HIKI NŌ continues its series of reflections on how COVID-19 has changed students’ lives as they shelter-in-place from their homes. Jimmy Liu, a junior and international student at Hawaiʻi Preparatory Academy on Hawaiʻi Island, recorded his reflection while sheltering in his home in Shanghai, China.

TOP STORY   Students from Āliamanu Middle School in the Salt Lake district of Oʻahu re-visit an issue they reported on for HIKI NŌ over six years ago: the pedestrian hazards around their campus and the campus of Āliamanu Elementary School. Most of Salt Lake Boulevard is a four-lane City & County road.

This compilation show features some of the top stories from the Spring Quarter of the 2018-2019 school year. Besides being excellent stories, these pieces all explore the connections between people and, in some cases, between people and other living things.

TOP STORY   “Unified Sports” Students from Maui High School in Kahului feature fellow student Britney Bautista. Britney, who has a developmental delay syndrome, has gained a sense of belonging through the school’s Special Olympics Unified Sports program.

TOP STORY   “Return of the ʻAlalā” Students from Kua O Ka Lā Miloliʻi Hipuʻu Virtual Academy Public Charter School on Hawaiʻi Island tell the story of efforts to save an almost extinct bird: the ʻalalā, or Hawaiian Crow, a native species endemic to the forests of Hawaiʻi Island.

TOP STORY   “Piano Prodigy” Students from Island School on Kauaʻi feature 10-year-old piano prodigy Jannik Evanoff. A Kauaʻi resident and Island School 6th grader, Jannik started playing piano when he was six and by the age of eight had already won an international piano competition: the Stage 4 Kids competition in Hamburg, Germany.

State lawmakers went into this year’s legislative session with bills regarding prison reform, loosening marijuana laws, raising the minimum wage, plastic waste, disaster relief, more money for schools and resolving water rights issues across the state.

This compilation show features some of the top stories from the Winter Quarter of the 2018-2019 school year:   –Students from Maui High School in Kahului introduce us to Maui High robotics captain John Fabella. John’s mother passed away when he was just seven years of age, and his father was deported.

This is the second of four specials in which outstanding HIKI NŌ graduates from the Class of 2018 gathered at PBS Hawaiʻi to discuss their HIKI NŌ experiences and how they feel the skills they learned from HIKI NŌ will help them in college, the workplace and life.