Student Voice Special #1: Daniella Lopez White

Daniella Lopez White is a graduating senior, Class of 2020, at James Campbell High School on the West Side of Oahu. She is also a member of the Center for Tomorrow’s Leaders. On December 1st, 2019, well before our Covid-19 pandemic began and before Hawaiʻi moved to distance learning, Ms. White wrote a column in … Continue reading "Student Voice Special #1: Daniella Lopez White"

The post Student Voice Special #1: Daniella Lopez White appeared first on @MLTSinHawaii .

Daniella Lopez White is a graduating senior, Class of 2020, at James Campbell High School on the West Side of Oahu. She is also a member of the Center for Tomorrow’s Leaders. On December 1st, 2019, well before our Covid-19 pandemic began and before Hawaiʻi moved to distance learning, Ms. White wrote a column in the Honolulu Star Advertiser titled, More to Student Achievement than GPA. In the column Ms. White makes a compelling case that we should move beyond test scores and GPAs as the metrics of student success. When I first read the columm I immediately wondered how, beyond Twitter, Instagram and Facebook posts, I could bring her voice to a wider audience. After some thinking, I figured it out. What if I could turn her written words into a special podcast episode? Could I read her words out loud and publish the “short” as an episode, then blast it to social media? In the end I lit upon the perfect solution. All during Season One of this show, listeners have been treated to the voice of Managing Editor, Mei Kanada, an 8th grader at Kealakehe Intermediate in Kona, Hawaiʻi. She opens our episodes and voices the closing credits. Mei, who is about to “graduate” into high school, agreed to voice Ms. White’s column; I then would publish it as a Student Voice Special. No frills, no intros or closing credits, five minutes of thoughtfulness; just young Mei giving life to Ms. White’s words, intentions, thoughts and feelings. My hope is that now that we have passed 12,000 downloads in 36 countries, regular listeners will be eager to hear a short burst of student voice. To read Ms. White’s full column, click here. 

The post Student Voice Special #1: Daniella Lopez White appeared first on @MLTSinHawaii .