Local News Channels Visit Kaiser

On Aug. 6, the first day of school for incoming students, Hawaii News Now (HNN) showcased Kaiser for their Sunrise special (a segment aimed at exploring recent developments within the broad Hawaii community) on behalf of the Department of Education (DOE). After two years of covering Campbell High School on the west side of Oahu, DOE Communications Specialist Lindsay Chambers said “We wanted to showcase a different part of the island this year — we wanted something a little different.”

Starting at 5:30 a.m., HNN’s Sunrise broadcast covered the completed construction of the girls’ locker room. The locker room is a new development which will help to dissolve the disparity in access to athletic facilities between male and female athletes. “Our older schools were built during a time when athletics were much more focused on boys’ sports,” Superintendent Christina Kishimoto said. “We are equally focused on girls and boys sports, but we have to continue to invest in our fields and locker rooms and so forth so we have that equity.”

At 6:30 a.m., International Baccalaureate Diploma Program (IBDP) coordinator Bradley Bogard and International Baccalaureate Career Program coordinator (IBDP) Shareen Murayama were asked about Kaiser’s relatively recent International Baccalaureate curricula. While to Kaiser students, IB may seem to be the norm, Kaiser is unique in that the range of IB curricula it offers to students includes three programs. “We are the only school in Hawaii that has all three IB programs — IBDP, IBCP, IBMYP [(International Baccalaureate Middle Years Program)]... [Also], our complex is the only complex that has IB as part of our school design. We are a world school,” said Principal Justin Mew.

HNN also explored Kaiser’s student government as they interviewed Class of 2019 President Noelle Nakakura and Student Body President Noah Matsumoto. Matsumoto succinctly stated why student government positions are highly valuable to Kaiser: “Without the student voice, our student body would just be teachers and adults, and our school is made up of mostly students, so we need to be able to satisfy the concerns of our students and hear them out, really get to understand how we can make Kaiser better as a whole”. Nakakura also shared her sentiments: “It’s a great opportunity, and we wanted to be the voices of the students and get their voices out there in school matters and school functions”.

At 8:30 a.m., HNN interviewed the “It’s Academic Hawaii” three-time reigning champions Ryan Chaffee, Lucy Chalekian, and Jacob Heberle. “It’s Academic Hawaii” is an annual competition that brings together public and private high schools from across the state. Each team from their respective schools must correctly answer questions (which pertain to a plethora of academic fields) in order to accrue points. Pitted against Kamehameha Schools and Punahou School in the final, Kaiser took home the trophy.

Although HNN covered Kaiser on behalf of the DOE, they also wanted to mark the start of the new school year statewide. “As much as we were focusing on Kaiser, the great facilities, and all the amazing things that the students and the staff are doing here on campus, it was also about the school year in general,” said Sunrise news anchor Steve Uyehara.

Football coach Timothy Seaman is interviewed by Sunrise news anchor Steve Uyehara

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