Sauni, who just completed the eighth grade, said his whole attitude has changed. He had been overwhelmed and stressed by the amount of school work he had to do, he said.

But with the mentoring program, school work became fun and his confidence grew as his work improved. Among the things he learned were the value of keeping a daily planner of his work, getting teachers to sign off on the planner and budgeting his time.

"Now I feel like I can do it and it's not a problem anymore," he said, adding that he has set long- and short-term goals, including going to college to become a doctor or a lawyer.

Sauni was among the first students to benefit from Education-1st Hawaii, which focuses on kids who are often overlooked in the educational system: the academic middle. The program, backed by a $2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education and created in La'ie, is focusing on the Kahuku community initially and gives priority to Hawaiian or Polynesian students.

Programs geared to the average student are new to Hawai'i but not the Mainland, said Asai Gilman, executive director of Education-1st.

But Education-1st is unique from all other programs because it infuses Hawaiian and Polynesian cultural values in the lessons, he said.

The academic middle is ignored because people's perception is that average is OK, said Peter Mataira, a University of Hawai'i instructor in community organization and social policy. But these students will become future leaders and it is worrisome that the public accepts mediocrity, Mataira said, who has initiated student leadership programs.

"The resources seem to be focused on the top and the bottom end," he said. "Students in the middle are perceived to be doing well and I think that's a false perception. Students in the middle need to be encouraged to do better."

There's even a lesson for the community in Education-1st.

"In this community athletics is first," Gilman said. "What we think is, education is first. That is what it's going to take for an athlete to really succeed. We want to change a community culture."

Gilman, the director for admissions and recruitment for Brigham Young University-Hawai'i and a past college football coach, and his wife, Keawe, an educator, developed the Education-1st programs after they struggled to instill academic discipline in their five children, ages 1 through 11.

There seemed to be no culture of support for academics from his children's friends or the community, which has a culture to support athletics and sees sports as avenues to success. But many good athletes fail because they don't have the discipline to stick it out, Gilman said.

Education-1st hopes to change that.

Gilman launched the first of four programs in March to build a strong foundation in study habits and teach principles for college and career success. Some 90 students from Kahuku High and Intermediate School took advantage of the free Kahua 'Ike Mentoring Program, Gilman said.

This summer an estimated 50 11th-grade athletes will take part in Game Plan, a one-week academic academy to strengthen students physically while preparing them for college entrance requirements and the demands of higher education.

Kahuku principal Lisa DeLong not only supports the programs but sits on the board of directors for Education-1st.

"With (Gilman's) support, students who are performing in the academic middle range can achieve in the most rigorous classes," DeLong said. Students were eager for the help and lined up for the Kahua 'Ike Mentoring Program and AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) class, she said.

AVID classes will begin in the fall and cover such areas as problem solving, writing and improving analytical thinking. AVID was developed on the Mainland and is another means to reach the academic middle, Gilman said.

Education-1st will also sponsor monthly motivational speakers tailored to families and students who want to graduate from college.

Kristi Sauni, Clayson's mother, said the program helped her son go from nearly failing in the seventh grade to honor roll at the end of the eighth grade. The mentors improved his writing, studying and social skills, as well as taught him how to take tests, she said.

"He enjoyed going," she said, adding that the volunteers are positive and reward accomplishments.

Micah Kane, chairman for the Hawaiian Homes Commission, said he would like to see similar programs in Hawaiian Home Lands communities because the education system there isn't working and needs the kind of cultural sensitivity Education-1st offers.

The mission of the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands is to rehabilitate the Native Hawaiian, Kane said, and a major component for that is education, which is missing.

"We will be successful in getting the Hawaiians on the land, but keeping them there long-term is where the education component comes in," Kane said.

In a school where students earned $1.57 million in scholarships this year, Gilman said there's still a large group of students that will benefit from his programs. If the program proves successful in Kahuku, it could go statewide, nationwide and even international, Gilman said.