KANE'OHE — A growing contingent in this community — including schools, sports leagues, city government and social agencies — has set a lofty goal: improving the character of everyone in the 96744 ZIP code area, from Kane'ohe to Waiahole.

The plan is for residents to adopt five words and integrate them in their lives.

The words have spread to all of the state Department of Education schools in the Castle complex, the city's Kane'ohe Summer Fun and teen programs, and some sports leagues. Children and adults are learning the importance of respect, responsibility, resourcefulness, relationships and resiliency.

The goal of the Five R's Project is to have everyone in the community — not just the children — improve in civility, manners and behavior, said Rylan Yee, who has helped spearhead the effort.

"We see this as a change of attitude for the entire community," he said.

The idea grew out of the Castle Complex Curriculum Alignment Project, which standardized math and language art courses for all of the elementary schools. The aim was to have all students on the same page when they entered King Intermediate School. Then members of the project decided to focus on behavior, because teachers were spending too much time on discipline, Yee said.

The Behavior Group, as they called themselves, realized that in order for Five R's to work, everyone in the 96744 ZIP code area would have to buy into the program, including businesses, hula halau, sports leagues and agencies, Yee said.

Shyanne Humel, a sixth-grader at Kane'ohe Elementary School, said she learned the Five R's at the He'eia Summer Fun program this year and it made a difference.

"Last year we didn't have (the Five R's) and some people got kicked out because of swearing," said Humel, 11. "This year barely anybody swore and there was good sportsmanship."

The Five R's project helps students to focus on school work, said Travis Teramae, student council vice president at the Kane'ohe school.

"Like when you get into a fight, you want to beat them up, but instead of thinking about it, you can take your mind off of it and do your work instead of daydreaming about how you're going to hit them," said Teramae, 11.

Other students said the program was good but children tended to behave only when a teacher was present.

That attitude led the Behavior Group to seek community backing for the program, said Susan Young, principal at He'eia Elementary School. If the community embraces this idea and adopts the concepts, then adults witnessing mischief can respond using the same language children learned in school, sports clubs and playgrounds, she said.

"It sort of restores that sense of family where we take care of each other's kids, and it's OK to appropriately talk to a child when he or she is misbehaving," she said.

The program is reinforced at the Kane'ohe school through books, and each building wing has been given names such as Resiliency Street and Responsibility Lane, said Mitchell Otani, school principal.

Otani said the Five R's and other programs and changes at the school have had positive results.

"I have had no sixth-grade referrals since school began in July," he said, adding that he usually gets well more than 100 a year. "It's the first time in the 15 years I've been at the school."

Alexis Kane, principal at Pu'ohala Elementary School, said, "It just seemed reasonable that the community become a part of this effort and not depend upon and rely upon the schools to spearhead it and feed it and make it happen," she said.

The group kept the words simple and meanings broad enough to be acceptable across the diverse community, said Nathan French, DOE manager for the Castle Complex School-based Behavioral Health Program.

Randy Burnett, Kane'ohe Pop Warner League president, said some parents need the Five R's as much as the children do, especially when it comes to controlling their nonplaying children at games or respecting other families on the field.

In the sport's leagues, the words focus on sportsmanship, as in: get permission to use other's belongings; be fair to all coaches; right a wrong; and learn from mistakes.

But Burnett said he doesn't expect everyone to embrace the program. "Some of the parents looked at it and some threw it away," he said. "You're not going to touch everybody."

Gordon Miyamoto with PACT/Kane'ohe Community Family Center said churches, Community Works In 96744 and other social-service agencies are joining the effort. Miyamoto wants to get as many people as possible talking the same language and keeping children in check, whether they are at the mall, theater or stores.

"We're not sure what kind of impact we're going to have or how long it's going to take, but we felt it was something worthwhile and (worth) trying to pursue," he said.

Reach Eloise Aguiar at eaguiar@honoluluadvertiser.com.