University of Hawai‘i professors awarded $3.9M grant to support Native Hawaiian student health, wellbeing, more

A $3.9 million grant aimed to improve academic success and the physical, mental and emotional wellbeing of Native Hawaiian keiki has been awarded to a pair of University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa College of Education professors.

Professor Erin Centeio in the UH Mānoa Department of Kinesiology and Rehabilitation Science and Professor Kuʻulei Serna in the School of Teacher Education received a $3,954,518 grant from the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (Native Hawaiian Education Program).

This is the second round of funding for I Paʻa Ka Huewai Pawehe – “So that our prized water gourds are made firm.” The first round of funding totaling $2.85 million was awarded in 2021.

For the second round of funding, Centeio and Serna will be collaborating with Associate Professor Summer Maunakea in the Department of Curriculum Studies to include ʻāina-based education. The three-year project is a partnership among the College of Education, the Hawaiʻi Department of Education and the Hawaiʻi Department of Health.

“The HIDOE serves a large proportion of NH [Native Hawaiian] youth who are at risk for long-term health issues, given the high obesity rates and lack of participation in physical activity,” Centeio said. “Many NH youth have experienced various forms of cultural trauma and find it hard to be successful in traditional academic venues.”

Goals of the project include:

• Improve the overall health and wellbeing of Native Hawaiian students
• Improve the quality of health and physical education according to Hawaiʻi state standards and benchmarks as well as national recommendations
• Identify meaningful intersections within overall health and education, addressing whole child development

Building upon the first round of I Paʻa Ka Huewai Pawehe, which currently partners with 20 schools across four complex areas on Oʻahu and Kauaʻi, round two will add 15 more schools across three new complex areas on Hawaiʻi, Maui and Molokai.

The project will also continue professional development and learning for the current schools and will partner with Kōkua Foundation to expand programming in the current elementary schools to incorporate ʻāina-based education, reaching over 25,000 students in total.

“Based on the direct correlation between the overall health of youth and academic success in school, there is a drastic need for interventions surrounding the health of the whole child,” Centeio said. “This need, coupled with the unique and underserved population of NH youth, underscores how timely and warranted I Paʻa Ka Huewai Pawehe is.”