Hawaiʻi I Ke Alo

About 40 high school students at Ke Kula o Nāwahīokalaniʻōpuʻu Public Charter School are learning communications and video production skills through a new ʻImiloa program -- "Hawaiʻi I Ke Alo: Forward Facing Hawaiʻi."

ʻImiloa staff are teaching the students a college-credited course on hoʻokaʻaʻike kikohoʻe, or digital communications, which aims to encourage them to think critically about the information that they read and process through digital platforms. By the end of Fall 2022 they will learn to write, film, edit, and produce a news story of significance to them and their school community completely in Hawaiian.

Hawaiʻi I Ke Alo is a collaborative effort between ʻImiloa, Ka Haka ʻUla o Keʻelikolani College of Hawaiian Language at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo, Ke Kula ʻo Nāwahīokalaniʻōpuʻu, and ʻŌiwi Television Network. It is funded by a U.S. Department of Education Native Hawaiian Education Program grant.

Other components of the program that will be further developed over the next three years include high school and college internships along with professional development courses aimed at teaching Hawaiian medium teachers how to incorporate digital media into their classrooms.