HONOLULU — Seven Kaua‘i videos are among the finalists for the 18th annual ‘Olelo Youth Xchange Student Video Competition.
These finalists were announced by competition leaders Tuesday from a field of more than 700 submissions from keiki in every county across the state in 15 different categories. The submissions were created by students who attend public, charter and private schools, or are homeschooled.
The winning videos are selected based on subject impact and technical production by a judging panel that include local news media, filmmaking professionals and, in the case of sponsored categories, subject experts.
Chiefess Kamakahelei Middle School is the only middle school making the short list from Kaua‘i, with two selections in the 808 No Vape category, and one in the Prevent Bullying Together With Aloha category.
Kaua‘i High School teams placed three productions, one each in the Choose Healthy & Ono at Home, Forest Inspired, and Public Service Announcement categories.
Kapa‘a High School finished with a finalist contender in the Creating Peace category.
The 37 award winners will be announced during shows on April 28, with prizes including high-definition, Sony digital video cameras.
Social-media influencer Jelayne Shelton will host three separate award shows on ‘Olelo, public access channel 53 on Spectrum, to allow each age group — elementary, middle and high schools — more time in the spotlight.
Elementary awards will be presented starting at 6 p.m, followed by the middle-school division at 7:30 p.m. and the high-school presentations starting at 9 p.m. The high-school presentations will also include the presentation of the expert and junior expert category awards.
The three shows will also be available on the ‘Olelo Facebook page, ‘OleloNet at olelo.org/53, and through the mobile app.
The videos will be made available for viewing within 48 hours on ‘Olelo Video on-demand Spectrum channels 184 and Channel 1961 HD, Hawaiian Telcom on-demand channel 808, and at olelo.org/olelonet.
The ‘Olelo Youth Xchange was launched in 2003 to give island keiki a voice to tell stories in a variety of video formats about subjects meaningful to them. Since its inception, the ‘Olelo Youth Xchange has awarded more than 650 video cameras to schools in Hawai‘i.
Kaua‘i finalists
• 808 No Vape, Chiefess Kamakahelei Middle School, “Be Cool, Don’t Be A Fool” and “Don’t Use Nicotine, It Makes You Weak;”
• Choose Healthy & Ono at Home, Kaua‘i High School, “Start Living Healthy;”
• Creating Peace, Kapa‘a High School, “Peace Begins at Home;”
• Forest Inspired, Kaua‘i High School “Let’s Keep Our Forests and Land Healthy and Growing;”
• Public Service Announcement, Kaua‘i High School, “Choices;”
• Prevent Bullying Together With Aloha, Chiefess Kamakahelei Middle School, “Don’t Be Mean Behind A Screen.”
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
