Launch of collaborative youth program draws academic and government partners
“The work of educating a child is the work of an entire community. Schools participating in trusting partnerships with our broader communities is crucial to caring for the social, emotional and academic wellness of all our children.” -Art Souza, DOE
By Susan Enright/UH Hilo Stories.
The University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo is partnering with leading educational and state government groups to start a collaborative discussion about improving the future of West Hawaiʻi youth and young adults. Joining the effort are the Hawaiʻi State Department of Education (DOE), Kamehameha Schools, the County of Hawaiʻi, Queen Liliʻuokalani Children’s Center, and several other West Hawaiʻi organizations.
The group, called Hōkūpaʻa (the North Star or literally, the immovable star), held its first meeting in January to discuss the West Hawaiʻi Complex Area’s ongoing need to align the work of programs, organizations, and the community for better outcomes among youth and young adults ages 11 to 25.
The group is motivated by some sobering statistics.
While nine percent of the overall working age population in the state of Hawaiʻi has less than a high school diploma, a full 19 percent of the population in West Hawaiʻi has less than a high school education, the highest percentage in the state (U.S. Census, 2006-2010 survey).
Further, of the students who do finish high school, too few students are pursuing post-secondary education. While almost 26 percent of high school graduates in the state attend one of the UH community colleges, the lowest “go rate” in the state is in West Hawaiʻi at 15.8 percent.
Further still, 28 percent of 16- to 19-year-olds are neither employed nor enrolled in school.
National research shows this puts these young people at greater risk for young adult poverty, unhealthy lifestyles, lower lifetime earning potential, and increased reliance on social services.
Hōkūpaʻa
The idea for Hōkūpaʻa started over a year ago, says Kei-Lin Cerf, UH Hilo’s new director of strategic community development for West Hawaiʻi.
“At the time, West Hawaiʻi Complex Area Superintendent Art Souza and I just wanted to start a conversation with sector leaders to ask what youth mentoring was needed to help make a significant difference for the community,” she says.
The result is the forming of a dedicated group of leaders who want to have a much larger conversation about collective impact for West Hawaiʻi that includes the input of a broad range of people and groups.
“They are ready to do things differently by doing them together,” says Cerf. “This kind of leadership takes courage because you have to admit that what your agency is currently doing isn’t working and your agency cannot do it alone. It also takes bravery to put aside the old reasons why we did not collaborate and create a new history. Once we could say that to each other, we were half way there.”
Cerf says the solution to the problem starts with building on success and making stronger connections between agencies, programs, and most importantly, people who are already seeing positive results.
“While the West Hawaiʻi Complex Area has its fair share of challenges, it also has great examples of success,” she says. “Programs are showing positive results with youth, parenting groups have dedicated involvement, and valuable land areas are a resource for āina-based (land-based) STEM education (science, technology, engineering, and math).”
“Our greater potential lies in the opportunities where we can connect our successes together.”
The mission
The mission of Hōkūpaʻa is to foster connection and communication between West Hawaiʻi youth support partners and gather data to help make better decisions. The work will help all youth and young adult programs and services connect with each other to find ways to learn from each other.
Ultimately, the goal is to help more students graduate from high school, when they will be better prepared to make smart choices about college or employment. This in turn improves the quality of life for the students, their families, and the community as a whole.
Cerf says the Hōkūpaʻa group is building “a collective community model where students and parents have easy access to opportunities.”
“We are increasing our assets and removing our barriers, together,” she says.
Souza, superintendent for Honokaʻa-Kealakehe-Kohala-Konawaena Complex Area, fully supports the group effort.
“The Hōkūpaʻa partnership helps us in West Hawaiʻi to realize our dream of leading in and through communities,” he says. “The work of educating a child is the work of an entire community. Schools participating in trusting partnerships with our broader communities is crucial to caring for the social, emotional and academic wellness of all our children.”
Hōkūpaʻa is a collaboration of West Hawaiʻi leaders. In addition to the DOE, Kamehameha Schools, county agencies, and Queen Liliʻuokalani Children’s Center, also joining UH Hilo (the parent agency) is Hawaiʻi Community College, the Hawaiʻi County Council, the County Prosecutor’s Office, the nonprofit Learning Coalition and the Hawaiʻi State Office of Youth Services.
Kaeo Duarte, Kamehameha Schools’ director of strategic initiatives in West Hawaiʻi, says positive change across a region as diverse as West Hawaiʻi will have a greater chance of succeeding if government, DOE, UH and private entities are genuinely communicating and working together.
“We are all trying hard to accomplish our goals individually, but are fast coming to the conclusion that we become like paddlers in a canoe with great potential but not paddling in unison,” says Duarte. “You will move, but not necessarily as fast as you want and in the right direction. Hōkūpaʻa’s goal is for all of us to listen to each other and the kahea (call) to hoe (paddle) as one.”
The high number of students in West Hawaiʻi without a high school diploma is a big challenge for postsecondary education because these students are very likely not college ready. UH hopes to change that with the opening of Pālamanui. But students must be prepared for that option through support and intervention starting many years earlier.
“The Hōkūpaʻa project is well-conceived for our West Hawaiʻi Community, where we, as educational, community, and business leaders, have a particular ability to work together in close respectful networks,” says Marty Fletcher, director at UH Center at West Hawaiʻi. “Our networks can create both a safety net for our young people as well as a lattice which they can climb to recognize and realize their aspirations, and ultimately to become part of a fabric which passes the same opportunities on to the next generation.”
Hōkūpaʻa will host a Youth Support Forum in the near future.
Story by Susan Enright, a public information specialist for the Office of the Chancellor and editor of UH Hilo Stories. She received her bachelor of arts in English and certificate in women’s studies from UH Hilo.
