Team Curriculum

Hoʻouna Pono is a culturally grounded substance use prevention curriculum. Specifically it is a video-enhanced, school-based substance use prevention program providing drug resistance strategies to Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander youth, originally designed with youth on Hawai‘i Island. The curriculum focuses on culturally relevant drug resistance skills training and is aligned with the State of Hawaiʻi's academic standards. 

Youth Listening Sessions: Team Curriculum has designed protocol for and conducted focus groups called Youth Listening Sessions with various middle and high school students in the Windward District. These Listening Sessions evaluate the relatability of Ho‘ouna Pono for Windward O‘ahu youth and will inform potential adaptations to the curriculum.

Community Focus Groups: We are currently developing a focus group protocol for family members of Windward youth, teachers, and other community members to gain more perspectives about the Ho‘ouna Pono curriculum for the community's youth.

Youth, families, and community stakeholders evaluate the extent to which each drug offer scenario in the Ho‘ouna Pono curriculum is realistic. After this process, participants vote on their Top 3 Realistic stories. After tallying these votes, we show the participants the drug offer scenario video that received the most top votes, and engage in discussion about their thoughts— what is working, not working, or can be adjusted for their specific communities. Focus Groups are necessary to prioritize community voices in the adaptation and implementation of Ho‘ouna Pono with Windward O‘ahu youth.

Curriculum Adaptation Evaluation: We will evaluate the changes needed for the Ho‘ouna Pono program by analyzing data collected in the Windward community. We will work with Team School to implement the curriculum in Windward District Middle Schools.