Carissa Kano is a teacher at Maemae Elementary School.

In 2020, while students were forced to take on virtual learning, Kano wanted to find ways to keep her first-graders engaged.

Using costumes and singing, she put on a show for her students — under the impression that the lockdown was only going to last two weeks. 

In 2021, Kano used her talents to make a video called “Just Choose Love” with over 80 Maemae Elementary School faculty and staff. The song was a twist on the popular K-Pop song, “Boy With Luv,” and took four weeks to recreate.

Having their participation in making music videos not only positively impacted her classes, but started to affect more of the school as she got other students and faculty involved.

In the latest episode of Hawaii News Now’s podcast Island Beat, Billy V chats with Kano about her love for teaching with engaging music videos and also how her time in the Miss Hawaii pageant helped her with her career.