Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 31, Number 3, 1 March 2014 — High Tech Youth Network launches High Tech Youth Hawaiʻi [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

High Tech Youth Network launches High Tech Youth Hawaiʻi

Aloha from Kaua'i and Ni'ihau! Mahalo this month to former OHA Trustee Donald Cataluna, an honorable man who always tried to do what was pono in his service as a Trustee and to our Hawaiian people. Trustee Cataluna passed away in late January, but his legacy of achievements and advocacy for causes will be remembered throughout

Hawai'i nei and especially on Kaua'i and Ni'ihau. I also want to thank the Cataluna family - wife Dorothy, daughters Lee and Malia, sons-in-law Jim Kelly and Kawika Blake, as well as grandchildren Kainoa, Makalapua and Kila - for allowing Trustee Cataluna the opportunity to serve at OHA. My thoughts and aloha go out to all of you. As a father of four boys, I know that my service would not be possible without the love and support of 'ohana and friends. And for anyone else that knew Trustee Cataluna, perhaps what will be missed most is his masterful storytelling. I've written about the High Tech Youth Network (hightechyouth. org) in this eolumn before. HTYN is empowering young people and communities to heeome more eapahle, creative and confident lifelong learners; fostering the growth of a 21 st century learning community, through the sharing of ideas and caring for eaeh other; and encouraging in young people the development of a positive identity and belief in their potential, through linking cultural knowledge and values with technology. HTYN has launched in Hawai'i as HTY Hawai'i. HTYN and HTY Hawai'i are programs I fully support and would love to see spread throughout Hawai'i nei. I'm glad to report that they are well underway to building up their Hawai'i presence. HTYN, headquartered in Aotearoa and spread throughout the Pacific,

went about things in a culturally appropriate way in launching in Hawai'i, by visiting communities, just talking story with interested parties and only pursuing partnerships if they were invited to do so. The first studio it has in Hawai'i is Studio Shaka (studioshaka.com) in Hilo, hosted by Connections Puhlie Charter School. Studio Shaka, located in the Kress

Building in Downtown Hilo, is an after-school program for students from sixth to 12th grade. It is a project-based 21st century learning experience that is an extension of HTYN. And that is just the beginning. I had the privilege of hosting HTYN's CEO while he solidified commitments and continued assisting partners in Hawai'i. So I also know that there is great interest in having a HTYN studio on Kaua'i, in Honolulu to serve O'ahu, and several sites that will support the statewide network. This takes a lot of resources of people's time, some money and some facilities, but if we all eome together for a great program like this, there is nothing that we cannot do. HTYN is eommitted to helping HTY Hawai'i achieve success, and I hope we at OHA as well as the broader eommunity ean be a part of it. Finally, here's a shout-out to the 100-plus people who attended a Community Listening Session I organized in February to hear eoncerns about the proposed Ni'ihau no-fishing zone. Mayor Bernard Carvalho, Rep. Faye Hanohano from Puna on Hawai'i Island, Rep. Dee Morikawa and Governor's representative Wanda Kau-Shi-bata also listened closely to all the mana'o that was shared. This will continue to be a challenging issue going forward, but I'm glad everyone is getting a ehanee to have their voices heard. Mahalo nui loa ! ■

Dan Ahuna TrustEE, Kaua'i and Ni'ihau