Mid-Pacific’s art and literary magazine, Ka Nalu Ola, received the highest “First Class” award in the 2020 REALM (Recognizing Excellence in Art and Literary Magazines) awards.

Ka Nalu Ola began production by Mid-Pacific high school students with the help of submissions from the student body and support of their teachers. Last year, the Ka Nalu Ola team decided to try something new for the 2020 edition.

“We were taking a risk with the magazine since it looked so different than before and doesn’t necessarily look like a traditional literary magazine. It was really nice to see that it was well received,” said Brooke Johnson, a first year editor for the 2020 literary magazine.

Magazine advisor and English teacher Ken Baldino said the editors wanted more of a zine and homemade aesthetic rather than a traditional look.

“We wanted every page to feel like it was touched by a human hand,” said Baldino.

The Ka Nalu Ola team faced adversity with the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. In normal times, the editors would physically collaborate together while at school.

“The tricky part was that we saw ourselves moving pieces around and making pages by hand, but then we ended up at home and everyone was trying to do everything from home,” said Baldino.

The Ka Nalu Ola team ended up switching to meeting on Zoom more frequently once the pandemic hit. Normally, awardees are notified from November to December but with the pandemic, the announcements weren’t made until March.

“We put a lot of work and hours into it and to get recognition is really cool,” said Johnson.

The 2020 Ka Nalu Ola editors consisted of: Fiona Sievert ’20, Morgan Groves ’20, Isabella Miki ’20, Griffin Au ’21, Brooke Johnson ’21, and Solana Isgar ’23.

“I feel very lucky that I get to work with such talented and creative people. It’s not just the editors but also the people submitting,” said Baldino.

Click here to see the Ka Nalu Ola 2020 edition