 Okay, we're back. We're live. It's 11 o'clock block. I'm Jay Fidel at Stink Tech and this is Community Matters. We love the community. We like to talk to people from the community. We want to find out what's going on in the community. All the good stuff, right? This is Kimi Takazawa. Hello. Kimi Takazawa, if you will. And she's the Director of Philanthropy of the Boy Scouts of America right here, the Aloha Council. And we also have Lisa Liu. She's with Hardware Hawaii and Ben Franklin Stores. And she's part of this fabulous program they're doing on April 29th at the Blaisdell Exhibition Hall about the Boy Scouts and about science. We here at Stink Tech are very interested in science. Some people say it's our middle name. Yes, it is. So Kimi, talk about it. What is the program on April 29th? So this year what we're doing is we're doing a whole revamp of the 106th year event, the Makahiki, and we're rebranding it and renaming it with the blessing of the Onizuka family and calling it the Onizuka Day of Exploration. It's going to be held on Saturday April 29th at the Neil S. Blaisdell Exhibition Hall from 9 to 3 o'clock and it's just going to be mind-blowing science for the Keiki all day long. And we're so happy that Ben Franklin is going to be part of this with us. Keiki? Keiki, little kids. Can I come? Okay, from 1 to 101, so I'm sure you fit into that parameter. So come on down, Jay. We'd love to have you. Well, tell us about the program now. You know, it's one day. It's got to be very compact. Yes. It's got to include everything. There's a lot of material. I've seen your stuff. You might show us some of your stuff. And I'd like to know how this is going to proceed. Maybe that'll help me decide how long I want to spend and how many things I want to see. Okay, so it's going to have a fast opening at 8.30. We're so happy the mayor is going to be there. I'm in 9 o'clock. All the booths were open. So we're going to have 80 scout booths, so 80 units from Pax and Choups who will be coming to do like little STEM-type activities and then how we normally do. Plus, we'll have some wonderful sponsor booths like Ben Franklin and Queens. They'll be coming and they're going to have this giant, huge booth where they're going to show you, like, this is your egg with a helmet. This is your head, which is an egg without a helmet, but with giant watermelons. So we'll be dropping it 8 feet from the ladder. So that should be interesting. So, aside from, so, all together, we'll probably have like 100 booths of these, you know, going on and it's going to open all day. People can come and see it. And then another thing that we're going to be doing is four sessions of 12 STEM classes rotating throughout the day. And we're going to have things such as a Sheep Brain dissection. Can I say that on air? I can say it. You have to describe it. What is it? It's a real sheep brain. It is a real sheep brain. Do I need to sit down in the chair so I won't fall down? No, no. So 25 kids can sign up for this class. And we have actually a neurosurgeon coming to show us, like, this is your brain. So interesting. So interesting, right? A neurosurgeon. Yes. Oh, wow. And queens. Yep. We're going to have gelatinous or volcanoes. So when you put the gelatin in there, they're going to show how the force, like, pulls the magma. I saw that in materials in gelatinous. Mm-hmm. Because at that scale, that's exactly what a volcano is. It's gelatin. Yeah. You're herded here on things like that. And of course, I'll let Ben Franklin explain later what they'll be doing, really amazing things. So that'll be going throughout the day. Plus, we're going to have this guy called The Wizard Four. He's going to be brought in from the mainland. He does this street science, they call it, where you do science experiments out of everyday things. But it's going to be like magic. So he'll be doing an hour-long show from 10 to 11. So it's open. You know, people can come sit down and watch that. And then afterwards, we're going to have a Vex robotics challenge and championship. But of course, the whole day, the Pinewood Derby championships will be going on. And of course, the Pinewood Derby. What is that exactly? Oh, okay. So the Pinewood Derby is our kids come, they're literally given a block of wood. And they have to craft it into whatever shape they would like to see how fast it can race down this ramp. You know? It's no motor. It's just down a ramp. Gravity. Acceleration by sound rate. Gravity. So that'll be going on. And also we have sponsored by Central Pacific Bank, the Space Station Kiki Camp in homage to Onizuka. So the parents can come and they will take these kids to an adventure, a space adventure, where they'll be singing songs, learning about planets and doing like a space craft. And it's kind of like some of the things that they would do if they joined the Cutscouts. So it's going to be an awesome game. Really awesome. Yeah. It sounds like a couple of evolutions are going on here. Yes. One thing, the Makahiki is now the Ellison Okazuka, Onizuka, what do you call it? Day of Exploration. Day of Exploration. And that's not temporary change. That is going forward. That's what you're going to call the Makahiki from now on. Exactly. And we're really proud. So this year, we also had these Ellison Onizuka days that already happened on the Big Island last weekend and also Kauai simultaneously. And they had terrific response from the community that they have all these STEM things to do. Onizuka family came down. It was terrific. So this is our Oahu version of it. The other thing, the other evolution that I see here is that the Boy Scouts, I mean, you were always somewhat interested in science and technology. And in recent years increasingly, but now you're really into it. Yes. Out of 120 merit badges, what, 40? Yeah, 35 to 40% are STEM based, correct. And also, this year, the National Council launched a new merit badge called the Exploration Merit Badge. And it's all about exploring and science and how kids is really to feed off of the kids wanting to go out and explore. And then Eagle Scouts can actually win a $50,000 scholarship with that. So in the paper today, in today's midweek, there's a piece and are prepared for life written by this Eagle Scout, Reed Akana. He is actually at MIT currently, he's a graduate of Kamehameha Schools. And it really shows the connection between Scouting and STEM. So, you know, when he was like in his junior year, he was at UPenn doing cancer research. And he just says that the Scouting program really like instilled in him this values of inquiry and discovery, curiosity and never like quitting it, like always persisting. It sounds like, you know, the kind of confidence you get when you go to the science fair and your project wins. Exactly. Science fair is happening right now. Oh, terrific, terrific. We went there yesterday and filmed it. As we will go down on April 29 to film what you're doing. Thank you. Because we are interested in having those kids learn about science and get confident and go to the mainland and do well and get scholarships. Speaking of which, one of your big supporters is Dr. Neil Atabara, isn't he? He is, yes, Neil actually is a board member. And this whole change of the Makahiki is his baby, his brain child. So, you know, we really have to say a big mahalo to Dr. Atabara, who is an Eagle Scout from the Big Island to say, you know, this change for the Makahiki is really, is really pushed through by him. And I think it's going to be a huge success. Really, it demonstrates that whole move towards science. Yeah, and relevancy for the kids. So, speaking of which, Lisa Lu, you brought all kinds of stuff down here. I did. I brought the fun stuff today. How are you participating in the Ellison Okazuka? So, we're going to have, we are going to have a booth that day where the kids can come and see the products that we have available. We are also going to be doing a couple of workshops where, one of which we're going to be doing the rocket launcher here. Here. So, I can't wait. Want me to do it? Do you want to do it? Go ahead. No, you go for it. Okay, ready? Okay, ready? Okay, nobody will get hurt. Okay, okay, no. And notice how perfectly balanced it came right back down. It did. Maybe that's the shooter, not the, maybe it's you. Skill. I have to admit, I did practice. Yeah, so this is going to be one of the things that we're going to be doing. This one is actually really popular with the kids. They like, obviously they like anything that flies. And I mean, we don't have fire, but you know, if it, you know, they do like anything that flies, lights up. This is another one of the things that we have, which is an infinity mirror. They're always really interested in this and looking, you know, it's an optical illusion, but you know, they think the box is, is so wide. Yeah, it looks like it goes forever, but that's great. So, so they really like learning about these different things. You mind if I ask you how it works? The infinity mirror? Yeah. How do you think it works? Bread and curry. I love that. You know, I'm sorry, but I don't have a clue. So, so it's, so it's actually mirrors. So there's a mirror on the backside. The front side is like a two-way mirror. So it's kind of like when you go into an elevator and there's mirrors all around you and you can see your reflection going all the way back. Same idea. So the thing about the kids is they have the supplies to put something like this together and learn about it along the way. I always tell people that what I like about it as a parent is that the kids have to kind of work for their fun a little, you know, you can't just take it out of the box and play with it. So they're learning something along the way. So how do you, you know, deliver this kind of technology to them at the program? I mean, you're going to be there. We're going to do there. So we are going to be doing a workshop on the rocket launcher. We will have in our booth, we will have all the demo units available that they can come play with and see another really fun thing that we're going to do is we are going to have a geocracking station. So I brought not one first crack, but I did bring a donut. It's not edible. I will stress that it's definitely not edible. But, you know, what looks like an ordinary rock to kids, they're going to be able to, you know, have some fun, take a hammer, crack them open and inside is crystals. Crystal. So so you don't know what you're going to get inside as far as how the crystals have formed and, you know, they form over thousands and thousands and up to millions of years. So that they're found, not found here in Hawaii, but they are found in different parts of the world. So you're trying to educate them on geology in general. That's great. We are going to also have some, we do sell, we do have, we call it the Geology Bar in our Ben Franklin locations. So we sell different types of crystals and things like that. So this is just one thing that we have available at the stores, but we're going to have a little fun and they're going to be there. There is a geology merit badge, so we should tell our scouts to come down. We get some georahs. It's a college program. I know it really is. I didn't study a lot of science and college, I regret that. Really? But I was thinking if I could just join the Boy Scouts now. I could, I could pick up where I left off. An honorary ego merit badge. We love that. Sure. Who's the old guy in the crowd? Oh, he's just trying to get a merit badge. It's never too late to start. Yeah, exactly. It's never too late to start. Oh, wow. OK, so what else? You know, what is it? What is it? Those are all, it says hardware science. Yes. And hardware science sounds like hardware Hawaii. It sounds like Ace Hardware. It does sound like that. So, so the connection is. So if you take a look at the rocket, those are all PVC. Well, a majority of it is made out of PVC. So the idea is taking things that you everyday things that you would find in a hardware store and then fashioning them into the rocket launcher. Or like this is the wire loop game, which is if you remember the board game operation. Yeah, you can't touch the sides. So for this one, they're learning about closed circuits. They build this track and the object of the game is to then move that ring down at the end. Jay, am I going to get shocked here? No, we we we get that. Ask that a lot. But see, there's a little light there and the light will come on and there's a there's a buzzer. Oh, oh, did I do it wrong? Is that what's happening here? Yeah, well, that usually means to start over. I made a mistake. Yeah, so the idea is I want one too. The idea is that they'll they'll build this and they can, you know, fashion their track and make whatever shape they want. And then they get to the other side without touching the. You have to be very careful. Yeah, you have to have very steady hands. Just got me. Why don't we do this during a break so you don't get embarrassed? Let's take a break and I'll see if I can, you know, practice a little bit. All right. That's nice of you. Can you talk about it? We'll be right back. I'm Ethan Allen, host of likeable science here on Think Tech Hawaii. Every Friday afternoon at 2 p.m., you'll have a chance to come and listen and learn from scientists around the world. Scientists who talk about their work in meaningful, easy to understand ways. And you'll come to appreciate science as a wonderful way of thinking, way of knowing about the world. You'll learn interesting facts, interesting ideas. You'll be stimulated to think more. Please come join us every Friday afternoon at 2 p.m. here on Think Tech Hawaii for likeable science with me, your host, Ethan Allen. I'm Carol Mon Lee, and I want to welcome you to our newest series called Education Matters, where we will explore education-related topics that touch everyone, not just formal programs in K-12 and higher education, but also broader issues and information that affect our community. Think I went back and now we're really well-skilled and maybe I get my marriage bed based on my proficiency and moving that thing around without touching the wire. It's very clever, it comes in a box and it says Hardware Science. And I'm very impressed that Hardware Hawaii and Ace Hardware are involved in this kind of thing. Ben Franklin stores. Ben Franklin, yep. That's good of them and they have the stuff where they can do this, but why do they do it? Because it's fun. And you can learn about it along the way and why not? I mean, you know, hardware stores, I think, you know, you think of, as a kid, you're gonna go in with your parents, probably not the funnest place to go and you have to get, oh, I don't know, a drill or, you know. Can I, hey mom, can I wait in the car? Hey dad, can I wait in the car while you go? But this way it's something fun and it's incorporating things that they would find in the hardware store. So it's opening up a new audience for the hardware stores too. And also, you know, Wayne Kamitaki, who is ahead of... I do know Wayne Kamitaki. Yes, right. So he is just a great supporter of STEM and science, you know, Ben Franklin and he is a really good supporter of the science fair they're speaking about and also Academy of Science as well and also our Ellison Onizuka Day of exploration and he really credits science for his son who really got involved in science when he was in high school and he created this amazing science fair project and he actually went to Harvard. So he's just a great believer in STEM education, building that part of the brain in kids because he really feels it can lead them to a terrific future. This is exactly where Neil Audemarra is too. Exactly. It's a matter of developing familiarity and context and then confidence and to change young lives. And you know, the science fair does that, but the Boy Scouts too, and I think you're on the same track and the benefit of it is that these kids can now go forward, they can win stuff, including scholarships, they can go to the best schools in the country, the world. And then what happens though? Now the Boy Scouts forever, and we talked about that before the show, it's like going to Princeton, you're always a Princetonian. If you're a Boy Scout, especially an Eagle Scout and I want to be one one day. Okay, great, great. Where do I find my kids? Anyway, if you're a Boy Scout, now you're a Boy Scout for life. Exactly. And that's true because in the Scouting program, just also like when you do science, where there's a lot of trial and error, like you do labs, they fail, you take what you learn and you keep on going forward. And so in that article that I referred to you in the minute today that the boy who's at MIT, he speaks about, you know, he learned persistence and resilience because he's at camp and in the middle of the night, his whole team becomes instant structural engineers because the weight of the rain collapses their tent. So they have to, you know, create one in the chest. Yes, with duct tape. And speaking about, you know, once an Eagle, always an Eagle. Tonight we actually have our Eagle recognition banquet at Wiley Country Club. So all the council is really proud. We actually have the most Eagles this year, it's 256 who became... In the state of Hawaii. Yes. That's fabulous. We are honoring actually Dan Cook. He's a grown-up. What is that? You're looking at, what is that? This is actually an ad that ran today in the paper, just saying congratulations. Once an Eagle, always an Eagle. Dan Cook, he's an Eagle scout from way back when in Missouri and he's getting the National Outstanding Eagle Scout Award for his contributions to the community. That's great. He's a great guy. He's a great guy. And we also have two scholarships. So this young man, Chris Unruh, he is a sophomore at Mid-Pac and he is an Eagle scout and he just has an amazing resume of accomplishments. He does water polo and swimming, volunteers with many clubs, he's won awards. So he's our top scholarship winner and our Eagle project award goes to Philip Palmore. He's actually from the Big Island, but you have to hear this. His Eagle Scout project booked in 1,322 hours of work. Wow. It took two years for him to do. Like lots of course credits. Yes, $38,000, 12 tons of gravel. Oh, wow. So what he did is, he went to medical center. The patients were actually kind of stuck in the hospital. There was no real 88 path to go outside. He built a whole rotunda, like a little seating area for them. So now it's 88 compliant and so their quality of life has gone up because the families can take strolls outside with their patients. That's really super community service. And I take it from all of this, is that you not only want to inculcate this sense of pride and confidence and knowledge, the substantive college level knowledge in these kids and older people. You just want your merit badge, don't you? Yeah, I'm just sucking up for a merit badge. But you also want to connect them with community service. Also for life. And that is really sick. Because now it's the two things. It's an intersection of those things. Exactly, yep. And it changes people. And you meet a guy like Dan Cook. Dan Cook, yep. And he said, hmm, Eagle Scout. And then we meet another one, John Henry Felix, Eagle Scout. And so the result, what you come out with at the end of the day is that Eagle Scouts are special people. Only the 4% make it. 4% of scouts. Wow, that's hard. It's hard. What do you have to do, and this is not only personal, but what do you have to do to be an Eagle Scout? You have to earn 21 merit badges of those 12 are required. And the rest could be really great things like the geology merit badge we're talking about or the exploration. Or they actually are trying to be hip. So they have like a sup stand-up paddle boarding award. You can win as well. Sure, sure, right? But going back to like what makes an Eagle Scout is they are required to learn these merit badges such as one is personal management. So what it is is three prong. You have to learn how to do a budget, time management, and also give back. Well, that's another point. And that's where another intersection really where you have the schools. Yes. And they have all their rules and all their, you know, federal requirements and all this stuff, right? And but they don't actually teach you how to make a budget at home or how to shop in the store and do those things you have to do to have a successful life and a successful family life. Yes. And that's where the Boy Scouts comes in. You know, I think it's really valuable stuff. It makes you a whole person. It gives you personal skills and knowledge that comport and compliment what you learn in school which may be, you know, book learning but sometimes not practical. Yes. This is a policy point? Yes, and going back to your point is actually a family life merit badge. Oh, you're okay. There it is. I mean, and it talks about like holding family councils and what do you do when this? And just talking about like, I guess values, really? So in today's world, you know, there's a decline in families actually attending church. So how do kids nowadays learn their values which, you know, as an adult, they need to have in order to be a functioning member of society. The structure. The structure. The country with a structure and family structure specifically is a stronger country. Yeah, yeah. So, Lisa, you know, your connection through Hardware Hawaii, I mean, how did you get associated with Kimi? How'd you get associated with the Ellison Onizuka program? How'd you get associated with science? You have a PhD? Why? I do not, but like Kimi mentioned, Wayne, who's one of our owners, is very, believes heavily in science and like she mentioned, his son, Science Fair and all of that and that's how they met the wizard that Kimi mentioned earlier, Jake. So he's somebody that has a very big part in hardware science in, you know, developing the projects and ideas and just he's... Is this your primary position there at Hardware Science? No, I have my hand in some other things as well, but Hardware Science has been really fun because it's something that, you know, I'm a parent myself and I have a son and he loves the Rocket Launcher. He's a member of the Boy Scouts. He should be. He's not currently. I'll give you an application for that. Yes, yes. We're gonna get him started. We're gonna show him this video. Yeah, yeah. So actually, you know, these Hardware Science kits which they sell in their store, it was actually created here locally under the tutelage of Wayne Hamitaki and Corey, who decided not to be on our show. Hi, Corey. Hi, Corey. He's too shy. He's being a resource, Corey. Yes, exactly, he's a resource Corey. So Corey actually helped to develop like, hey, what's inside our hardware stores that we can box together for the kids that, you know, is within budget and the kids can really learn things at home. So Corey was really instrumental in that. Okay, a shout out to Corey Shagami, right, I got it, okay. So you have 80 breakout sessions at this function. Yes, we do. That is an awful lot of breakout sessions. It's a lot of breakout sessions. It's a lot of work involved. It's a lot of work. You have one, two, three, four, five, six, seven sponsored programs and all this stuff. It's crazy. I really have to say that, okay, this is... You seem so cool. I am... So in charge, so in control, so mellow. You see my office, this is an explosion. So, you know, I, you do have to say that what we're utilizing this LSM and Yuzuka day of exploration is actually a platform for like us, a local council, it's like our scout service to the community. So we want to emphasize it's open to everyone out there and it's free. But the reason why we're so successful and why we can actually carry out this whole plan idea concept is because a lot of our volunteers are scouts, right? Have been scouts in the past. Sure, it's for life. Exactly, or they are scout parents and going back to the whole thing in view with the sense of community and sacrifice. I mean, Corey from SSFM was in charge of organizing these 48 workshops. That Corey right there. A different Corey actually, and Will Hartso who's part of the Kapiolani district. I know him. Yes, he's terrific. Is it clear waters? He's an Eagle Scout, you know. No kidding. I would have guessed that. So they really came together to organize the people who are gonna be doing the workshops such as Ben Franklin and like doing descriptions. They uploaded it on so people can do like, you know, registration online. I mean, it's a huge, huge undertaking. Of course it is. I mean, the materials you've shown, the articles in the midweek, the article that you add today, huge major and congratulations to you for embracing and putting it together in this special way, innovative way. But you know, it's gonna be a learning experience because it's the first time you've done this kind of program. It's true. What are you looking to learn? What we're looking to learn is, well, a couple of things that we wanted to accomplish with this is to just kind of test the public just to see how they would embrace STEM education. And can I tell you that when we went to sponsors to ask them, hey, would you like to be part of this? The community response was amazing from the corporations. And not only that, when we told not only our scouts, but outside people about our workshops, when we uploaded like, there's probably about 900 slots, in two days, it was more than half filled. We couldn't believe the response from the public. Parents are craving it. Yes, it's terrific. People are warming up to this idea. They realize that the kids will be better off in their lives, their careers, in everything they do with their Akamai about science and maybe even can be professional in science. Yep, it is. And so the public outpouring for support for this has just been like 10 full times of what we had previously just because we were just trying to be a more insular. But that's what scouting is. We're just trying to reach out and embrace all of the cakey out there. How many people coming down? Six million, eight million, what? We hope. We're probably expecting probably about like three to 4,000 people. And it should just be a great day. And also, this is not just limited to kids who just want to geek out on science. Outside we're gonna have Kamayana kids. They'll be coming out with two climbing walls for us. We'll have our- Climbing walls? Yes. Can we come down and try that? Of course. Only kidding. A teepee. We're gonna be building a teepee out there. There'll be some rope bridges. The fire department will be coming because we have these things called explorer posts. So what that is is some, huh? Don't you keep me about these things and new things. I know, I know, I know, I'm sorry. She's re-associating and covering all the ground fabulous, what a program. I know. So exploring, they'll actually have some workshops. What it is is that we have some posts with the fire department and police department. So you can join it and you go to these classes where you actually learn what it takes to be a police officer, not only the rules and laws, but like being physically fit. So in one class these kids are gonna learn what it takes to be in the fire department and the fire truck is gonna be there. So they're gonna learn all the intricacies about all the pieces of the fire department. Of course, the place is flipping out. They're like, what? This is being crazy. But let me tell you, it's just gonna be a fabulous, fabulous day. Okay, where can I learn more about it? What website? Okay, so just come out to, actually we have a Facebook, Ellison Onizuka Day of Exploration. So click on the Facebook site and it has all the pertinent information to that. Also our website, scoutinghawaii.org, you can just go there and find it or scoutinghawaii.org or slash Onizuka. So come on down. I mean, we have great workshop people like Lisa there. It's gonna be fun. It's gonna be terrific. Okay, Lisa, I'm gonna close with you, okay? Okay. How much of what Kimi said do you agree with? Oh, a whole bunch. I mean, yeah, I don't wanna smile. I'm not gonna say no. No, yeah, no, I think the Scouts are, what you learn is very valuable and helps to shape you to be, like we keep saying a functioning member of society, a good person, all these things. So yeah, I personally, I'm excited. This is gonna be my first event with the Scouts. So I'm very excited to be there and to be hosting a workshop. We're gonna be doing some other fun things and so I'm really looking forward to it. So Lisa, do you think he passed enough to get a badge here? I mean, he practiced a little bit on these things and I think so, I think it's, yeah. So Jay, we would like to present you this patch for being a supporter of the Ellison on Iuzika Day of Exploration. So your first scouting badge, here you go. I first one. Yes, right. Monica, right? Yes. Ellison on Iuzuka Day of Exploration. Thank you so much. Thank you. And Lisa, thank you so much, you guys. Thank you. Thanks for having us on. We appreciate it. Thank you.