Nā Pua Noʻeau

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David Sing, Director (dsing@hawaii.edu)
Nā Pua Noʻeau Building 381A
Manono Street Campus
(808) 974-7678

Nā Pua Noʻeau (NPN) is a Hawaiian culture-based education resource center within the University of Hawaiʻi (UH) that provides educational enrichment program activities to over 2000 Hawaiian children and their families annually in grades K through 12 throughout the State of Hawaiʻi. In 2005, with a new grant from the U.S. Department of Education, the service is now extended to students in their first year of college at the University of Hawaiʻi campuses. These grant funds supported the development of an initiative to increase the retention and graduation rates of students matriculating to the University of Hawaiʻi campuses. The project will assure that the high number of students entering UH campuses through Nā Pua Noʻeau will have high success rates.

The Center provides a wide range of program activities from a one-day Super Enrichment Saturday to three years of intensive study in land and natural resource studies (Pathways Program) and Hawaiian leadership (ʻAha ʻŌpio Alakaʻi Program). Nā Pua Noʻeau uses a program model that is designed to make learning meaningful and applicable within a Hawaiian context. Students specialize in content areas such as biology, geology, astronomy, marine science, environmental science, volcanology, voyaging, and leadership.

The Program has centers and staffing on all of the islands. All sites are at a University of Hawaiʻi campus with the exception of Lanai. Sites include University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, Kauaʻi Community College, Maui Community College, Lānaʻi High and Elementary School, Molokaʻi Education Center, and University of Hawaiʻi Center at West Hawaiʻi.

The Center has been in operation since 1989.