The Chiefess Kamakahelei Middle School media class earned four awards, including a first place for Movie Trailer, and Kaua‘i High School captured third place at the Sweet 16 Broadcast Journalism contest at the Student Television Network Convention that concluded March
The Chiefess Kamakahelei Middle School media class earned four awards, including a first place for Movie Trailer, and Kaua‘i High School captured third place at the Sweet 16 Broadcast Journalism contest at the Student Television Network Convention that concluded March 24 in Dallas, Texas.
Overall, Hawai‘i students brought home 23 awards, including those earned by the Kaua‘i delegation, states a news release from the state Department of Education.
More than 1,900 students and teachers from middle and high schools across the country attended the Student Television Network Convention, where students participated in breakout sessions led by industry professionals and visited exhibit booths with vendors who were knowledgeable and provided future contacts for many aspects of the industry.
Hawai‘i media crews fared well in the Sweet 16 Broadcast Journalism contest. Each school team produced an entire broadcast based on a one-word topic within a 16-hour time frame.
Hawai‘i crews swept the middle school division with Maui Waena Intermediate School taking first place, followed by Chiefess Kamakahelei earning second place and Waianae Intermediate School winning third place.
Kaua‘i High School, after being detained in Los Angeles for about 24 hours due to thunderstorms closing down the Dallas airport, came into the competition late.
“Any other school would have called it quits,” said Leah Aiwohi, adviser to the Kaua‘i team of five students. “But our kids didn’t throw in the towel. They set out to do whatever they could in whatever time was left.”
The Kaua‘i team finished with a third-place award, superceded by Waianae High School, which earned the second-place award in the high school division.
“Next year, Kapa‘a Middle School will be having a team doing video, too,” Aiwohi said, noting Kapa‘a Middle School students have spent the year “shadowing” Kaua‘i High School media students.
In addition to the top honors captured by Chiefess Kamakahelei in the Movie Trailer category, Hawai‘i schools took top honors in Music Video, Spot Feature (Waianae High) and Commercial (Waianae Intermediate) fields.
Chiefess Kamakahelei crews, in addition to its Movie Trailer and Sweet 16 Broadcast Journalism placements, finished second in Spot Feature and third in Music Video.
The Student Television Network is a nonprofit organization started in 1999 by a group of teachers who volunteered their time, energy and vision. With hundreds of affiliate public and private schools, the network supports, promotes and recognizes excellence in scholastic broadcasting, creative video and filmmaking, and media convergence.
