LIHU‘E — Chiefess Kamakahelei Middle School student David Braman was a winner during the 2022 Student Television Network National Convention held earlier this year.
“As soon as I heard the ‘Ch’ for Chiefess, it was just, boom!” Braman said following the awards ceremony. “We have a great team. We did it, and it was awesome.”
Ron Mizutani of Public Broadcasting Service Hawai‘i shared a link, pbshawaii.org/limitless-aloha-stn-in-hawaii/, to the special program, Limitless Aloha, that speaks on how the community pulled together to put on a Hawai‘i-based hub of the annual STN conference and convention with support from the PBS Hawai‘i’s Hiki No program.
“This year, due to the pandemic restrictions that prevented student travel to mainland events, media teachers, including Board Member and Hiki No Committee Chair Kevin Matsunaga, the CKMS media instructor, acquired special permission from STN to hold a parallel event in Honolulu with the support of the Hawai‘i State Department of Education called ‘Limitless Aloha’ based on the national event’s ‘Limitless’ theme,” said Marissa Sandblom, a PBS Community Advisory Board member and Kaua‘i native.
“‘Limitless Aloha’ was held over three days at the Hilton Hawaiian Village during the President’s Day weekend, and when it was over, Hawai‘i’s schools took home a stunning number of awards — 40 in total — that broke an STN award count for island schools.”
Braman and his team of three additional students was one of those winners, taking first place in the Commercial (Middle School) class. Chiefess Kamakahelei also pocketed an honorable mention in the Personal Vlog (Middle School) division. Kaua‘i High School captured first place in the Multimedia Journalist (High School) division for Kaua‘i’s share of those 40 awards.
“Being here, the energy is so much better,” Braman said. “This felt like my first real STN. Ever since elementary school I’ve been dreaming about doing STN because I have older friends that have gone to the annual competitions. Getting to bond was an amazing experience. The winning was a nice bonus.”
During the hub experience, students had the opportunity to participate in educational workshops sponsored by PBS Hawai‘i’s Hiki No statewide student news program.
The Hawai‘i students also participated in onsite media competitions in 20 different categories over two days.
“Year after year, our Hiki No students have made Hawai‘i proud by showcasing their talents on a national stage at the annual STN competition, taking home a disproportionate number of awards compared to highly populated states such as California and Texas,” Mizutani said.
“HIDOE did a great service by bringing this national competition to our state for the very first time in the form of the Hawai‘i-Hub STN Conference. It is gratifying to see the joy on the faces of these students as they compete,” he said.
Sandblom said HIDOE schools won 31 awards for work produced during the onsite competitions. Moanalua High School and Maui Waena Intermediate School took the most prizes with nine and six, respectively. In separate STN awards for excellence in filmmaking, Moanalua High School took four awards and Waiakea High School earned one award.
Taylor McCann, a Hiki No student from Waiakea High School in Hilo on Hawai‘i Island, hosted the special show on location at the Hilton Hawaiian Village.
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
Source: The Garden Island
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