The Humanity Hale Curriculum Guide 2025-2026

The Humanity Hale Curriculum Guide was created to clearly articulate the vision, purpose, and impact of our trauma-informed, culturally rooted youth programs. As our work continues to grow, this guide reflects our expanded 10-week program model, over 40 programs delivered annually, and our in-school services operating four days a week across Hawaiʻi island.

This curriculum incorporates the full scope of our offerings, including:

🌺 Hawaiian Arts for Healing (OHA-funded)
Serving 120 Native Hawaiian youth with workshops in hula, oli, māla cultivation, ukulele, mahina workbooks, cultural arts, and identity-based healing practices led by esteemed kumu and practitioners.

🌿 ʻĀina Days
Hands-on, land-based learning experiences in partnership with cultural leaders, farms, and community organizations — reconnecting youth to ʻāina, stewardship, and ancestral knowledge.

🪶 Trauma-Informed Practices Through a Cultural Lens
Training for kumu, mentors, and staff facilitated by thought-provoking cultural leaders, integrating traditional healing practices such as hoʻoponopono, kilo, grounding, and somatic cultural methods.

🎨 Art Therapy & Emotional Healing
A structured 10-week curriculum focusing on emotional regulation, self-awareness, resilience building, and creative expression.

🏫 School-Based Support
Programs delivered 4 days a week within local schools, offering direct trauma support, mentorship, life skills, and group or individual intervention.

Each component of this guide — The Humanity Hale Logic Model, Curriculum Map, and Course Competency Commitments — was developed to ensure that every activity, lesson, and cultural practice directly aligns with our core goal:
to provide trauma healing through a cultural lens, restoring identity, belonging, and hope in the lives of Hawaiʻi’s youth.

Created by Humanity Hale’s founders, these tools demonstrate how our curriculum translates into meaningful outcomes for youth, families, and the broader community.

For Humanity Hale weekly programs, each participant receives 10 consecutive weeks of immersive programming. Our curriculum rotates through a series of core modules, with each program offered once every five weeks. This ensures both continuity and variety in learning.

Over the full 10-week cycle, every youth receives:

  • Two weeks of each core program, delivered at different points in the rotation

  • Exposure to multiple healing pathways, such as art therapy, Hawaiian cultural arts, ʻāina-based learning, mentorship, trauma-informed practices, and life skills

  • A balanced structure that supports emotional regulation, identity building, and whole-person healing

This rotational model ensures that every participant experiences the full spectrum of Humanity Hale’s trauma-informed, culturally grounded curriculum — promoting deep learning, consistent connection, and lasting impact.

Week 1

  • Create a pre-assessment capture of feelings of safety, triggers, boundaries, and
    other self-advocacy measures with youth participants by week 1
  • Design programming curriculum by week 1
  • Youth and kūpuna co-create activities by week 1
  • Identify appropriate program mentors and staff by week 1

Every 5 Weeks

Schedule one week of each program for every 5 weeks. Programs to rotate 2x each per 10 week quarter.

Week 9

Design a transition plan for participants by week 9

Week 10

Create a post-assessment capture of changes in feelings of safety, triggers, boundaries, and other self-advocacy measures with youth participants by week 10