Waiakea High School’s Jared Antonio has scored big for the school. Jared is responsible for “The Handshake is Dead,” the video he and the senior class students entered in the 2020 Senior Class COVID AWARE Video Challenge. The video has won the $10,000 Grand Prize.
Public school seniors from around the state were invited to submit a COVID AWARE video to emphasize the importance of staying safe during this pandemic.
The organizers of the challenge encouraged participation from as many senior class participants as possible in a 30-seconde video, plus an introduction from the school’s principal. The panel selected videos from Castle High School and from Waiakea as the finalists, and the winner was determined by popular vote.
Kelcy Koga, Principal of Waiakea High School, said Tuesday morning after the announcement was made “We are really excited, just the fact we won, that’s huge, in a statewide competition.”
He said Jared and other seniors made the video right around graduation time, when there was so much going on, that they kind of forgot about it until they found out just two weeks ago that Antonio’s video was a finalist. “That’s when everyone went into DEFCON 3 mode.” He said they used all means possible to encourage students, parents, faculty, and community members to vote.
Koga said because it was a student-made video, all the money will go to the Waiakea High Student Government Association to decide how it should be used. He said Jared Antonio, who has now graduated, will definitely be recognized for his leadership. Koga said Jared is scheduled to be interviewed on KHON2 on Wednesday morning, around 7:15 a.m via Skype.
Student Activities Coordinator Patti Nishimoto said everybody at the school is “over the moon” with excitement. She said originally, Jared and Junior Kailey Oki had made a 2-minute video about COVID precautions for use on the school’s morning updates, which have continued even during the COVID-19 “stay at home” order. Once they found out about the video challenge, they reshot the video to include only seniors –as the contest rules required–and make it 30 seconds. Nishimoto said she’s grateful for technical support from Gavin Tanouye at New West Broadcasting (KWXX, B97/B93), the whole New West team, parents, alumni, community members, business supporters–everybody who helped get the popular vote out that helped this video win. Nishimoto said Jared and Kailey are always positive and looking for ways to help support the school and other students.
Jared himself said he was very excited. In high school, he was involved in Civil Air Patrol, Kiwanis Club, wrestling, and judo. He will be going to UH Manoa to major in Mechanical Engineering, with a goal of either going into the Air Force or getting a job in Silicon Valley. He and his family moved to Hilo from Sunnyvale when Jared was in 8th Grade. He said this was his first time doing video editing. Jared said it’s appropriate for the $10,000 to go to the Student Government Association because “students are the heart of the school.” He said he would like to see some of the funds put towards campus beautification.
Jared’s Dad, John Antonio, is with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development program, with a focus on bringing in federal funds to Hawaii and the Pacific region for housing. Mom Vanessa Antonio takes care of the family, which includes brother Lucas. Lucas, a 6th grader at Waiakea Elementary, according to his Dad, is quite the computer whiz. John said he knows that moving from the bustle of Silicon Valley to the rural Big Island can be hard on kids, but he’s pleased that his kids are doing well. He said he hopes that as they move into adulthood, they always remember the special place that Hilo is.
The contest was sponsored by KHON2, the Hawaii Department of Education, Fund for the Pacific Century, Hawaii Lodging & Tourism Association, D. Suehiro Electric, Inc., Honolulu Star-Advertiser, Hawaii.com, and Salem Media of Hawaii. The prize was donated by Fund for the Pacific Century.