About Us

Since 2002, Pacific Resources for Education and Learning (PREL) has administered the U.S. Department of Education’s Native Hawaiian Safe and Drug Free (NHSDF) grant. The Nā Hoa Ho‘ōla program, supported by this grant, is working to develop a culturally appropriate, standards-based health education curriculum to assist students in achieving the Hawai‘i health standards and acquiring healthy behaviors in risk areas that include violence prevention, alcohol and other drug use prevention, and tobacco use prevention.

The program will: (a) create a standards-based, culturally relevant curriculum that infuses prevention content with literacy strategies and includes a series of interactive online supplements; (b) train teachers to use the curriculum; (c) partner with community agencies to enlist their support in serving the pilot schools by reinforcing prevention activities; and (d) expand the reach of its prevention education model by disseminating it for use by other Native Hawaiian students in grades 4–6.

In the 2005–2006 school year, the curriculum will be field tested at selected schools that serve a high proportion of Native Hawaiian students. Two of the participating schools are located on O‘ahu—Pū‘ōhala Elementary in Kāne‘ohe and ‘Ānuenue School in Pālolo Valley in Honolulu. A third school—Kanu o ka ‘Āina New Century Public Charter School—is located in Waimea on the island of Hawai‘i. Other schools are in the process of becoming program partners and are gearing up to pilot the curriculum. PREL will also develop a website to support parents and community agencies in their own educational drug and violence prevention needs.