maui scuba diving

hiki nåœ 603 welcome to a special all-island episode ofhiki nåœ, where each story comes from the garden isleof kauai. coming up next ... in lihue, an island school athlete beats theodds to overcome a terrible injury. from chiefess kamakahelei middle school, alihue woman uses her troubled past to inspire brightfutures. from waimea high school, an organization spreadsschool spirit throughout the community. the students at kapaa high school visit ajuice shop filled with fresh local ingredients. find out how a young kauai high school studentbecame a mentor for young keiki.

from kapaa middle school, meet the youngestand only female fire knife dancer on kauai. and from chiefess kamakahelei middle school,explore one of kauai's most beautiful and dangerous hiking trails. these stories and more on the nation's firststatewide student news network, hiki nåœ... can do! we're here on the campus of island schoolin lihue, on the island of kauai. every year, the seniorclass goes on an overnight retreat. after camping at polihale state park, the studentstake an early morning trip to nualolo kai. it is an ancienthawaiian village along the na pali coast that

is onlyaccessible by boat. there, the seniors help restore the village. this year, they repairedthe rock walls surrounding the village and helped tocontrol invasive plant species. after that, the studentsswim, snorkel, cliff jump, and explore the amazing area. now, here's a story from the hiki nåœ studentsat island school about a boy who fought to continue his life-long passion, despite atraumatic setback. a gifted runner, skilled soccer player, andpassionate mountain biker, josh miller is a junior atisland school who experienced a horrific accident

while doing one of the things he loves. inmarch of 2013, josh was mountain biking in kokee when he underestimated the steep decline,overshot the landing, and broke his neck. when i woke up on the ground, 'cause i didn'tremember the jump, and my arms were tingly. andit's like as if your arms fell asleep, but it never went away for almost three months. upon impact with the ground, josh broke sixvertebrae. pressure on his spinal cord led to apersistent tingling sensation and lack of fine motor skills. i grabbed my first soda can, and my mom waslike, super excited, and she like, called

my grandpaand everything that i grabbed a soda can. so, i didn't have to drink from a straw anymore.that was pretty exciting.with such severe injuries, josh quickly realized he wouldn't be able to race through his recovery. when i had the conversation with my doctor,i asked him if i would be able to play soccer or runcross country or track. and he told me, he said, look, kid, we're trying to get you tobe able to walk again, not be able to run, so let's justtake this one step at a time. and that just kind of set meback in place, and i was like, okay, this

is really like, more serious than i thoughtit was. that made me like, super depressed and super scared,'cause i didn't really know what was gonna happen. and then, once after my surgery andeverything got better and went well, he changed hismind and said, look, it's healed superbly, and so just have at it. just don't be stupid.don't play football. don't wrestle. josh underwent surgery to restore his physicalcapabilities. the operation consisted of removing and replacing two vertebrae with titaniummesh. the operation was a success, and josh made a fullrecovery.

so, when i was over on oahu, i called my coachand called my stepdad, called my soccer coach and was just like, the doctor said i'll beable to play, and everybody was super excited, and i juststarted training right away as soon as i can. i was just kinda like on cloud 9, 'cause itfelt like he took my life away, and then he gave it back.he was like, never mind, here you go. have fun. josh is one of the top runners on kauai andcaptain of his cross-country team. he also plans toplay varsity soccer, track, and tennis for his letterman jacket. but there are stilllimits to what his

body can do. i have almost full range of motion. i mean,i can look side to side and look up and down, but ican't like, hold a phone next to my shoulder, 'cause my neck doesn't go that far to theside. and i can't go to the chiropractor or anything just'cause all they do is crack your neck, and it's all metalnow so, i mean, can't really do that. for josh, these limitations serve as a constantreminder of just how lucky he is. the ability to play sports, 'cause i'll takethem more serious now that i know it's so easy for themto be taken away, and other people out there

that have been injured can't run, so it'sjust kinda like a blessing to be able to run. this has been jacob dysinger from island school,for hiki nåœ. with views mauka and makai from the classroomwindows, kapaa middle school was the first middle school to open on kauai in 1997. itis located on the east side of the island, and on a clearday, the island of oahu can be viewed in the distance. during the winter season, some studentsmay even witness humpback whales breaching and splashing from the campus playfields.the land adjacent to our school is owned by academyaward-winning actress and entertainer bette

midler. our story from the students at kapaa middleschool revolves around another type of entertainment. the drake ohana shares their family's talentsand cultural tradition with locals and visitors alike. kaylynn drake, the only female fire knifedancer on kauai, shares her family's tradition whileenduring the heat of her scalding baton. i enjoy doing fire knife dancing because iget to practice my samoan culture. my brothers and myfamily from oahu got me into fire knife dancing. [drums]

nowadays, fire knife dancing is used for entertainmentpurposes. back then, it was made out of two weapons, so it was a warrior dance backin the olden days. but now, it's just for entertainment,showing the warrior what they can do with skills of the fire. my first time doing fire knife dancing withoutfire was when i was five years old. and i startedwith fire two years ago. with the privilege of having two older brothers,kaylynn is constantly watched and critiqued, andstrives to improve her technique. going against tradition, this princess proves that girlscan also

take the heat. [drums/cheers] when she first started to do fire knife dancing,i wasn't too thrilled about it because we're stickingwith traditions, and traditionally, princesses didn't do the fire dance. when my sister is doing the fire knife dancing,what amazes me is just how she can keep her composure while dealing with the fire andspinning. also, just not being so nervous to perform infront of everybody. watching her over this year, getting moreinvolved with the community of fire knife

dancing, i getexcited to see pictures and photos, especially if i'm not there. though fire knife dancing may appear reallyfun, it can also be very dangerous. before, when i first started with fire, ikept getting burned and getting hurt, and i wasn't really usedto it. but now, i don't really get burned a lot, and i'm starting to learn more tricksand stunts and cool stuff that people get more interestedin. kaylynn's older brothers have been fire knifedancing since their elementary school years. theyhave passed on their skills to kaylynn, just

as they were taught by their elders. when my sister becomes my age, i think shewill become as good, maybe even better than me, ifshe keeps practicing. i do think of passing it down to the nextgeneration to keep the culture going and the tradition. this is haley gokan from kapaa middle school,for hiki nåœ. [cheers] we're here at chiefess kamakahelei middleschool in lihue, on the east side of kauai. over onthe west side of the island lies the largest

coffee farm in the country. the kauai coffeecompany is home to over four million coffee treeson three thousand one hundred acres. our next story celebrates coffee in a differentway. the students at chiefess kamakahelei middleschool visit a local coffee shop that serves up life-changing opportunities. meet gail mande. she is the manager of theplantation coffee company in the town of lihue. shemakes fresh coffee to help get a fresh start. but when gail was younger, she also neededa fresh start of her own.

at the age of thirteen, i started with smokingweed, and then the alcohol got involved, and theneventually, i grew up and got into other harder stuff like meth and cocaine. that wasn't apretty sight. i ended up in jail. i did four yearsin jail. when gail joined the plantation coffee company,she got the help she needed to get over her addiction. you know, people have given me a little grace,and that's what makes me strive to be a better person. i mean, people kind of helped me alongthe line, you know. yeah, you need people tohelp you, can't do it yourself.

after gail turned her life around, she decidedto help the lives of others, especially troubled teenagers. we as employees try to go ahead and help thekids steer in the right direction. you know, kinda use us as an example. well, there's a program called hale kipa, and the person that runs hale kipais the owner of plantation coffee. so, they comeand do some community service at first, and theneventually, they might go ahead and get a job, depending on how busy we get. they becomepart of plantation coffee, in a sense.

my life has been excellent ever since i startedworking at the coffee company. a lot of changes, good changes, positive changes. it's been great, actually, being clean andsober, making money, open my own bank account. actually, i got my high school diploma, andthen go to kcc, get my associates in probably culinary. the plantation coffee company did not onlyhelp high school dropouts, but helped gail as well. everybody, i mean, the owners, my co-workers,the environment, i mean, the people that come in.you can be you. you don't have to go ahead

and pretend not to be you. we have a goodrelationship. we laugh around, we joke around. but for gail, learning to move on from herpast wasn't always easy. my greatest struggle would be getting pastmy past. it's not easy to forget, but i can move on too,yeah? despite her struggles, gail has been ableto push on forward and be the woman she is today. thishas been brandon marcos from chiefess kamakahelei middle school, for hiki nåœ. we're here on the campus of kapaa high schoolon kauai. right below the school is the town ofkapaa, which was voted one of america's prettiest

towns by forbes in 2013. kapaa is surroundedby activities and landmarks that everyone can enjoy, from a coastal bike and walkingpath to several refreshing shave ice stands. there'salso an eclectic blend of shops and restaurants housedin historic plantation era buildings. for our next story, the hiki nåœ studentsat kapaa high school travel into town to a popular juiceshop that has found a fresh way to support kauai's local farmers. [indistinct] i swear... don't you come in here every day?

hidden from the mainstream rush of kapaa townis the kauai juice company. they originally started off selling kombucha, but branchedout into selling juice for an interesting reason. you know, we just thought we're selling somuch kombucha now. imagine if these were one hundred percent juice versus ten or twentypercent juice. that means we'd be buying thousands ofpounds of produce a year. and so, we just thought we need to do this for our local farmers,to create an economy that is taking from localresources, giving back to local resources. so, that wasreally the motivation.

the juice company currently uses about threethousand pounds of fresh produce per week. yet,this wasn't always an easy journey. it took a lot of research on recipes, andit took a lot of sourcing, finding that much local producethat wasn't already spoken for, that farmers weren't already selling to restaurants ormarkets. they strengthened their existing relationshipswith local farms and focused on forging new ones.with that, they are fulfilling one of their biggest goals: positively impacting the growthfor kauai's agriculture.

we've seen a lot of young people approachus about wanting to sell produce and, if i start plantingthis, can you use it? and we're so excited to see young people getting excited aboutfarming, because it's kind of an aging profession.it's really cool to see people wanting to supportthemselves, and in a way that requires a little hard work, you know, but they're not scared.they're excited, and they're feeling empowered again. it seems like in kauai at the moment, we havequite a few young farmers that are interested intrying something new, and getting out of the

city, and getting out of their routine, andgetting back to land. to get their hands dirty that firsttime, you know, it's such a sensation. and then wash itall off, and just get dirty again the next day. although there are many positive aspects tokeeping a business local and organic, there's also adrawback. a lot of people ask us in person or on ourinstagram, like, it's yummy, but why is it eleven dollarsa bottle? but for us, it's easier to answer that question than it would be to answer thequestion,

why aren't you using organic produce? becauseif you're gonna be juicing, you're getting thatthing liquefied, and if you're eating produce that's been coated in pesticides, you're feedingyourself liquefied pesticides. the kauai juice company donates a portionof its proceeds to hawaii seed, a non-profit organization that supports local chemical-freeagriculture. in turn, they fuel seeds for their ownbusiness. i think the juice company has been a reallyawesome tangible way to provide a service back to ourcommunity. i think that's been the biggest thing for us, is watching how much it's reallybrought

life back into people. you know, passion andexcitement. this is ethan whatmore from kapaa high school,for hiki nåœ. in this next story from the students at kauaihigh school, a sixteen-year-old girl turns a tragicexperience into a positive influence for herself and those around her. [indistinct chatter] proof that being a sixteen-year-old girl doesn'tmean a life of nail polish and hair products go faster, run. calcee nance enjoys paddling, basketball,mentoring at the boys' and girls' club, and

theoccasional reinforcement of her brother's abs. [music] boys' and girls' club is my family, 'causebesides my family, this family, like, they're there forme. she's nice, and she takes care of us, andshe's related to me. staff member grace peralta has seen her mentoringat the club for years. she just likes being that mother figure. iguess it's probably because she doesn't have that, so shewants to be that for other people.

my mom passed away when i was seven, so ilive with my dad, my stepmom, and my grandma. my dad always told me, oh, she went to heaven,she's with the angels. calcee still clings to the memories of a long-agotime when she still had her mom. with my mom, there was like a different connectionbetween me and my mom than my brothers and my dad. like, we would wake up on sundaymornings, and like, cook everyone breakfast. every single time we cooked dinner, i wouldalways be there. like, since i wasn't tall enough backthen, like, this is the counter, my face would be like this, looking over and trying to like,see what she's cooking.

her mother left behind a recipe for successthat calcee could follow. she inspired me to like, actually go to culinaryschool, and i want to open up a restaurant. she likes to cook for everyone. she lovescooking, she loves providing. but food isn't the only thing calcee bringsto the table. some of the kids, like, they call me mom.i don't know why. i guess because i've known themfor so long, they call me mom, and they like, treat me like i'm their mom. shoots, i likeadopted six kids in like a month of coming to boys'and girls' club. and they see me as a role model,which i love.

and the feeling is mutual. i love you, calcee. for hiki nåœ, this has been sydney brady. waimea is one of three towns on the islandthat have a claim to the oldest school. the buildingbehind me is the food service building, and it predates the civil war. because of this,it's listed on the national register of historic places.there aren't any significant changes to the outside of thebuilding, although the rest of the campus has been modernized. this building displaysdistinctive

architectural design and integrity of thespecific period. not only do the buildings have importanceto waimea's history, but so do the people. our next story from the students at waimeahigh school highlights one of the many ways this tight-knit community supports its youth. it takes a village to raise a child is a philosophythe people of waimea support. this especially holds true with the waf foundation at waimeahigh school. waff stands for waimea alumni and friendsfoundation, and we are a non-profit organization that assists in funding waimea high school'sequipment that cannot be bought or purchased withthe school's budget. waff started originally

in 1983, and it was formed by a group of studentsand teachers who wanted a way to help the school. anybody can join, and basically, allwe ask for is a ten-dollar membership fee a year, ortwo hundred dollars to become a lifetime member. so,once you pay that, you know, you're set for life. each year, the foundation conducts their annualmeeting with a luau fundraiser. this year, theydecided to try a new menu. alumni chefs, including waimea high's current food service teacherand his culinary students, brought new flavors to the table. they created different stationsfor the

dinner service, such as a fruit and saladbar, and a prime rib carving station. in addition to thefood, there were also cookbooks and tee-shirts available. because this is our twentieth year doing therevitalization of alumni and friends foundation, wedecided to do something different instead of our regular luau, which we usually holdevery year. this year, we're honoring class of '37, thefirst graduating class of waimea high school. wedecided as an organization to honor that class, as well as our original charter members fromthe

1983 incorporation of waimea alumni foundation. the waff community also has several communityand corporate sponsors in addition to their fundraising efforts. one of these sponsorsjust supported their newest fundraiser: a golftournament led by waimea high school's principal, mahina anguay, and her husband, leo. thegolf tournament raised eighty-four hundred dollars for the foundation. however, waffis most famous for their annual carnival held in februaryon waimea high's front lawn. all of the booths, the entertainment, and the food are all providedby current students, alumni, and volunteers. thecarnival earns approximately fifteen thousand

dollars each year. if you can give back to your community, ifyou can be a big brother or big sister, if you can be aninfluence on someone else's life, whether they are young, whether they're old, it makesa huge difference. if you're interested, don't waituntil someone asks you. just come out and help us. the efforts of these community volunteerswill only increase as the waimea students graduate andbecome the next generation of the alumni and friends foundation. i'm samantha nichols fromwaimea high school, for hiki nåœ.

hiki nåœ is now on instagram. for show updatesand peeks behind the scenes, follow us on instagram at hikinocando. we're back at chiefess kamakahelei middleschool in lihue, where work is currently underway toinstall solar panels all over campus. similar changes are happening around the island tomake our schools more energy-efficient. in koloa, on the south side of kauai, thereis the largest solar farm in the state. the kauai islandutility cooperative has installed over forty-five thousand solar panels on a forty-acre lot.it

currently produces five percent of the island'stotal daytime load. this next story from the hiki nåœ studentsat chiefess kamakahelei middle school journeys intothe rocky slopes of a beautiful, but dangerous valley that trapped more than a hundred hikersuntil firefighters came to their rescue. on kauai's north shore lies hanakapiai valley,home to one of the most beautiful and popular trails on the island, the kalalau trail. the hike was quite amazing. once you got pastthe half-mile point, the view is quite spectacular ofthe coast.

while the trail is beautiful, it also canbe dangerous. that very last one. the last one where it was a little wet, ina way it was a stupid climb. it was rocky, and she couldn'tmake it for that reason, and she didn't want to take a risk. because of its popularity, it's not uncommonfor many injuries to occur on a daily basis whenhiking this trail. my husband sprained his ankle. but he madeit out. there are approximately two to three injuriesthat have to be airlifted out of the hanakapiai

areaeach day due to either sprains or broken bones. on april 6, 2014, what started off to seemlike a beautiful day, quickly turned dangerous. at aboutfour in the afternoon, flash floods made it nearly impossible to cross the overflowingrivers and stranded one hundred twenty-one hikers andcampers in the hanakapiai valley. what happened up on the top closer to thewaterfall was that there was a lot of hikers up there, andthere was a family, the greenberg family. and the son had gotten swept into the river,and the dad also got swept into the river. and so, beforewe arrived on scene, the father was saved

by a cameratripod. and zach, the son, got carried down the stream a little ways where he was ableto get onto a small little perch of safety. and he endedup staying there for about four hours. although the pilot could not see where zachwas in the river, the firemen below helped direct thepilot in the right direction. and they were able to get him close enoughinto the river where zach actually jumped, kinda leapof faith. so then, once that emergency phase of the rescue was over, it became dealingwith the rest of the hundred-plus people that werestuck. and so, our plan became to get everybody

downto the beach... where we could just shelter in place for the night. their work that day even led to national recognition.in august, the lihue firefighters were honored at the national fire chiefs conferencein dallas, texas. accolades aside, firefighters andtheir families try not to think about the dangers, and remain dedicated to the job becauseof their love and passion for helping people. there's a lot of risks involved in his job.and so, i know that there might come a day thatsomething could happen to him, and he might

not come home. and i live with that, that'sjust part of his job. you know, this is his choice.i love that he loves doing it. this is his passion. he loveshelping people. the big saying in the fire service is, riska little to save a little, risk a lot to save a lot. the lihuefirefighters certainly live up to that. [siren] this has been kelli okayama from chiefesskamakahelei middle school, for hiki nåœ. well, we've come to the end of this episodeof hiki nåœ. remember, all of these stories were written,shot ...

and edited by students like us. we hope you enjoyed watching them ... as much as we've enjoyed sharing them withyou. make sure to tune in to next week's episodefor more proof that hawaii students hiki nåœ...