Waiau school wins
grant to develop
skills for peace

By Crystal Kua
Star-Bulletin

Preventing violence through education before there are any signs of trouble is the goal of a $33,600 grant presented yesterday to Waiau Elementary School.

The grant, being awarded by the Violence Prevention Consortium, will help to develop courses on violence prevention and peace promotion that would be weaved into current subjects taught at the school, consortium President Martha Ross said.

"Relationships should be as important as reading, writing and math," Ross said. "We're saying it's a priority."

Ross said that many times curbing violence only becomes a priority after the fact or in high-risk situations. "You don't have to wait for (violence) to happen."

Courses could teach skills related to nonviolent conflict resolution, treating differences with respect, gender equity, cultural equality, and other related issues, Ross said.

Waiau Elementary was selected because the school is already practicing what they are proposing to preach, Ross said.

"Waiau demonstrated in their proposal the understanding of violence prevention and peace skills," Ross said. "It's not just an add-on class. It's about what you do every day in every classroom."

Waiau Principal Judith Elliott said the school had already embarked on a mission of compassion and caring.

The entire school, for example, studied war and peace by looking at conflict, seeing the results of conflict and avoiding that kind of conflict, Elliott said. "It really has been part of our nature to examine how we can get along, and now we can look at how to reach out beyond our immediate community to spread this."

Waiau is receiving one of four grants. A grant will also be awarded to one school in each neighbor island county.

Schools on the neighbor islands interested in submitting proposals for the grants can send them to Elizabeth Peralta, Hawaii State Commission on the Status of Women, 235 S. Beretania St., No. 407, Honolulu, 96813. Deadline to submit proposals is Jan. 12.

The grants are part of a pilot program that will also examine the long- and short-term effects of these projects, Ross said.

The University of Hawaii's College of Education at Manoa will also offer a peace education course.

Funds from the state Department of Health were earmarked to prevent domestic violence and are provided through the Hawaii State Commission on the Status of Women and awarded by the consortium, which is made up of public and private members.