Around The Islands
Mini Profile
Brittany Gomes:
A Role Model
by Mike Yoshiura
"I wanted to be a model or an actress because I'm tall. I guess I could do it. It's just after joining this program it opened up a lot of doors for me," said Brittany Gomes.
Brittany is a 16-year-old junior taking part in Waianae High School's Searider Production Program, and these days she doesn't get out much. If she's not in class you will find her working diligently in the Searider Production Building (SPB).
Before joining the program, Gomes had too much free time on her hands and very little motivation to excel in school. Her sophomore year, she was forced to choose an elective so she selected a television production class.
"I wasn't involved in anything. I really had no reason to get good grades, and Searider Productions gave me a place to go after school, and something to do with my time. I started staying after school, and now I practically live here."
Gomes enjoyed the television production class so much that she signed up for the Student Television Network (STN) the following semester. The STN is responsible for producing everything from documentaries, to music videos, and of course, a weekly broadcast of the Searider News, which airs every Sunday night at 8:30 on Oceanic Channel 56.
The 12-year-old program specializes in print and video production, digital design, and audio and music recording. The Searider Production Team has established quite a reputation, accumulating a list of accolades on a national scale.
"The program has changed so many lives in my opinion. You take a kid with low test scores, you give them a video and you tell them to edit and suddenly their geniuses. It's so good because you hear so much negative stuff about Waianae, but we're not what everybody says we are. We have a lot of smart kids that just need to apply themselves."
Brittany is a staff writer for the Searider Production Team, as well as the Ka Leo O Waianae, the Searider's monthly newspaper. She can spend up to 30 hours a week in the SPB, and if there's a deadline to meet you can bet that she will be working over the weekend.
"I've only had to stay 'til around 10 (p.m.). They are very strict about deadlines here. If you don't finish a deadline you're sleeping here. They don't mess around with that stuff."
In the seventh grade, the Waianae native started contributing news stories for the Waianae 5-4 News. The 5-4 News is Waianae Intermediate School's in school news show, also produced in the SPB. This is where Gomes got her first taste of what a newsroom was like.
"I want kids to see there's something out there for you no matter what it is. If you want something bad enough you can do anything! Look at me, I want to be a writer, and I have this program. I just want people to see that anything's possible."
