Mana Maoli and MELE are excited to present the Mana Mele Project, featuring an unprecedented Music & Multimedia Academy and Hawaiʻi’s first state-of-the-art, 4-in-1 Mobile Studio powered by solar energy. See below for more about MELE and Mana Maoli.
Music & Multimedia Academy
An advanced, hands-on approach to educating Hawaiʻi’s youth. As they learn their Academics, Business, and Culture (ABCʻs) through the theme of music and multimedia, graduates will be college/career ready, culturally grounded, and community-minded. A key feature of the Academy curriculum is connecting youth to mentorships with local musicians, engineers, videographers, and event planners/promoters – on campus and in real-world settings.
We are currently developing and piloting curriculum across 20 schools on Oʻahu, Kauaʻi, and Hawai’i 15 of which are culture, community and environment-based charter schools. The ultimate goal is for students to be able earn all the Language Arts, Math, Science and Social Studies credits needed to earn their high-school diploma, through music, engineering, video, and the business aspects of these industries. To date, curriculum maps toward this end have been developed for grades 9-12, with well over 150 lessons aligned – each aligned with these maps, academic standards in 1 or more ʻcoreʻ subject areas, while weaving in at least 1 of 3 ʻthreadsʻ – Hawaiian language and culture, multimedia and tech, and business/career.
This curriculum is continually piloted and refined as the following program services are provided to our partner schools:
Year-long after school/elective classes – This is the primary space where students are able to learn Mana Meleʻs ABCʻs in depth, as noted above.
School visits – Mana Maoli Collective artists provide school wide assemblies that include sharing music, talking story, and QnA as a means of inspiration, learning and encouragement to our youth. During the same visit, they also provide small group workshops, where each artist works with youth on building specific skills (e.g. songwriting, ʻukulele,) or addressing specific themes and values
Mentorships – Ranging from one session to weekly classes all year long, music and multimedia industry professionals provide mentorships with specific focus, such as singing, ukulele, songwriting, engineering, video production, social media as an outreach tool, and more. Mentorships are held on-campus, as well as in real-world settings.
Mobile studio Visits – Students record kūpuna archives, traditional and original mele and ʻoli, create informational, instructional and promo videos, audio books, and more. While these final products are valuable and sharable to future cohorts, sibling schools and online, the learning process in the areas of music, sound engineering, video production and life are also invaluable.
Mobile Studio
Nicknamed Meleana, she is a state-of-the-art, solar-powered, 4-in-1 mobile studio – with Live Event & Studio capabilities, both Audio & Video. Meleana brings education and resources to keiki by providing a classroom and studio on wheels, while also offering high-end services to Hawaiʻiʻs businesses, artists, and communities as a means to feed Mana Meleʻs programs, and provide youth interns a space for real-world learning with Hawaiʻiʻs most respected musicians, engineers, and videographers.
On their own campus, services offered to Hawaiʻiʻs private and public sectors include power, sound, entertainment and audio/video recordings for live events, and any audio/video studio product – from PSAʻs and music videos to full-length albums and documentaries.
Click here for a full list of available services.
Why a 4-in-1 Mobile Studio? For Excellence, Clean Energy, Community, and Keiki.
- For Excellence – Premier digital and analog equipment designed for industry professionals, available as a learning and storytelling tool for Hawaiʻi’s students during school hours, and to provide high-caliber service and products to Hawai’i when used by professionals.
- For Clean Energy – The mobile studio provides reliable and renewable energy for events, recordings and school workshops, via mobile solar panels and generator, and full battery backup. It is cost-and-energy efficient with cleaner sound. The truck towing the refurbished ʻ76 Airstream trailer runs on diesel or biodiesel fuel.
- For Community – Offering Hawaiʻi access to top local musicians, engineers, and videographers who support community-based education, through youth services and the aforementioned services available to Hawaiʻiʻs businesses and the public, as a social enterprise option to those who want to support the Mana Mele Projectʻs youth services and collective of industry professionals who support the project, while still being assured a high quality product.
- For Keiki – All donations and net proceeds from the Live Event Services and Studio Products described above supports Mana Meleʻs programs at its partner schools.
The MELE Program – Based at Honolulu Community College, MELE (Music & Entertainment Learning Experience) offers college degrees in Music Business & Production and Audio Engineering, with curriculum that balances academics and real world application. MELE and Mana Maoli are honored to serve Hawaii’s community at large with the Mana Mele Project.
Mana Maoli CDʻs and concerts featuring student, underground and pro artists collaborating in the studio and onstage to raise awareness of the amazing success stories of Hawaiian charter schools, despite the severe funding inequities they face. Funds raised go to support Hawaiian charter schools and/or Mana Mele programs at these schools. Follow Mana Maoli on Facebook and Instagram to keep informed of upcoming events, and see both digital and physical gifts/products, including EPʻs, albums, and music videos, under the products section of our manamele.org website.