Grant will help
coordinate early
education efforts
A small Hawaii nonprofit group has won a $4 million grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation to help 1,000 children on the Waianae Coast and in Keaukaha on the Big Island get ready for kindergarten.
"The children we are targeting generally enter kindergarten two years behind their peers, and some of them never catch up," said Sherlyn Franklin Goo, executive director of the Institute for Native Pacific Education and Culture. "We want to connect families to existing resources so that their children get what it takes to be ready for school."
INPEACE and its partners developed a five-year plan to coordinate services for 1,000 children. The youngsters will be assessed at age 3, enabling early detection of any learning barriers, and followed for five years. Each child will have a "learning advocate" -- a relative, teacher or other concerned adult.
Teams in each community, ranging from store owners to pediatricians to probation officers and educators, will help get the word out about the importance of the earliest years of a child's life.
"Parents and families must be their child's first teachers, and not wait until kindergarten," Goo said. "Some parents don't know it, don't have the confidence, but they have the ability to do a lot of things."
The group will coordinate its efforts with preschools and elementary schools in Waianae and Keaukaha. INPEACE's partners in the venture include The Good Beginnings Alliance, the state Department of Education, Kamehameha Schools, University of Hawaii, Alu Like Inc., Queen Liliuokalani Children's Center and Head Start.
Hawaii is one of seven states and the District of Columbia to receive a grant through Kellogg's SPARK initiative, which stands for Supporting Partnerships to Assure Ready Kids.
The grant is the biggest yet for INPEACE, which runs "Keiki Steps" at nine sites in Waianae on Oahu and Keaukaha and Kealakehe on the Big Island. These free "play and learn" mornings serve a stepping stone from home for youngsters, who attend with their caregivers.
INPEACE also operates a program called Ka Lama to recruit Waianae residents to become teachers.