Seniors Kelcey Lorenzo and Kamehanaokalā Lee brought home two first place awards from the ʻŌlelo Youth Exchange Competition. The awards ceremony was held on April 12, 2013 on Oʻahu at the Marriot ʻIhilani Hotel.

Video production teacher Mr. Jay Paa entered ten student works including “Before the Bullet Hole” by Lorenzo and “A Small Distraction” by Lee.

“Before the Bullet Hole” was a news story about gun violence among teenagers and how to prevent it. Her story explains that there have been about 62 mass shootings in the United States, though many are unknown to our student body.

“[Lorenzo’s] video struck a chord in the judges’ minds because the topic she chose was not only controversial but was also a hot topic in the news,” said Mr. Paa

Lorenzo is also known as the “Golden Child” in the video production classroom. According the Mr.Paa, she excels at everything she does and also wins in almost every competition she enters.  This would be the second win for Lorenzo in this competition.

Lorenzo also won first place in the Digital 808 competition with the same video. Read about another win for Lorenzo by clicking here.

“I was relieved because I was able to defend my title, and it motivated me to stick with this

Lee’s video, “A Small Distraction,” was a public service announcement urging students to conserve water. Her video follows a student as she washes her car. At the end of her video the student leaves the water running because of a phone call, showing how easy it is to wast natural resources if we’re not paying attention.

“I was really surprised, but I was also really grateful to have won,” Lee said.

To see all of the winning videos from schools around the state, visit the ʻŌlelo Youth Exchange YouTube Channel.