HIKI NŌ means “can do” in Hawaiian. “Hawaiians truly use it in dialog, and it’s a optimistic affirmation,” stated Lori Kaya, grant author for PBS Hawai‘i. “HIKI NŌ. I can do this.” The digital-media program supported by the Alaska Airways Basis pairs college students and academics with skilled mentors from Hawai‘i’s media and movie industries.
Saige Adaro, 18, felt misplaced in 2020 when the pandemic introduced an abrupt finish to 10 years of finding out dance – till an invite to affix a video class propelled her onto a brand new artistic path. Holden Aniya, additionally 18, found a love for digital storytelling, which has helped her keep nearer to her household whereas she pursues her dream of changing into an airline pilot. For each younger girls, an progressive digital media program serving elementary by means of highschool college students that’s supported by the Alaska Airways Basis gave them new instruments to specific themselves and dream larger.
Adaro and Aniya have been amongst greater than 3,300 college students in Hawai‘i who participated final 12 months in HIKI NŌ, a PBS Hawai‘i program that teaches college students how one can create PBS-quality movies telling the tales of their communities. HIKI NŌ, which acquired a 2022 grant from the Alaska Airways Basis, additionally cultivates skilled expertise that assist college students reach faculty and their future careers.
College students’ tasks are launched on a weekly PBS Hawai‘i broadcast, in addition to the PBS Hawai‘i YouTube channel, and 90 colleges throughout 4 islands take part. “It’s an enormous factor for Hawai‘i youngsters, who’re in form of a bit bubble,” stated Aniya, who’s now a freshman at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical College. “HIKI NŌ is a good way for youths to get on the market, communicate to completely different folks and share their tales with everybody.”
Adaro cherished her work with HIKI NŌ a lot that it modified her complete profession path. She’s now majoring in screenwriting at Chapman College in California.
“Like dance, this was telling tales by means of motion, however I discovered that I like telling tales by means of writing and video as a result of it was a strategy to spotlight folks in my neighborhood,” stated Adaro, who produced a half-dozen movies throughout her junior and senior years at Pearl Metropolis Excessive Faculty – together with one reflecting on how the pandemic altered her artistic journey. “In our tasks, I at all times cherished being the one to craft the script, and this helped lead me to the place I’m.”
Aniya, who has identified since she was in eighth grade that she desires to be a industrial airline pilot, says this system additionally taught her how one can deal with criticism and overcome obstacles. And now that she’s removed from house finding out aviation, she loves making movies to share with household. “It’s wonderful to consider how that invitation to concentrate on telling a narrative can provide you one thing that you would be able to keep on without end,” she stated.
The Alaska Airways Basis is dedicated to creating alternatives for younger folks to encourage the subsequent technology
The Alaska Airways Basis, a nonprofit grant-making group, is devoted to supporting applications for the subsequent technology of leaders in aviation and past, notably within the West Coast states we name house. HIKI NŌ is amongst 68 organizations in Hawai‘i, Alaska, California, Oregon and Washington that acquired grants from the Basis in 2022 to equip and allow younger folks to pursue their profession goals.
Over the previous 23 years, we’ve got invested greater than $4 million in grants for communities the place Alaska Airways flies. HIKI NŌ acquired previous help from Alaska Airways, and the 2022 Basis grant got here in the identical 12 months we celebrated 15 years of service to the Hawaiian Islands.
“Packages like HIKI NŌ allow fairness and alternative for college kids who could in any other case be ignored and put them on a path to realize future success,” stated Diana Birkett Rakow, Basis chair and senior vp of public affairs and sustainability at Alaska Airways. “The Alaska Airways Basis helps nice organizations like PBS Hawai‘i do that vital and highly effective work to encourage younger folks in our communities and equip them with the instruments to dream large.”
Cultivating expertise for future careers
Adaro started to comprehend that filmmaking may very well be a viable profession as she produced HIKI NŌ tasks like “Stitching a New Regular,” which advised the story of her college’s vogue program. “I cherished with the ability to do a video about how that program has survived COVID and the way it’s persevering with to develop,” she stated. “Simply shining a light-weight on one thing that usually goes ignored, that contributes loads to college students’ lives, was actually gratifying and I cherished doing it.”
Ryan Kawamoto, a director and vp for Kinetic Productions in Honolulu, remembers getting his begin in a highschool video manufacturing class. Now, he’s mentored dozens of HIKI NŌ college students. “Not all of them will go into the business and that’s OK,” he stated. “However they’re studying beneficial smooth expertise like teamwork, communication, artistic problem-solving, talking expertise and writing expertise. The record goes on and on.”
Kawamoto supplied Adaro a summer season internship after her expertise with HIKI NŌ. “It undoubtedly opened so many doorways for me,” stated Adaro, who plans to pay it ahead by changing into a future HIKI NŌ mentor. “For college students everywhere in the state, it permits them to discover an inventive facet of the media business, and it permits them to discover their passions. I owe loads to it.”
The Alaska Airways Basis is now accepting new grant requests for 2023. Extra info on making use of for a Basis grant may be discovered right here.