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We’re excited to share back to school perspectives of four student leaders from our WAVE Youth Program. Pua Olena Torres, Dyson Chee, Camron Johnson-Lee and Phoenix Maimiti Valentine are pursuing their education in diverse ways – at a traditional public, a charter high school and via homeschooling environments. All of them are emblematic of the incredible individuals in the WAVE Youth Program, who all have a desire to see a more just and equitable state, country and world. If you’re a high school student in Hawaii check out WAVE and join us!
Phoenix Maimiti Valentine
Phoenix Maimiti Valentine is from Mākaha o ka mokupuni o Oahu. She is a homeschool student and the name of her homeschool hui is E Kūlia i ka Pono
What are you most proud of doing this summer?
This summer, I am most proud of applying for my interests, believing in the “best-case scenario” and being hopeful about the unknown. Amazingly, when you think positively, you open the door to opportunities beyond your imagination. I got to learn new things, experience exciting places and meet awesome people living their dream, while attending summer programs like Nā Pua No‘eau (UH Mānoa) in Kālaimeaola, Nalukai Academy, an entrepreneurial camp, and the Modern Museum course at Sotheby’s Summer Institute of Art in New York.
What are you excited about going back to your school this year?
This year, I am excited to pursue some fresh ideas in collaboration with key people I met recently. In recognition of some of my past work and projects, they are willing to work with me to create a new educational effort in the State of Hawai‘i. I look to my fellow WAVE participants and their accomplishments of spearheading foundations or organizations that help others in some way. I hope to do something just as worthy.
What’s your favorite thing about your homeschool activities?
I am blessed to have met incredible people who excel in their life’s passion. Meeting these people who follow their dreams, or pursue their ideas, is proof that pursuing your passions takes action, diligence, discipline and focus. For now, my favorite thing is people who inspire me to have a dream and make it happen!
What advice do you have for students in Hawai’i for the upcoming school year?
Discover what you like to do and enjoy learning! Think of solutions for a better future globally. See yourself as a world citizen, then learn more about your own culture to keep grounded.
What do you hope that teachers, principals, lawmakers keep in mind this school year?
Learning is fun! Get creative and challenge students to create world solutions. Partner or collaborate with other educators, businesses, community partners and students to create impactful learning experiences like Symphony of Hawaiian Birds, Mana Mauoli, HART Poster Contest, and other issues that engage our minds in creative ways that also introduce us to current events.
What projects are you excited about working this year?
I am working on an idea to present to the Hawai‘i State Librarian, participating in Hiki Nō at PBS, being a Hawai‘i Women in Filmmaking Intern, and working as a filmmaker for Season 3 of Reel Wāhine of Hawai’i. In addition, I’m working on an “Acts of Kindness” PSA at ‘Ōlelo Community Media, being a WAVE facilitator, submitting my work for various upcoming competitions. I’ll also shadow Director Justyn Ah Chong on his newest production with ‘Õiwi TV, I’ll work with Representative Cedric Gates and his staff in preservation of moku o Wai‘anae, and will be training for the Honolulu Marathon and practicing more ‘Ōlelo Hawai’i.
Dyson Chee
Dyson Chee is from Honolulu, a high school homeschool student who runs a nonprofit and also takes college courses.
What are you most proud of doing this summer?
Aside from surviving the heat? I would say completing my conservation summer program, which was seven weeks long, and ran from 7:00 AM to 5:00 PM every day. Although it was long and sometimes strenuous (digging-up-weeds-for-hours-and-moving-rocks strenuous), it was so satisfying to give back to the community by preserving and protecting the land we live on.
What are you excited about going back to your school this year?
As a homeschooler I am always in school… so I suppose I can say that I am excited to continue to learn more!
What’s your favorite thing about your homeschool activities?
I attend a lot of events and conferences, so meeting new people and reconnecting with old faces is one of my favorite things to do!
What advice do you have for students in Hawai’i for the upcoming school year?
Have fun!
What do you hope that teachers, principals, lawmakers keep in mind this school year?
If there is anything, just one thing, that I hope teachers, principals, and lawmakers keep in mind this school year, it’s that planet Earth – something all humans depend on – and the education systems built on it are all running out of time. Climate change is already happening; we are now entering a crisis. But we can all be a part of the solution, whether it is on the individual level, or in pushing for larger institutional changes. Youth need to know about the impacts of climate change, and more importantly realize that they can help to solve it. If furthering the education of students is the priority of a school, shouldn’t teaching about how to take care of the land we depend on be a priority?
What projects are you excited about working this year?
I am very excited to continue the work of my project, Project O.C.E.A.N. Hawaiʻi. As a part of Project O.C.E.A.N. Hawaiʻi, I visit schools and community events to do presentations on why plastic pollution is a problem, as well as some of the solutions to #beatplasticpollution. The other half of my project is legislative action, supporting bills that protect both the people and the planet, drafting some of these bills, testifying, and encouraging community members to testify and make their own voices heard.
Pua Olena Torres
Pua Olena Torres is from Waianae, Oahu and a current senior at Waianae High School, a traditional public.
What are you most proud of doing this summer?
This summer I was most proud of attending Ka’ala Scholars, an early college summer program for upcoming juniors and seniors at the University of Hawaii West Oahu.
What are you excited about going back to your school this year?
This school year I’m most looking forward to getting more involved in my community and giving back to the Lā Hui, as well as participating in all the senior activities.
What’s your favorite thing about your school environment?
My favorite thing about my school environment has to be the honesty, humbleness and consideration for each other’s feelings that our entire school community has.
What advice do you have for students in Hawai’i for the upcoming school year?
Some advice I would give the underclassmen is to not joke around during high school. It may seem like senior year is forever away but it’s not. Join all the activities you want and any sport that interests you, don’t be afraid to go to class functions and always take advantage of volunteer hours. Also, don’t mind what others think. Everyone has an opinion but the only one that should matter is your own.
What do you hope that teachers, principals, lawmakers keep in mind this school year?
I feel that educators and lawmakers should keep in mind that high school students now don’t like to just wait for change, we’ve begun to realize that we are the change we want to see. We will make our voices heard, so if we come to you with a problem do not dismiss it, because chances are it’s really a problem worth fixing.
What projects are you excited about working this year?
As of right now there aren’t any specific projects that I’m involved or have planned for this year but I am really excited to be a facilitator with HawaiiKidsCAN.
Camron Johnson-Lee
Camron Johnson-Lee is a high school senior at Hawaii Technology Academy, a public charter school.
What are you most proud of doing this summer?
This summer I got to go to the Promise Plan feedback session where all types of members of the education community came together and shared their thoughts on how Hawaii plans to progress its education standards. I was very happy to be able to bring student voice into the conversation.
What are you excited about going back to your school this year?
I’m excited to finish out my senior year as well as getting to participate in a high school work study/ paid internship I discovered through my school. I also can’t wait to explore any other opportunities where I can grow this year.
What’s your favorite thing about your school environment?
My favorite thing about my school is the freedom and opportunity provided to me. The flexibility in my schedule encourages students like me to explore our interests. My school is constantly trying to partner with local businesses to create new opportunities for us to get real life experience growing us in maturity and advancing our skills in the workforce.
What advice do you have for students in Hawai’i for the upcoming school year?
If simply getting good grades in the classroom is all your schools strives for, a great disservice is being done to you. I encourage you to let your school know that in order to help students prepare for the world we need to be in it, we need to experience first hand how things work, we need to create environments where we don’t feel restricted to talk to our schools about opportunities we would like to explore. We need schools where we can take up action projects in our communities simply because we are passionate and not because it’s a mandatory assignment, where everyone is exposed to leadership in a real way, and where we don’t have to struggle to fashion our interest around our school schedules because they would be integrated within them.
What do you hope that teachers, principals, and lawmakers keep in mind this school year?
I hope they will keep in mind that student voice is valid, that our input can be highly constructive, and that we have a lot to say when given the chance.
What projects are you excited about working on this year?
This year I am excited to work on many projects in my community while also working on myself, disciplining myself in being more conscious of my time as well as working on my organizational skills.