Allen Vinta, affectionately called “Mr. V” by students, has been doing the Puka Mai Ka La “Mashing My Kalo” segment since 2015. However, with the Covid-19 pandemic continuing in the 2021-2022 school year, there was more that was Mashing Mr. V’s Kalo.

Mr. V has been working with Puka Mai Ka La since 2010 to produce short segments, but in 2015 a student approached him and asked if he wanted to do a weekly segment. During that time, Mr. V had seen a Family Guy episode that featured a segment called “Grinding My Gears.” Thus,  Mashing My Kalo was birth,  along with Mr. V and his television persona, an angrier version of  Vinta, whose love for students is displayed in a more aggressive manner.

According to Vinta, a KS graduate who bleeds blue and white, “The premise of [Mashing My Kalo] was to help the students of this campus see the stupid things they do and how they can stop being stupid.” He believes that sometimes people must be a bit louder or more aggressive to get people to listen. “A lot of times when Puka Mai Ka La is on, most students aren’t paying attention until I come on with the gruff, loud voice, and suddenly they are watching. So that is what we wanted; we wanted the idea to capture the audience and get them to listen to these things that everyone talks about and tells them they need to do, but half the time they don’t listen until someone gets in their face about it.” Vinta’s passion, however, can be misinterpreted.

Last November, Mr. V aired a Mashing My Kalo segment about the SaferMe Badges and Covid Safety. The episode sparked outrage outside of the school, and Mr. Vinta was put on administrative leave.  He came back a week later and decided to continue his weekly segment with a new title, “Mr.V’s Neighborhood,” a much calmer version of its predecessor.

“Mr. V’s Neighborhood was an old, one-time episode done back in 2014.  I only did one because it was harder for Puka Mai Ka La to edit. When I came back [from administrative leave] I worked with Puka Mai Ka La and figured we should do something different,” Mr. V said. He promises that Mashing My Kalo is not gone and that he is slowly working towards important themes. Using the controversy sparked by his last Mashing My Kalo segment, Mr. V hopes to stir up the conversation and get more people to listen. “Enjoy the ride until we get there,” he tells students.

While on administrative leave, the student body banded together to show their support by wearing beanies, Mr. V’s favorite accessory, every day until he came back. Even teachers got involved and wore their own beanies in support.

Mr. V’s students especially showed their support.  Students’ names were withheld due to the sensitivity of this situation. “You have many students including myself that are behind you! We hope you know we appreciate everything you do for us as a teacher who continuously fights for the interest of students and advocate for our safety on campus,” said one of Vinta’s students in an email to him.

Another one of Mr. V’s students emailed the extent of student support: “A lot of students are so upset! My friend created a social media disease post, and she said a lot of KS alum who had you as their Kumu too are really upset and responding to it and supporting her!”

Even a student who did not have Vinta as a kumu yet said in an email, “I don’t have your class yet, but I wanted to send you an email saying the school is dumb and you only spoke truth on mashing my Kalo. Looking forward to having your class next semester.”

Reflecting on the entire incident has encouraged Mr. V to continue to bleed for his alma mater. “It is humbling. I’ve said it before, and I will say it again. It is like looking at your own funeral, you don’t know how much people care about you until something like this happens. It’s sad that it takes something like this to happen, but at the same time, it’s really rewarding to know that what I do is not in vain. So [the support] was very touching to me. The students cared enough, they didn’t want to see me go, they didn’t want to see me stop, they didn’t think I did anything wrong. It was absolutely amazing.”