Visionary Leadership for the Future

As a 70-something senior citizen who has lived her entire life here in Hawai`i, I have witnessed many changes in our State. Areas that were once pineapple or sugar cane fields are now homes or thriving communities. We grapple with issues like the high cost of living, rising sea levels, the lack of affordable housing, traffic woes, and the shortage of quality jobs for our young people.  Projects take much longer to get done here and often go way over budget. Rail and Aloha Stadium are prime examples.

But there is a ray of hope. Community leaders have known for awhile that we need to diversify our economy as we continue into the future. One major decision made in the late 1980’s was to direct growth to the Leeward side of O`ahu and to build what is now the Second City of Kapolei. This area which was once covered in sugar cane is now a thriving community with homes, schools, shopping centers, recreation activities, and government offices. The Legislature then identified West O`ahu as the preferred site for a university campus which would be central to that community. The State purchased land to build a University of Hawai`i West O`ahu (UH-WO) campus which would serve the educational needs of the growing population. In 2012, the campus officially opened in Kapolei.

Earlier this week, I was invited to visit the Academy for Creative Media at UH-WO, the latest state-of-the-art facility on their campus.  We were hosted by Chancellor Maenette K.P. Ah Née-Benham, Vice Chancellor David McDonald and  Chris Lee. Mr. Lee is a very successful and respected leader in the film industry who is the founder and director of the University of Hawai`i Academy for Creative Media. The facilities at UH-WO are impressive and state-of-the-art, preparing students for good-paying jobs that are in high demand today - game development, film-making, web design, communication arts, e-sports, digital archiving, and other fields which are still evolving.  Students also have the opportunity, through this program, to share their stories with a wider audience; for too long, many of their voices were silenced. More impressive is that all ten campuses in the University of Hawai`i system now have creative media programs. 

Vice Chancellor McDonald shared that graduates of the UH-WO Creative Media program are being hired for good-paying positions in Hawai`i and other parts of the country and the world. The median starting salary is also higher than graduates at other colleges in the University of Hawai`i system. Many of the local high school students, including those at Waianae High School’s Searider Productions, are in the Early College program, earning dual high school and college credits, and preparing for their futures. 

We need forward-thinking leaders - legislators, government officials, educators, industry experts - to commit support such as funding, mentoring, and opportunities for our students so they can thrive in creative media. In the past decade alone, we have seen a surge in streaming services, video platforms like TikTok, an increase in podcasts, a rise in the number of social influencers on social media, and phones that are essentially mini-computers. It is hard for me to fathom what the next iteration will bring because change is happening so quickly. 

When I was a principal at an elementary school, I was constantly amazed by the abilities of our young students to use technology confidently to share their learning. I remember walking past a second grade classroom where the students wanted to share their public service announcement, created in about 30 minutes, using a free app they had just been introduced to. Their teacher said she had spent her weekend creating a PSA with that app; the kids figured it out on their own. Other students were programming robots, creating videos and websites, building communities in Minecraft, blogging, building their own games, and learning to code. 

We cannot wait for adults to figure things out. Instead of putting barriers in their way, let’s support our students and give them the tools they need to be the creative problem-solvers we need to address the many challenges in our world today. 

The success of the University of Hawai`i West O`ahu Academy for Creative Media shows how, by working together, we can create an innovative, highly-successful program where our students are provided with the tools and gain the skills that are sought after in the world today. The $37 million it cost to build the state-of-the art facility at UH-WO is just the beginning. There are plans to expand the Academy with a film studio and to build housing and retail facilities surrounding the campus. These are exciting plans, and it is my hope that all of us - the community, legislators, the University of Hawai`i, businesses, and educators - rally and support these future plans. This is an opportunity to be visionary, forward-thinkers. We cannot sit on our hands and wait for someone else to take the lead. Our kids deserve a future filled with possibilities where they can make a positive impact in their community, in our state, our country, and the world through creative media. Imua!

I am grateful that I was invited along with two of my educator friends to join in the visit to the University of Hawai`i West O`ahu Academy for Creative Media. From left, Senator Carol Fukunaga, Vice Chancellor David McDonald, former Senator Randy Iwase, and Founder and Director of the UH Academy for Creative Media System Chris Lee

“The Times They are A-Changin”

These are challenging times for schools, and with apologies to Bob Dylan, yes, “the times they are a’changin.’” I’ve been retired as a school leader for over six years now, and it’s hard for me to fathom the changes that have taken place in our world. In those six short years, we experienced a worldwide pandemic, Zoom became a household word, natural disasters and climate change continue to cause havoc in our world, and artificial intelligence has burst into our lives, enabling a computer or robot to perform tasks that, in the past, were reserved for humans. Additionally, our world has become increasingly divisive, and schools are confronted with challenges including the banning of books and curriculum content, an increase in school violence, the disparity in access to resources including those for struggling students, and staffing shortages that negatively impact communities, especially those in high-poverty areas.

Schools are essential to communities and have a huge impact on its citizens. We know that school can be the one constant in a child's life, the one safe place where problems are sometimes forgotten for a few hours in a day. We need to make that time meaningful. Too often, school is seen as irrelevant to students. I recently had a conversation with two high schoolers, and they were frank. They felt that often, teachers don’t care about their students; they felt the personal interactions were often lacking in their classes. “If teachers don’t start caring and making their lessons interesting for us, then AI will replace them,” they agreed. 

Real learning means applying skills or facts to delve deeper, to ask questions, to research multiple sources to find answers, to make sense of information, to discuss differing opinions with their peers, and to gain skills that can be applied to new situations. This would be a major shift for schools, but if we want our students to be self-directed learners and complex thinkers, schools must shift to a more-relevant curriculum that engages and prepares them to be contributing members of society. Presently, with so many multi-media resources available, our young people are independently exploring topics and engaging in conversations about their interests outside of school -  sports, pop entertainment, politics, fashion, creative arts, video games, and so much more. 

Today, Dr. Mark Hines shared his blog, “Creating Joyful Schools: A New Vision for Engaged Learning” on the “What School Could Be” global community, and a meaningful discussion followed. This was a great time - the start of a new year and a new semester - to remind educators about the real purpose of school as a place where students explore, discover, create, and share to make a difference for their community. Included in Dr. Hines’ blog was this graphic which I think should be posted in every classroom to remind us of what education could and should be.  

Our world is changing rapidly and our children are growing up in a much-different world today. They are digital users from the time they are toddlers, and schools need to change the way we view our students as learners. We underestimate their ability to learn on their own. School could be more relevant if we allowed our students more flexibility in what they learn, who they learn with, and how they share what they learned with an audience of their peers as well as the community. 

Let’s work together to reimagine education that is joyful, one that engages students, encourages them to be problem-seekers and problem-solvers, and gives them the tools to be self-directed, creative and critical thinkers who can make a difference in this world. Yes, “the times they are a-changin,’” and we who believe that education can be the key to creating a better world in the future will continue to do this work. I invite you to join us on this journey!