Emmy for Waianae

Four seniors from Waianae High win a national Emmy Award with a class-project video that is so polished, TV pros who’ve seen it say the kids are ready for prime time

James Kapu-Kaaihue edits a video he shot earlier

come up again - they got the final disk to the post office at 11:15 a.m. - just squeaking in under the midday deadline.

But all that lack of sleep paid off when they later entered the documentary with the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and then found out they had won first the regional and then the national competition.

“We didn’t know it was going to go this far,” Priscilla says. “It was all really overwhelming.”

Just days after the team graduated from high school, they boarded a plane for New York for the awards ceremony. They’re still buzzing about the experience - from the fancy cocktail party to the crazy cab drivers to the shopping.

Now it’s summer and the four have already stepped out on the next adventures in their lives. Katie is working with the Youth Conservation Corps and will study marine conservation at the University of Hawaii-Manoa. James plans to attend Leeward Community College to study television production or digital media. Justine is still weighing her options. Priscilla wants to be a teacher, but first she’s joined the Army Reserves and heads for basic training next month.

At this heady time of life, an Emmy could be just the beginning.

Page 2 of 2 pages for this story  <  1 2

E-mail this story | Print this page | Comments (0) | Archive | RSS

Most Recent Comment(s):