A $2.9 million grant to assist Hawaiʻi Island underserved secondary students was awarded to the University of Hawaiʻi. Hugh Dunn, program director of the Pacific Literacy Consortium (PLC) in UH Mānoa College of Education’s Curriculum Research & Development Group (CRDG), received a Native Hawaiian Education Program (NHEP) grant to support Project ʻAha Lamakū ʻOia‘i‘o (ALO).
Project ALO is a culturally responsive leadership development, mentoring and transition support system for at-risk Native Hawaiian youth. Building on the positive results of previous PLC and Hawaiʻi Department of Education joint efforts funded by NHEP and other funding sources, Project ALO is designed to ensure the timely completion of courses, promotion to next grade levels, graduation from high school, and successful transition into post-high school college or employment training.
ALO will target strategic support to underserved secondary students in four schools in Hawaiʻi Island’s Kaʻū–Keaʻau-Pāhoa Complex Area (KKP), employing the concept of ma ka hana ka ʻike (knowledge is gained by doing) and integrating proven culturally-responsive approaches. During a three-year period, ALO’s coordinated services will directly benefit approximately 1,160 students and 800 teachers.
The project will deliver services through an array of venues, including one-to-one and small group classroom settings, field trips, community service, retreats, college tours and employment training.
“This award speaks to a long-standing and exemplary collaboration between CRDG’s PLC projects and the Hawaiʻi DOE,” Dunn said. “In partnership with KKP complex- and school-level teams, we hope to employ a sustainable student-centered, culturally-responsive transition support system that positively impacts the life trajectories of ALO project beneficiaries.”
Additionally, ALO will provide KKP teachers with professional development opportunities focused on deepening teacher knowledge of differentiating instruction to meet the unique needs of diverse learners.
Dunn also serves as principal investigator of another federally funded project, Mohala I Ke Ao and is producer and host of the Pacific Education Pulse Podcast.
