Kapi'olani Community College's Service-Learning Program is continuing its Palolo effort through the inter-institutional Palolo Pipeline Program by organizing a health fair to educate Palolo children and their families on health issues. The Palolo Mini Health Fair will be held from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the Palolo Elementary School cafeteria.

Kapi'olani CC Health Sciences and Pre-Education students will be joined by other community organizations to provide educational information and interactive presentations, according to a news release on the event. Children and families will be invited to peruse the booths, gather information, talk to experts, and interact through games and engaging displays and demonstrations, including a tour of an ambulance that will be parked in the school's front parking lot.

Kapi'olani CC student-led booths and activities will include dental hygiene students educating kids on good brushing and flossing techniques, medical assisting students providing blood pressure checks and vision screening, exercise and sport science students providing exercise tips, and pre-education majors putting on educational games about health and nutrition.

Also participating will be the Waikiki Health Center's youth outreach program and Pacific Resources for Education & Learning's Ho'oikaika Kino interactive Pacific-based violence prevention curriculum. Magic School Bus videos on health topics will be played, along with "Toilet Story," a comical three-minute video produced by Kapi'olani CC's New Media Arts program. The Honolulu Police Department will also have officers in attendance with their Keiki ID program.

Families will take home gift baskets filled with fruit, canned foods, coupon books and hygiene products, and will also be able to participate in a raffle for a variety of door prizes.

The event aims to educate and support Palolo Housing and Valley residents on issues relating to living healthy and being well in order to positively affect students' academic performance in school. Many children attending Palolo Elementary School face health setbacks that can keep them from attending school and prevent them from reaching their full potential. Health issues such as asthma, bed bugs, lice, poor dental hygiene, and even the lack of a pair of rubber slippers, are a setback for students.

The Palolo Pipeline Program is a collaborative project of Kapi'olani CC, UH Manoa and Chaminade University. The program gives college students the chance to serve as they learn as they provide academic support to children from Palolo Valley Homes. The goal of the program is to create and sustain a pipeline of educational support that will provide lifelong learning, specifically by improving early childhood education and helping students through the educational system from infancy and preschool to institutions of higher education. The program has been recognized nationally for its success and serves as a model for work in similar low-income areas statewide.