KSM alumna breathes life into ‘ōlelo Hawai‘i

August 4, 2021

Kamehameha Schools Maui alumna Jasmine “Koko” Casey KSM'17 shares how she speaks ‘ōlelo Hawai‘i at both of her jobs – as a kumu at ‘O Nāwahīokalani‘ōpuʻu Iki Lab Public Charter School in Kea‘au and as a server at Zippy’s restaurant in Hilo. “Sometimes I'll speak Hawaiian to one family and then I’ll walk over to another table and they'll ask me, ‘What language are you speaking?’ I get to tell them, ‘I’m speaking Hawaiian. I'm speaking the language of this land…’ We need to hear Hawaiian throughout Hawai‘i and outside of Hawai‘i as well and making sure that this is a living, breathing language and it’s not going anywhere.” Video courtesy of KGMB/KHNL’s HINow.