
1613 - HIKI NŌ on PBS Hawaiʻi Winter Challenge: Small Actions, Big Impact
Season 16 Episode 13 | 26m 42sVideo has Closed Captions
The winning entries for HIKI NŌ’s 2025 Winter Challenge.
In this episode of HIKI NŌ on PBS Hawai‘i, find out which schools produced the winning entries for HIKI NŌ’s 2025 Winter Challenge competition with host Jett Jarrett, a sophomore at Kalāheo High School on Oʻahu.
HIKI NŌ is a local public television program presented by PBS Hawai'i

1613 - HIKI NŌ on PBS Hawaiʻi Winter Challenge: Small Actions, Big Impact
Season 16 Episode 13 | 26m 42sVideo has Closed Captions
In this episode of HIKI NŌ on PBS Hawai‘i, find out which schools produced the winning entries for HIKI NŌ’s 2025 Winter Challenge competition with host Jett Jarrett, a sophomore at Kalāheo High School on Oʻahu.
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Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorship[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 Jett Jarrett, and I am a sophomore at Kalāheo High School on O‘ahu.
We have a packed show for you tonight, as I get to reveal the winning entries of HIKI NŌ's 2025 Winter Challenge competition.
Each season during the school year, HIKI NŌ challenges student reporters to produce stories in the span of a few days.
These contests are called Challenges.
For 2025 HIKI NŌ on PBS Hawai‘i Winter Challenge, the call was for videos based on the prompt, Small Actions, Big impact.
Usually, students have weeks to work on projects for HIKI NŌ and lots of help from our teachers and industry mentors.
During this competition, students had just under a week to search for story ideas and people to interview, film, and edit their videos.
In these competitions, HIKI NŌ judges look for stories produced with technical skill and storytelling finesse.
They also have to meet the prompt.
Now, it is my pleasure to share the winning entries with you.
Let's start with an honorable mention in our high school division.
In the high school division of the 2025 HIKI NŌ on PBS Hawai‘i Winter Challenge, receiving honorable mention is Maryknoll School on O‘ahu.
Congratulations.
Student reporters interviewed their student body president at Maryknoll School on O‘ahu, one of the busiest students on campus, who had a story to share about how small acts of kindness can help someone pull through a tough time.
Hello.
This is Jaina Higuchi, reporting for HIKI NŌ.
Today we are catching up with Maryknoll student Zander Torres, and how a small act made a big difference in his life.
Aloha.
My name is Xander Gabriel Torres.
I am a senior at Maryknoll High School.
I am the student body president; at Maryknoll, we call it Senate.
And like I said, Senate is the student governing body for the entire school.
I'm also president of the Hawaiian Club.
I'm involved in the Filipino Club, Samoan Club, and Spartan Spirit Club.
In addition to that, I serve at Sacred Hearts Parish, the school's church.
I am an altar server and a Eucharistic minister.
After school, I work for Maryknoll at the Extended Learning Office as an after-school care aide, and it's basically daycare.
Xander was a normal and thriving student until a tragic event changed it all.
Last year, in August, my grandpa passed away, and that really took a toll on me, especially as one of his caregivers, and it was completely unexpected.
And it wasn't until when in English class my teacher, Mrs. McGivern, she had asked me, "Xander, this is not like you.
Why are you failing English?"
And I talked to her after class, and that was like, really, the first time I opened up to anyone, because I bottled up all of these feelings, because I didn't want to talk to my cousins, my brother, my mom or dad about the passing of my grandfather.
And she truly understood what I was going through and how, you know, her just talking story with me and asking how I was doing, and just telling me that I'll be able to get through this really, you know, it turned me around because I was failing class.
It wasn't just her class.
I was failing all my classes.
That small act by Ms. McGivern got me out of a really dark spot in my life, and I'm very grateful for her.
So, we shouldn't be afraid to ask someone how they're doing.
Don't be afraid to be that shoulder to cry on, or that ear to listen, because one small act of kindness can go a real long way for that person.
This is Jaina Higuchi from Maryknoll High School for HIKI NŌ on PBS Hawai‘i.
In the high school division of the 2025 HIKI NŌ on PBS Hawai‘i Winter Challenge, receiving third place from the island of Maui is H.P.
Baldwin High School.
Congratulations.
This story features a women-owned thrift store on Maui that has a mission of helping victims of domestic violence.
You know, on Maui, it's two degrees separation, yeah, not six.
Somebody you know, I probably know, and just by that, it's a place of welcoming, I think.
Aloha.
My name is Lei Lee, and I'm the store manager here at the Women Helping Women Revive Boutique.
Revive Boutique, a secondhand shop located in Kahului, Maui, works with Women Helping Women to end domestic violence through educational outreach, awareness and donations.
The way we serve those affected by domestic violence is really, we're in the back end.
We're behind the scenes.
The funds that we raise actually go directly to our programs and, you know, to Women Helping Women.
So that, to me, is huge.
Women Helping Women's mission is to prevent gender-based violence and to empower all survivors while driving social change that promotes justice and centrist communities impacted by oppression.
Yeah.
So, again, it's such a community-based business that without the donors, without the customers, without volunteers, we wouldn't be able to do that.
Like Women Helping Women, Revive relies heavily on volunteers.
The County of Maui provides us with volunteers, as well as we have a Back to Work program that we partner with, aside from people who just walk in and want to be a part of what we do.
My name is Mieko Arakawa.
I don't directly work with the shelter, but what we do here will actually benefit and contribute to the shelter.
So, I feel useful.
I feel like I'm doing something.
So, what we are doing is just taking our donations, right, from anybody who can donate, and whatever we do, the proceeds goes to shelter, right?
So, it's a small individual action that you guys do, and I just work as a cashier, but if you look at the big picture, you're probably helping people we don't even know, but who needs help, not by giving those clothing, but by helping their shelter or the program they offer.
So that's how I see it.
There were a lot of customers who repeat, come through quite often, and they do shop, but they also talk about their lives sometimes.
I talk about my life to them sometimes.
So, it's kind of like, you know, the vibe you get, like in beauty salon when you go, you don't just get a haircut, the same thing.
We sort of like, the relationship with the customers, and we know there are so many customers who actually, we kind of know them really well.
You know, you never really know who you gonna meet.
And we're almost like a gathering place honestly.
You come in and it's about talking story and "Oh, you know," You wouldn't know the impact that we have till you come in.
This is Ali Benigno from H.P.
Baldwin High School for HIKI NŌ, on PBS Hawai‘i.
Taking third place in the middle school division in the 2025 HIKI NŌ Winter Challenge is Maui Waena Intermediate School on Maui.
Congratulations.
These students went behind the scenes at a community health and fitness event organized by the Maui Family YMCA and Maui Scouting Unit 49.
They tie in heart awareness just in time for Valentine's Day.
Everything doesn't have to be done on a grand scale to make a positive impact on the community.
Here at the YMCA is the annual HeartFest Event.
This event hopes to bring a great positive impact on the community.
So, HeartFest is an event that the YMCA and the Scout Troops put together to promote healthy living and fun for families and the community.
So, we have vendors that are selling everything from jewelry to clothing to handmade items.
And then, of course, you have food trucks and other types of food that's being produced.
And then you have a great kid zone where kids can go and play games and win prizes.
We have a bounce house.
It's really cool.
So to me, HeartFest is a great time for families to get together, to enjoy the their company, to enjoy the company of their neighbors, members of the community, to play games, to get together and look at all the great vendor crafts and other items that are available, and enjoy some terrific food.
And Steve, the CEO of the YMCA, believes that even the smallest acts are important to our community.
I think the most important thing is that everybody can be involved, and everybody can have fun and have a good time.
Everyone that comes in here has a different need, do different things, but from our staff to other members of the community are here, we just help one another, and sometimes, like I said, it's just one member encouraging another member that they're doing a good job with their healthy living, or just shaking someone's hand or saying good morning, or mahalo.
With all these small actions, this event hopes to grow bigger in the future, having a greater impact to our community.
For Maui Waena Intermediate School for HIKI NŌ on PBS Hawai‘i, this is Layla Magsayo reporting.
And now in the high school division of the 2025 HIKI NŌ on PBS Hawai‘i Winter Challenge, receiving second place is Hilo High School on Hawai‘i Island.
Congratulations.
These student reporters share the rich history of a popular public park and pond in Hilo, on the Big Island.
A small intervention is making a big change to the health of the water and wildlife there.
In the middle of Lili‘uokalani Gardens in Hilo, Hawai‘i, lies Waihonu, a five-acre pond led by freshwater springs and seawater.
It hosts a sensitive ecosystem, but throughout the centuries, toxic matter and sediment have settled to the bottom of the pond, disturbing the plants and animals with it.
Great efforts have been made to clean up the pond by local volunteers, especially as it shares a special relationship with Native Hawaiians.
The pond at the center of the garden Waihonu is a traditional Hawaiian fishpond.
It was in Ili Kūpono at the time of Kamehameha, when he was here in Hilo building his war fleet to take over the other islands, unite them into a kingdom.
This pond was set aside to feed his chiefs.
Centuries of waste, sediments, and falling leaves have fallen into the pond, creating a toxic sludge.
Tsunamis kept pushing that sludge deeper into the pond.
So, with that accumulation, over time, the pond became sick.
It's smelly.
The oxygen level is low.
There would be fish die offs.
There would be 32 fish dead on one shore of the pond.
An organization of fishpond caretakers on this island called Hui Loko, one of the members mentioned to me having used Genki balls in their pond on the Kohala side.
Genki balls are mud balls made of soil, rice, bran, molasses, water and EM1 solution.
EM1 solution introduces healthy bacteria that can help break down the sludge.
Over 7,000 Genki balls have been made and thrown into the pond by schools and community groups.
The results came back astonishing.
We need oxygen in the pond.
That's one of the roles that Genki balls play in the pond.
One of the figures that sticks in my head is we've seen a 60% increase in the oxygen levels in the pond.
We've seen the levels of certain toxins start to decline.
We've seen the depth of the mud start to decline inch by inch.
We've seen the clarity of the water improve because the suspended particles aren't there anymore.
Genki balls are the small change to create the big impact it has in the Waihonu pond.
It is our responsibility to help clean and maintain its beauty.
This is Nevaeh Mendoza from Hilo High School for HIKI NŌ, on PBS Hawai‘i.
And now coming in second place of the middle school division of the 2025 HIKI NŌ on PBS Hawai‘i Winter Challenge is Chiefess Kamakahelei Middle School on Kaua‘i.
Congratulations.
Students profile a teacher and counselor on campus who is dedicated to changing student lives and helping them avoid substance abuse.
I do what I do because I love what I do, and I'm blessed to get to do what I do, which is plant positive seeds to help teenagers make positive lives.
When thinking of making a difference, you often don't think of small actions or the quiet moments of connection, but that's what can create the biggest impact.
Here at Chiefess Kamakahelei Middle School, John Sotelo dedicates his time to providing students with a safe space to share and learn from their struggles.
What I do is, once again, plant positive seeds, help students through their struggles, help them to keep their head up and understand the gift of life every day, how to count our blessings, and how drugs and alcohol affect a person's mind, body, spirit in negative ways, and that they can overcome if they want to, if they believe they can achieve.
Hey, good morning.
How are you?
I have the students let it out, especially in this field, lot of pain, lot of rain.
The more healing, the more they let out, the more healing they do, the more they can move forward to make better choices and move forward with their life.
Through one-on-one sessions, group talks and everyday interactions, John creates a safe space where students feel heard and supported.
For many students, he is the adult who helps them build self-esteem, find purpose, and avoid the pressures of substance abuse.
Mr. John's program has such a big impact on students, because I think the kids really have an easy time talking with him, and he speaks to them at their level and in a way where they know that he really cares and that he is there to help them.
You know, Mr. John could be that piece that a student needs here on campus that is going to help them while they're here in middle school.
And hopefully, whatever he's teaching them, he advice that he's giving them, that it is going to make a huge impact later on in their lives, where they're able to deal with their stresses in another way and not depend on some kind of substance to get them through whatever they're dealing with.
With just a small conversation, whether it's a group or one on one talk, the effect of Mr. John's program has changed many of the lives of the students on campus at Chiefess Kamakahelei Middle School.
Daily conversations at the program slowly plant seeds that will continue to develop and grow in the future.
This is Jaqlyn Arruda from Chiefess Kamakahelei Middle School for HIKI NŌ, on PBS Hawai‘i.
Receiving first place in the high school division of the 2025 HIKI NŌ on PBS Hawai‘i Winter Challenge is Campbell High School on O‘ahu.
Students decided to profile one of their teachers at James Campbell High School, who's breaking the typical mold at lunchtime by offering a safe space for students to hang out and connect.
I guess like, you can treat it as like a value thing, like this is valuable for the kids.
Sometimes, the smallest actions can have the biggest impact.
But for Corey Major, a science teacher at James Campbell High School, allowing students to stay in his classroom during lunch isn't a small action at all.
I don't think it's a necessarily like small action, but I think it like, helps with the sense of belonging.
It helps kids feel like they have a place where they can be.
I do know that, like some kids probably don't have any teachers that like, let them sit in their room for lunch, so they kind of feel lost and stuff, and that's never like a good feeling.
That's not like, what I want for any of the kids here.
By opening his doors, Major creates more than just a space to eat.
He creates a sense of belonging for his students, a place where they can feel seen, heard and valued.
I think the kids do like an adult being around.
They like, like, bouncing ideas, or they have, like, if they need help with something, like, they have me as a resource.
I do hope that, like, by being here, they feel like, safe and they feel like they're getting, like, a good experience out of, like, hanging out here.
It's actually a pretty wide variety of kids that hang out here.
I have a lot of old students that are here, and a lot of students that, like, have my next period here.
Major makes it a priority to connect with every student, knowing that a simple conversation and a welcoming space is important for his students.
I think, like, personally, I like to, like, build a lot of relationships and connections with my students that helps like, me understand them, and it helps me like, connect what I'm teaching to like, what they care about and what they think is interesting.
So, I always try to like, learn about my students and get to know them, talking to them like, casually at lunch is probably one of the like, areas where I can do that the most.
But at the same time, Major understands why some teachers choose to keep their doors closed.
Everyone needs a break, but for Major, the choice to keep it open is worth it.
Teachers also have to eat lunch and like, sometimes, like, we just need like, some peace.
It's not like we can all just handle the chaos all the time.
I do think, like, if you were to try and like, convince a teacher to do it, you can say that it, like, helps the students feel more connected to them, more connected to the school, more connected to their like, peers.
The only time that like students are like, interacting is like in the different classes.
So having like, another place where they can like interact is like, valuable.
Major believes that creating a space of inclusion for students is crucial to shaping a more connected and supportive environment for everyone.
I do think the school would be better if it had like, spots for the kids to, like, hang out for themselves.
If you have, like, a higher sense of belonging, hopefully kids take more pride in the school, so they'll like, try harder in classes because they want to, like, do well for the school, or they'll like, take care of the school because, like, they care about it.
They feel like they belong here.
And I hope that the kids here, like, appreciate that.
I do this for them.
And I do want to, like, be a support for them.
I think this school, you have, like, a lot of support, but like, if I can be like, another piece of support, I try to do that.
So, hopefully it helps them.
In the end, a supportive school culture isn't built by grand gestures.
It's shaped by small, everyday moments of kindness, inclusion and connection.
This is Izzy Rodriguez from James Campbell High School, for HIKI NŌ on PBS Hawaiʻi.
Receiving first place in the middle school division of the 2025 HIKI NŌ on PBS Hawai‘i Winter Challenge is Highlands Intermediate School on O‘ahu.
Congratulations.
Actions while driving can have significant consequences.
These middle school students decided to investigate the implementation of red-light cameras on Honolulu roads.
It doesn't take a red-light camera to encourage them to drive more safely and obey the laws, but if it takes red light cameras and issuing tickets to do that, then we'll need to do that.
Gregg Takayama, a Democratic politician serving in the Hawai‘i House of Representatives, is taking action in enhancing road safety and reducing traffic violations, which include the implementations of red-light camera systems.
Red light cameras are a program to encourage people to drive safely, within the speed limits, and to obey our traffic laws.
What we did several years ago as a State Legislature was we passed the law to try out cameras that are mounted on traffic lights that can catch people when they go through a red light.
The idea behind the cameras is to have it automated.
But if worse comes to worse, I suppose it could have going back to police officers being stationed at intersections, but the whole idea is to try and avoid that.
With us trying to avoid having police come back, it may be hard, but how do these simple accidents even start?
People are so much distracted inside their vehicle, either talking on the phone, texting, playing with the radio or music, but the traffic lights are there to help mediate traffic flow.
And that's when- We passed the law to suggest they try it in 10 locations.
We worked with the Honolulu Police, and they chose 10 intersections to put the red-light cameras in, and they're mostly in roads on which there are the most accidents, because there's lots of traffic on them.
With accidents happening every so often from busy streets, sometimes you just have to think, what if you were in that situation?
And that's why- I take every case personal, because if that was my family member, my daughter, my loved one, my friend, I want to investigate the case to its fullest.
We have to make laws that sometimes doesn't make sense, but it has to take care of everything, the totality of the circumstances or the incident.
Very often that creates accidents, not just car accidents, but also those involving pedestrians, which are the most dangerous, because in a fight with a car, the pedestrian always loses.
Drivers tend to be impatient, especially during rush hour, and the tendency is to speed through intersections, run through red lights, and the hope is that we can get drivers to drive more carefully, obey the laws, drive more safely, and that will benefit everyone in the community.
With red light cameras slowly improving, this is definitely one of the smallest changes that can change for the better good.
From Highlands Intermediate School, this is Nai‘a Ka‘aikaula reporting for HIKI NŌ on PBS Hawai‘i.
Congratulations to all the student teams who worked so hard under the pressure of a professional deadline.
They really stepped up to the challenge.
We hope you enjoyed 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 that Hawai‘i students HIKI NŌ — can do.
[outro music]
HIKI NŌ is a local public television program presented by PBS Hawai'i