HILO » When Kehau Newhouse was in her early teens, the Na Pua Noeau program based at the University of Hawaii at Hilo took her and other Hawaiian teenagers to remote Nualolo Valley on the North Shore of Kauai for a week.

They had to swim to shore.

Now 25, she holds a master's degree in human resources management and works as a coordinator in a similar youth enrichment program on her home island of Maui.

When Kevan Kamibayashi, 28, of Hilo was 11 years old, Na Pua Noeau hiked him and other Hawaiian kids onto a recent lava flow. He decided then that he wanted to be a geologist, he said.

Today he has a bachelor's degree in geology and works at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.

Nineteen years after it was founded, Na Pua Noeau has expanded to every island except Niihau. More than 2,000 youths participate ever year, said founder David Sing.

The Office of Hawaiian Affairs recently granted Na Pua Noeau $1.3 million to continue its work. The total annual budget is about $3 million.

Sing, in charge since 1989, recently was named Educator of the Year by the National Indian Education Association. He will receive the award at the association's convention in Seattle on Oct. 25.

Sing's vision was a program in which children could explore their Hawaiian identity while connecting with professionals who could lead them to a higher education.

When young Kehau Newhouse swam ashore on Kauai, it wasn't just a camping trip. Participants restored old taro patches. Other times they stayed on Kahoolawe and in Wailau Valley on Molokai.

Newhouse learned there was more to Hawaiian culture than hula, she said. She learned kuleana, taking responsibility for herself and Hawaiian culture.

In the process, she says, she grew up. One lesson: “;I'm not just a fragile girl in this big world,”; she said. “;I'm a strong Hawaiian woman.”;

As Sing envisioned, young Kevan Kamibayashi did indeed rub shoulders with professionals. But there was nothing stuffy about the “;Rocks and Rolls”; program he was in.

He remembers the group leader laying out a big triangle on the lava rocks, having Kamibayashi and others pace off the distance on two sides. Then the leader gave them a formula to figure out the length of the third side.

Only later were they told they had learned the Pythagorean Theorem. Kamibayashi is sure he would have been turned off if he was given that big name first instead of hiking over lava.