Molokai 6th Graders to NHD Competition

Aloha! We are a team of three 6th graders from the small Hawaiian Island of Molokai. We were recently selected as one of three teams to represent the State of Hawaii at the National History Day  contest in the Junior Documentary Division. This is the first time elementary school students from our island have qualified to do this! We need help raising the funds to get us to Washington DC for the week-long contest in June. All contributions will be used to cover travel, housing and meal expenses for us and our chaperones.

(Christine Hanapi, Ara Puaa, and Kaia Yamashita - Kaunakakai Elementary 6th grade filmmakers!)

The documentary that we produced will compete against other documentaries from around the US. Our documentary tells the story of the famous Hansen's Disease (leprosy) settlement of Kalaupapa that is located on our island. The story of Kalaupapa is an important part of Hawaii's history that we want to share with the world. In our documentary we tell the stories of this special place and about how the people here endured great tragedies, but found triumph through love and resilience.

(Filming an interview with National Park Ranger, Mikiala Pescaia)

To make our documentary we had to learn how to do research, write a treatment, operate a camera and microphone, conduct an interview, write a film script, and edit our video. It was a LOT of work, but we discovered that we really enjoy being filmmakers and sharing inspiring stories about our unique island.

Below is a short excerpt from our 10-minute documentary.


We are so excited about the opportunity to attend the National History Day contest in Washington DC! Not only will we have the honor of representing our school, island and the State of Hawaii, but we will also be able to visit museums and historic sites and learn more about US history. Our parents are working hard to help afford the trip, but they can't do it alone. Any amount that you can donate will help make this dream a reality! Thank you SOOOOO much for your support!

(The girls with their awards from the Hawaii state NHD contest)


(Any and all monetary contributions to our campaign are considered personal gifts given without expectation of return of service, product or charitable tax deduction. The donated funds will be transferred to a personal bank account and then distributed evenly among the families and chaperones traveling to the National NHD competition to help cover travel, lodging and meal expenses.)