LIHUE — Today, some of Kauai’s most creative and hard-working young minds will be honored at the 2017 Hiki No Awards ceremony at the Kauai Marriott Resort & Beach Club. Two Kauai middle schools — Kapaa and Chiefess Kamakahelei —and
LIHUE — Today, some of Kauai’s most creative and hard-working young minds will be honored at the 2017 Hiki No Awards ceremony at the Kauai Marriott Resort & Beach Club.
Two Kauai middle schools — Kapaa and Chiefess Kamakahelei —and two Kauai high schools — Kapaa and Kauai — are nominated in several categories, including Best Overall Story and Best Personal Profile.
“For me, it feels fantastic,” said Chris Sanderl, who teaches the Gifted and Talented Media Program at Kapaa Middle School. “I know how hard these students have worked. I know what they’ve gone through. I know the struggles, in some cases the tears, just how much they care about the high quality of work that they’re producing.”
Hiki No is sponsored by PBS Hawaii with the goal of recognizing the state’s progress and success in digital learning and student news programs. Nominees for this year’s awards were chosen from projects done during the 2015-2016 school year and the 2016-17 school year’s fall semester. About 75 students and parents will be in attendance from Kapaa Middle School as they hope to take home prizes in five different categories: Best Overall Story, Best Franchise Piece, Best Achievement in Cinematography and Editing, Best Personal Profile and Best Writing.
“We’ve been working so hard on our piece. We’ve gone through so many edits and revisions, so being nominated now feels so rewarding,” said Kaile McKeown, a seventh grader at Kapaa Middle School. “We’ve put in months and months, just so much time. We’ve stayed after school and spent our weekends filming and working on it.”
McKeown’s project is “10 Things to do When You’re NOT on Your Smartphone,” a collaboration she did with her partner Gillian Alpman.
“It’s super awesome. I never thought we would be nominated when we first started working on it,” Alpman told The Garden Island.
“I’m super glad that all the hard work and all the time paid off,” Alpman said.
The complete list of nominees follows:
Best Personal Profile — Middle School Division
Chiefess Kamakahelei Middle School — “Moses Hamilton”
Kapaa Middle School — “Joe Young”
Best Writing — Middle School Division
Chiefess Kamakahelei Middle School — “K-9 Search & Rescue”
Kapaa Middle School — “Love Laundry”
Best Writing — High School Division
Kauai High School — “Biomass”
Best Overall Story — Middle School Division
Chiefess Kamakahelei Middle School — “Dog Wheelchair”
Kapaa Middle School — “Firefighter”
Best Overall Story — High School Division
Kapaa High School — “Iloreta Brothers”
Best Franchise Piece
Kapaa Middle School — “10 Things To Do When You’re NOT On Your Smartphone”
Kauai High School — “Hurricane Protection”
Best Achievement in Cinematography & Editing
Kapaa Middle School — “Junior Lifeguard”
