Maui High School students are getting ready to participate in a statewide news network, filming videos and covering stories for broadcast next year on PBS Hawaii.
The "Hiki No," or "Can Do," project will be the first statewide student news network in the country. Maui High School media teacher Clint Gima is on the steering committee for the program and told The Maui News, "I think it's a great idea because it will give students an opportunity to collaborate with other students."
Gima said the students will be able to learn new media skills as well as news writing. They also will learn what it means to face a deadline.
From February through April of 2011, Hiki No will broadcast a half-hour interschool newscast each week. In the school year that begins in Fall 2011, the show will evolve into a six-day-a-week broadcast.
Gima's students have a leg up on the project, because they already produce a monthly newscast called "Maui High Stories." The teacher said many of the students know how to shoot in high definition and edit their work on a computer.
PBS Hawaii has raised $330,000 for the project so far with a goal of $900,000 over three years. Donations for the project are tax deductible and may be made at pbshawaii.org. Any organization interested in becoming an underwriter may contact Lucy Ahn at lahn@pbs.org.
We'd urge readers to lend any support they can to this impressive new project. It promises to be a great learning experience and just the kind of innovation Arne Duncan, U. S. Secretary of Education, wants schools to engage in.
Congratulations to Clint Gima and his students for being part of this exciting experiment.
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