Leslie Wilcox Blogs

Bill and Peggy's Park in Waialua

Over the weekend, I went to the North Shore park which has been re-named to reflect a beloved North Shore couple who helped save the park from development. It's now Bill and Peggy Paty Kaiaka Park. (Bill is pictured above  as a guest on Long Story Short on PBS Hawaii.)

The park is known for a striking pedestal boulder near the edge of Kaiaka Bay.

Kaiaka, across from the Waialua fire station, is a beautiful place. Although I need to note that it's looking a little worse for the wear. September tends to be the hottest month of the year--and the grass at Kaiaka Park is fried. No money for irrigation. On the parched grass, quite a few homeless people set up camp every day. They must leave at nightfall when the gates close. 

It's not the rich green park I remember from my youth. But most of the beachside ironwoods survived past hurricanes and there are still spreading shade trees throughout the acreage. Many people from the neighborhood make walking around the park part of their exercise routine. Does Uncle Ben ever miss a day, with his dog Hau'oli? Ben usually also has a human friend, or two, or three, with him.

The site is still glorious, and I'm grateful to Bill and Peggy for successfully crusading all those years ago to keep this part of the country country.

Konawaena High to Anchor Next HIKI NŌ Show

 

Here's a recent scene at Konawaena High School, on the west side of Hawaii Island, with PBS Hawaii HIKI NŌ  Assistant Producer/Video Editor Lawrence Pacheco (pictured second from left) coaching students in video production.

Lawrence is another remarkable member of our staff--he's a perfectionist who makes the most of every situation to produce terrific video. He's creative and painstaking. And when he needs to be, boy is he a fast editor! At the same time, he's patient and encouraging in mentoring students. Of course, he expects their best work. And they strive to meet his high standards.

Konawaena students will anchor the opening episode of HIKI NŌ's second season. HIKI NO is the nation's first statewide student news network, presenting community stories on-air and online. These students have been producing solid stories and we look forward to their role in hosting a half-hour show. They'll introduce us to their campus as well as introduce reports from other HIKI NO schools throughout the islands.

And for the first time, HIKI NŌ will be in PBS Hawaii's prime time  programming line-up. The show moves to 7:30 pm Thursdays, starting Oct. 13, 2011. Yes, the schools' storytelling skills are that good - and only getting better.

www.pbshawaii.org/hikino

PBS Hawaii Presents - Papa Mau: The Wayfinder

PBS Hawaii Presents - Papa Mau: The Wayfinder

Thursday, Sept. 29, 2011, 8:30 pm & 11:00 pm

This film recounts the fundamental role that master navigator Mau Piailug played in reawakening Polynesian pride by teaching Hawaiians the dying art of traditional voyaging without the aid of instruments. While the art of non-instrument navigation was lost in Polynesia, it lived on in the tiny Micronesian atoll of Satawal, in a man named Mau. Chosen at birth and trained from an early age, Mau was not only destined to become a master of this dying tradition, but he also had the singular foresight to create a wayfinding legacy for all of Oceania by sharing his knowledge with a new generation of Hawaiian navigators. When Mau successfully guided Hōkūle'a to Tahiti in 1976, the voyage launched a collective reawakening of cultural pride and unity throughout the Pacific. This film was produced and directed by Nā'ālehu Anthony.

INSIGHTS on the Digital Revolution

This week on INSIGHTS ON PBS HAWAII (Thurs., Sept.  29 , 2011, 7:30 pm),  host Dan Boylan and guests will discuss how digital technology is revolutionizing the way we learn, do business and live life in Hawaii. It is shaping our communication skills, our economy, even our health and well-being.

Scheduled guests are Philip J. Bossert, Director at the Institute for 21st Century Teaching and Learning at the Hawaii Association of Independent Schools; and Scott Robertson, Director of the Hawaii Computer-Human Interaction Lab at the University of Hawaii at Manoa; and a UH colleague, Dr. Robert Tokunaga of the Communicology (as in, Speech) Department.

Tune in and participate,  through live blogging, Twitter,  email, or phone calls.

14 Primetime Emmy Awards

     Congrats to PBS and the producers who create quality  television programming! Last night, PBS programs won 14 Emmy Awards, the highest number of primetime Emmy wins in more than a quarter of a century.

       Biggest PBS winner was MASTERPIECE,  picking up six awards for Downton Abbey.

Two New Local Programs on Tap

My guests on PBS Hawaii's next LONG STORY SHORT  (Tues., Sept. 20, 2011, 7:30 pm with encores on Wed., Sept. 21, at 11:00 pm and on Sun., Sept. 25, at 4:00 pm) are a couple who raised their family without television in remote Haena, Kauai. Now this husband-and-wife team travels the globe to teach, learn and share the kuleana of land stewardship. Meet Chipper and Hau'oli Wichman (pictured right), who run the National Tropical Botanical Garden on Kauai and in Florida. CEO Chipper grew up in Honolulu in a privileged family and recalls learning a lot from his public school classmates from the tough neighborhood of Papakolea. His wife and executive assistant Hau'oli grew up in Nanakuli before her family moved to Kahului. Both are able to communicate well with people from all walks of life and they're working to keep treasured gardens, studded with endangered species, thriving for future generations.

Congress has raised the debt ceiling and opened the door for political debates about state budgets across the country. On the next INSIGHTS ON PBS HAWAII (Thurs., Sept. 22, 2011, 7:30 pm) we'll look at the ongoing national debt crisis and its impact on our local economy. Join host Dan Boylan and guest experts as they examine the Debt Crisis and Gridlock. They will discuss how budget gridlock affects funding decisions, and the effects of the debt crisis on local services.

www.pbshawaii.org

 

Life-Changing Workshop for Teachers

  Two public school teachers whose schools participate in our HIKI No Statewide Student News Network told me that a workshop we presented last week, with visiting CBS News cameraman/producer Les Rose, changed their outlook and their careers.

   Both veteran educators, from schools on different sides of Oahu, had quietly decided to call it quits and look for different work.

     But at the workshop they became fired up by the fascinating challenge of using many 21st-century skills to guide students in producing accurate, well-told stories that matter. There's a new dynamic to how they teach as well, since there's more of a give-and-take, with teachers providing structure, content, context and more...and their digital-native students contributing prowess with technology and knowledge of student concerns.

    Both teachers are dedicated professionals, and I'm glad the teaching profession--and our public schools--aren't going to lose them anytime soon, after all.

www.PBSHawaii.org/hikino

HIKI NO Statewide Conference

Last weekend, about 220 young student journalists and their teachers from throughout the state gathered in Honolulu for the first-ever HIKI NŌ conference. PBS Hawaii presented the conference, with support from private foundations and individual donors. For some students, it's the first time they've left their home island.

They saw and heard storytelling ideas from a visual storyteller extraordinaire, veteran CBS cameraman/producer Les Rose, who's funny and outgoing, and they had small-group training from local industry professionals, including HIKI NŌ Executive Producer Robert Pennybacker, our TV studio crew, Hawaii News Now's Jim Mendoza and independent producer/TV host Emme Tomimbang. We presented awards for school achievement. All five were won by public schools.

HIKI NŌ, the nation's first statewide student news network, began as an audacious, ambitious idea to address market failures. We wanted to make possible a different kind of local news coverage, create an educational program that provides real-world, 21st-century skills, increase media literacy and provide respected media platforms for unheard young voices.

And it's working! Season Two will launch in prime time on Thursdays at 7:30 pm beginning October 13, 2011 on PBS Hawaii - and we now have 63 participating schools, including our first grade school! That's up from 54 middle and high schools during the first season. These students, guided by teachers and our staff, are showing us they're willing to problem-solve and work hard for excellence.

For more information on HIKI NŌ, or to watch a student newscast, go to PBSHawaii.org/hikino

 

Gov. Abercrombie's Visit

Last year when Gov. Neil Abercrombie appeared on INSIGHTS ON PBS HAWAII, he arrived early and our college production students invited him to sit down and share a casual dinner in our kitchen. He did so, very comfortably, and asked them a lot of questions about school. This visit, he arrived shortly before air time, but still took time to spend a few minutes in my office, where

we talked about the increasing value of noncommercial media. I offered him a ginger lei, and he explained he already had a lei handy, crafted by a developmentally disabled worker. But he accepted the ginger lei with thanks, saying he would take it home to his wife Nancie because she loves the fragrance.

The Governor on the air with INSIGHTS host Dan Boylan. The one-on-one format allows a depth of questioning, but some viewers questioned whether a panel of journalists should have joined Dan with a steady stream of wide-ranging, hard-hitting questions. Our staff was listening and will consider.

What a Phone Call!

I'm in great company here, with the other 2011 winners of the Hookele Awards, presented by Hawaii Community Foundation and the Wallace Alexander Gerbode Foundation. From left, Tony Krieg of Hale Makua on Maui, Lea Hong of the Trust for Public Land, me, and Hanahauoli head of school Bob Peters. Hookele means steersman, and the award for nonprofit leaders is nothing one can apply for. All four of us just got a call out of the blue from HCF's Kelvin Taketa. A confidential committee seeks community input and decides.

The award comes with a $10,000 grant to be used for the nonprofit leader's professional development or personal renewal.

Here's Kelvin, who runs the largest community foundation in Hawaii, me, my Board Chair Robbie Alm, and the head of the Gerbode Foundation, Tom Layton, who's based in San Francisco but knows Hawaii very well.

Why is this woman smiling? Thinking of all kinds of ways to use $10,000 for development or renewal. And if the smile looks rueful, it's because most nonprofit directors are crazy-busy, especially in uncertain economies. But we can dream!