Hawaii’s Best and Brightest
A high school quiz show premiering this week on KFVE focuses on academic matters, and those who’ve been at tapings say they’re very impressed with the kids’ smarts. Sample question: Who was America’s first vice president and second president?
By Chad Pata
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ignore experience in favor of diversity. He felt that by bringing in underclassmen they could cover a greater breadth of the questions they may face. They drilled three days a week before school with coach Alfredo Carbonel using Trivial Pursuit cards and a buzzer they had rigged up.
And while the first round of filming is wrapped up, readers will have to tune in to find out how the Raiders fared.
It’s Academic is being shot in the showroom at Dave & Buster’s, with radio personality Rick Hamada serving as host and guest questioners coming from all parts of our government, from U.S. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa to Lt.
Gov. Brian Schatz. The audience is made up of fellow students, teachers and family members there to root on their schools, which makes it a little tricky to keep the winners under wraps for shows, since some won’t air until late March.
“What we have asked from the beginning is no pictures; we don’t want a picture of the final score,” says Fink. “Secondly, we asked them to please don’t put all the results on Facebook because it will kill the drama of the show. Can I dictate that? Are they signing their waivers in blood? No. But I hope they understand that the surprise element is one of the great things about it.”
Keeping the secret may be the hardest part, as Fink sees it as a natural for Hawaii with our fidelity to our high schools, our enjoyment of testing our knowledge and our need to boost our confidence in our schools with all that has beset them over the past few years.
“This is a show that will show in a radiant form that we have some really good kids out here,” says Fink. “The first week I was really blown away.
Then I said, no, I shouldn’t be blown away because I know you can take three kids from any school in this state and they can compete against three other kids.
“You may not be able to take 100, just like you see in sports. But when you get three well-rounded kids who know their stuff and take academics seriously, you are going to get some great competitions.”
As for prizes, the winning school will receive a Sony Tablet and a trophy recognizing it as the 2012 state champion.
“Just like when kids win sporting events, the reward is in the accomplishment, and that is what we are trying to do with this show,” says Fink.
The trophy this year will be one that schools can keep in their Hall of Fame, but eventually Fink would like to see a perpetual trophy with the new winner’s name engraved on it that is passed down from winning school to winning school each year, much like the Stanley Cup in hockey.
“Or the Manoa Cup,” says Fink with a smile. “My son David was the Manoa Cup champion twice, and looking at a 104-year-old trophy is really cool.”
All these details will be figured out over time, depending on the success of the show. Fink is already looking at what it would take to try to organize a competition against other states’ champions to see how Hawaii students stand up nationally.
Other ideas being bantered about include an adult version of the show pitting different professions against one another, like fireman vs. policeman, but for now Fink is happy to shine the spotlight on Hawaii’s kids and what they can accomplish. After the first filming, Fink had a parent from a losing team come up to thank him for putting the show together, and while grateful for the appreciation, that is not the reason he took on the task.
“I’m not doing this so that someone can thank me, but to see these kids get recognized, and to show that we do have good students at every level and at every high school in this state,” says Fink. “I think this is a great acknowledgement.”
While this show does make sense from a business point of view, on some level this is a personal mission for Fink. For years he has written and talked about how we need to do more for the students of Hawaii and expressed his frustration with the government’s inability to make headway in improving our schools. In this show he believes he has found a way to not just illuminate the strength of the students, but also hopefully light a fire under the dragging feet of our government leaders.
“I have always been a big proponent of getting something going with education, and I am so tired of lip service,” says Fink. “I am so tired of hearing about how we need to do something. I was frustrated of late to hear we might lose our Race to the Top money that we are just getting.
“Unfortunately, I think people locally have gotten so immune to this that they are like, ‘What kind of surprise is that?’ If we can do something that is entertaining, educational and people will enjoy watching, and at the same time celebrate intelligence, effort and academics, wouldn’t that be great?”
‘It’s Academic Hawaii’ premiered Jan. 9 (airing Mondays at 7 p.m.) on K5, and will be rebroadcast Sundays at 6:30 p.m.
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