happiness.

But, even filming this right now, it’s been a struggle to find the right words and visuals that usually comes naturally to me.

Right now, I’m just hanging on as best as I can until I can finally reunite with my friends and family.

It’s been a few weeks since I’ve recorded my Student Reflection and I’m doing much better, but if you or someone you know are experiencing signs of distress such as changes in behavior, increased expressions of emotions or physical symptoms, reach out to your school counselor or call the Hawaiʻi Keiki Hotline, toll free, at 844-436-3888.

Continuing our celebration of ten years of HIKI NŌ, here is one of our early bilingual stories from Ke Kula Niʻihau O Kekaha on Kauaʻi, reported in the school’s Niʻihau Hawaiian dialect.

[IN HAWAIIAN] My position at Berklee College of Music is that I’m a professor there.

I teach in, uh, the music technology and professional writing division and I thought it would be really great to bring those faculty over here to Ke Kula Niihau.

I didn’t plan on what a unique and special spirit you guys have here, so I wanted to share that with my fellow faculty, and it just seemed like it would, uh, be perfect to also add an educational component to that and bring, um, the faculty over here to Ke Kula Niihau.

[IN HAWAIIAN] I know that the string trio, they got so much out of the exchange, it was incredible.

Um, second year, we brought Darcel Wilson over who’s an R&B singer, then the third time we had Gabrielle Goodman, uh, who was a, uh, spiritual and gospel and R&B singer.

All of the faculty that I bring over to Ke Kula Niihau wind up, uh, just walking on air by the time they leave because of the spirit of the place and the uniqueness.

They have such a great experience that it really feeds the soul of the Berklee faculty to come over and share with you guys here, and I think, you know, it makes them feel good, too, to be trying to share some educational things about music with, uh, you know, with the students here at Ke Kula Niihau.

[IN HAWAIIAN] You know, we’ve had three years so far of, uh, faculty exchange now, between Berklee College of Music and Ke Kula Niihau and I’m hoping this is just the beginning and that we’ll look back in another 20 years and just be amazed and marvel at that wonderful relationship that has been developing over the decades.

[IN HAWAIIAN] Aloha, my name is Carl Boberg.

I’m a boarder and sophomore at Hawai‘i Preparatory Academy on the wonderful island of Hawaiʻi.

I’m recording this video at HPA upper school campus on October 28, 2020.

First, when the COVID pandemic started, it wasn’t a big problem for me, but it got worse and worse in Germany, so I couldn’t meet my friends and grandparents anymore and my school closed.

Also, the virus destroyed our family plans of moving to Chicago, but I wasn’t in the mood to be sad.

I decided to write my own story.

I applied to HPA, improved my improved my tech skills and started doing more sport.

After HPA accepted me, it was a long progress to get my student visa.

After I finally got it, I came to Hawai‘i with two other students from Europe.

We had to go in quarantine for four weeks with eight other HPA students.

Quarantine sounds boring but these four weeks were probably the funniest four weeks of my life.

I met super nice people, we got super close, and we had so much fun.

For one month I live at the school now and I love it.

COVID taught me how to think positive in bad situations, how to communicate even though you cannot meet, and how to be flexible, what is very helpful for living at a boarding school.

Write your own story.

Mahalo.

This is Rona Uclusin.

I’m a junior at Leilehua High School on the island of Oʻahu.

I’m filming this from home on November 13, 2020 It’s been quite a struggle learning virtually.

I often find myself checking social media or getting distracted by the stuff around me and I end up putting my homework off to the side.

It usually starts by checking my phone for just a few seconds and that turns into an hour, so, I’ve learned how to manage my time using resources online or on my phone apps.

I also keep a planner to keep track of important assignments and due dates.

These methods have really helped me, and my grades have gotten on track.

I hope for things to get better though, because I really miss my friends and I can still use these methods I’ve developed during distance learning.

I especially empathize with the teachers, particularly with the ones who aren’t so tech-savvy.

Some teachers really have a connection with their students and to not be able to see us in person must be really hard for them.

And now, in commemoration of the 10th anniversary of HIKI NŌ coming up in February of 2021, here is our fifth alumni profile.

This time we hear from a pair of HIKI NŌ collaborators who are on to high-powered careers in communications and news.

I can’t believe it’s been 10 years since we did HIKI NŌ.

It’s crazy that it’s almost been 10 years that we even graduated high school, can you believe that?

I know.

I really can’t.

You know, it was such a great experience to do HIKI NŌ and who knew that 10 years later we’d be here talking about it?

I know.

So, I do remember when we were working on our project for HIKI NŌ and when Mrs. Roy approached us and said she wanted us to do this project, Maui County was just about to implement a ban on plastic bags.

Um, and that was really the beginning of the two of us standing up for what we wanted to do and believing in our story on plastic bag alternatives because Maui was the first in the state to pass that kind of ban, so it was really important for other people to know about it.

After the January ban of plastic bags, Maui County sought to find other alternatives to fill the void.

It was much worse.

Um, with the trade winds, all of these fences, all along the outside, the trees, all the litter screens, everything was usually full, every day, even though we’d clean it up pretty much every morning.

I think the fact that we’re friends made it, made us perfect teammates because you know, there wasn’t really...it never really felt like one of us was like more than the other and I really just feel like we tag-teamed everything.

We played to each other’s strengths, you know, you were way better at video.

I don’t know what I was supposed to be good at, but I feel like we were equal.

Yeah, and I think, you know, it really never occurred to us to go off by ourselves because we’re a team and we still are.

As other islands mull over the banning of plastic bags, you can consider some of the alternatives used by Mauians.

This is Monica Medrano from H.P.

Baldwin High School for HIKI NŌ.

You know, the HIKI NŌ experience was so valuable to both of us because personally, I went into public relations and worked in the U.S. Senate and I really used the same skill set that I had used in HIKI NŌ.

I never was able to take another broadcast journalism class, just because of my work schedule in college, so, HIKI NŌ and doing video club with Mrs. Roy are really the only formal video training that I’ve had.

And that translated into me getting an internship in the Senate because I knew how to take photos and frame photos, um, frame shots, to working for Senator Hirono as the youngest Press Secretary in the United States Senate and her Deputy Communications Director.

And throughout that time, I did all of her video, all of her editing, and I learned that it was a really valuable skill to have kind of, um, that combined video digital experience with public relations experience.

After I left HIKI NŌ, you know, once I went to UNLV, I studied broadcast journalism for four years and in each of my classes, I had never realized how much of a leg up I had over everybody else.

And that really, really helped me when I was, you know, getting my first job, getting my internships and every little step that I learned in HIKI NŌ really helped me develop my voice as a news writer.

And I started producing at our Fox station in Las Vegas, um, and I worked my way up from associate producer to producing the 10 p.m. newscast and eventually now being executive producer of the morning show.

Um, so everything I really genuinely feel like, everything that I learned video wise, I can attribute to the skills we picked up during HIKI NŌ.

Uh, 10 years ago, I don’t think I would’ve believed that I would be, you know, managing a morning show and you know, uh, having an entire production team and an entire news team that I’d be directing and calling the shots for.

I don’t have words for how speechless I would’ve been 10 years ago to know the kinds of things that I’m doing today.

You know, I think if 18-year-old me working on HIKI NŌ saw where I was now, I wouldn’t believe it.

I didn’t, you know, it was a dream of mine to be C.J.

Cregg from The West Wing, um, but when I went to college, even when I went to college, I didn’t realize that you could do political communications as a career.

And to be able to do it in the U.S. Senate and to be there for two Supreme Court nominations, it was just this incredible experience.

And now to be home in Hawaiʻi, but really to have the same ethos the whole time, which is what I was taught in HIKI NŌ and in Mrs. Roy’s broadcast journalism class, is that everyone has a story and we’re here to tell those stories.

Hi, this is Jack Vedder, a junior at Henry J. Kaiser High School on the island of Oʻahu and I’m filming this at my home on November 16th, 2020.

The current conditions of life are very difficult on many people, including myself, because of this coronavirus situation.

Although this pandemic has drastically changed everyday life, I believe there are some benefits and I’ve learned to cope with these changes.

Using this time, while distancing from others, I’ve been able to catch up on myself emotionally and personally while not relying on others so much.

This changed my lifestyle drastically.

Although I still found ways to do things I love, like surfing, spear-fishing, and other things like photography and hiking has given me a positive outlook on what I can do on my own during these tough times.

I know once this pandemic ends, I’ll feel even more gratitude towards the daily things I do and take for granted, and I will have learned how to stay self-sufficient emotionally and personally.

Now, as part of a look back on our 10 years of HIKI NŌ, here’s a ground-breaking story from Waiʻanae Intermediate School on a subject that was getting very little coverage when it first aired in January of 2014.

In 6th grade, I started to wear make-up and I looked at other people and see how I’m different from them and knew that someday I would be this way.

Raquel Largo is an 8th grade student in Waiʻanae Intermediate School.

From the time she was in 5th grade, she knew something didn’t feel right inside of her body.

When I was little, actually, some kids would call me like, or ask me if I’m a boy or a girl because of the way my hair was, or the way I would do things.

When I was boy, I didn’t do much with my look or anything.

Raquel was born a male named Royce and is a transgender person.

A transgender person is someone who identifies with a gender that is opposite from the gender they were born into.

So, a person who was born a male, but later identifies as a woman, is transgender, and vice versa.

There is a difference between being identified as transgender as compared to being identified as being transsexual.

Transexual would be someone who takes hormones or does something surgically to identify to that, uh, sex that they identify with.

Transgender would have not done anything to their body to identify as that gender, as that male or female gender.

In the 7th grade, Raquel finally decided to transition into being transgender, identifying as a female, she was only 13 years old at the time.

Well, it’s very rare for someone to identify as one at an early age, but it is, it does happen.

Being a student in middle school is tough enough, but being a transgender student presents its own set of challenges.

I’ve been bullied a lot, called a lot of names that weren’t so nice, and I just didn’t think anything of it, because I knew becoming this, I would get bullied.

According to the 2011 National School Climate Survey Report, nearly 64 percent of transgender students in middle school and high school in the United States are verbally harassed in school.

People are ignorant to the fact that we’re all human beings and we’re all equal.

She’s still the same person.

She still has the same personality, and she’s still my friend.

As an 8th grader, Raquel has been challenging the people around her to view the world differently.

Waiʻanae Intermediate School administration is examining arrangements needed for transgender students.

A transgender student is treated just as any other student is on campus.

The consideration that we need to put into place are the logistics, such as having a gender-neutral bathroom.

It will feel awkward to go into a boys’ bathroom like this, because I know that a lot of boys don’t appreciate or accept the way I am.

All the support she has received has made a world of difference in her successful transition.

I support her in every way whichever way she wants to go, socially, mentally, physically, in every aspect of her life.

I know that I can come out and be who I wanted to be, knowing that there are people who love me and support me.

Living as a female, she finally feels accepted and can be her true self.

I want to be judged positively because no matter what I look like, pretty, ugly, boy, girl, because we’re all human beings and we shall be treated equally.

This is Leihalia Panui reporting from Waiʻanae Intermediate School for HIKI NŌ.

This is Sera Sanchez, an 8th grader at Kailua Intermediate School on Oʻahu.

I’m recording this from my home on November 5th, 2020.

I’ve been doing gymnastics since I was six years old.

There are 10 levels in gymnastics and I’m in level nine, which is pretty advanced for my age.

I train with my team, Hawaiian Island Twisters.

After high school, I want to get a scholarship and compete in college.

Before COVID, I practiced for four hours every day.

Now, I only have one-hour practice through Zoom.

This makes me nervous and scared because I wonder how out of shape I am and how bad my skills might be since I don't have the equipment or space to practice.

My best events are bars and floor.

At home, I have a mat where I can do basic skills like back handsprings for muscle memory.

I also stretch a lot and do YouTube workouts.

I still feel like I’m falling behind, but I’m doing the best that I can.

With new rules going into effect, we’re supposed to return to gym soon.

When this happens, I’m going to work hard to learn new skills to get back on track to achieve my goals.

As we continue our look back at 10 years of HIKI NŌ, here’s one of the first stories to report with great empathy on a physically degenerative incurable disease.

Drink milk and snuggle and watch a movie together.

Six-year-old Avalon Eryant is her mother, Paula’s angel, but that doesn’t make Paula’s life heaven on earth.

Hopefully, hopefully in the future families don’t have to go through this anymore.

Paula hasn’t always been this willing to acknowledge her struggle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, commonly known as A.L.S.

It took me awhile to get to the doctor’s because much of it I didn’t want to hear.

In A.L.S.

victims, the nerve cells controlling muscles fail.

Little by little, their body becomes impossible to move, eventually becoming so weak that it no longer works.

It’s devastating on families.

You can never get used to one state of being because something else goes.

I live every day in hope and a desire to live and have the next 30 years with my family, but it is very rare that we live past two to five years from diagnosis.

Paula doesn’t want the moments that she has left with her daughter to hit any low notes.

She doesn’t know all that.

Not to that extent.

This September, Avalon’s school hosted one of the many recent ice-bucket challenges that have been flooding social media.

This event really hit home when Doris Todd Memorial Christian School decided to keep it local.

And then the teacher said, Paula, we want to raise awareness for ALS, and we want it to stay here and we to give it to you, and so they gave me the money.

And they all hugged me, kissed me... Oh, I hugged her so much.

Just because Paula is fatally diagnosed doesn't mean she has to stop living.

She still has many more snuggles left for Avalon.

Everybody has a choice when they hear that they have been diagnosed with something that has no cure, and I choose to live in a blessed way.

I choose to not let it take away the love that I have for my family.

I choose for it not to take my joy away every single day.

This is Sydney Dempsey from Maui High School for HIKI NŌ.

Thank you for watching our concluding episode featuring Student Reflections on life and school in the COVID-19 era.

Be sure to tune in next week when we reveal the winning stories in the 2020 HIKI NŌ Fall Challenge, more proof that Hawai‘i students HIKI NŌ, can do.

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