Akakū Youth Programs Awarded $10K in Grants

AYME producer Zariah Birrer interviewing Cheyenne Jagger of Haiku about her small business, Coyote Moccasins.

Akakū Maui Community Media received $10,000 in grants from the Atherton Family Foundation, and Hawaiʻi Electric Industries Foundation, in support of its youth education programs.

The Atherton Family Foundation contributed $5,000 to providing a YBEAM facilitator on Molokaʻi. YBEAM, Youth Broadband Education Awareness and Mentoring, program is a free mobile journalism program using I-pod Touches to shoot, edit and distribute short video stories to an online portal, mauitube.org, as well as to Akakū cable channel 55.

“Being able to continue to offer Molokaʻi youth the YBEAM opportunity is so valuable to that island,” said Akakū Education Director, Kat Tracy. “The youth, families and community there are hungry for new media education.”

Hawaiʻi Electric Industries Foundation, through Maui Electric, gave $5,000 to AYME, Akakū Youth Media Exchange. This program is open free to Certified YBEAM alumni and offers professional mentoring on paid jobs producing community video stories.

“Watching youth producers progress in both their personal and professional skills development is so rewarding,” said Tracy, “and the feedback from the community on their stories bolsters their confidence.”