High school freshman Precious Totten likes to recall, with a knowing laugh, that she used to dream of being a rock star.

That is, until she was chosen in 2005 as one of 40 disadvantaged O'ahu fifth-graders to participate in the first year of a program at Punahou School designed to get kids who never considered college thinking of themselves as college-bound.

Every summer, Totten returns to Punahou for free summer courses that she describes as intensive and fun. She also visits the campus throughout the year for special events. And these days, the Castle High School student dreams not of becoming rich and famous, but of going to college to become a lawyer.

"Before the program, I had never even thought of college," said Totten, who was abandoned as a newborn and adopted at 6 months. "I always thought it was for people who had that kind of money. But college is an option for all students."

Success stories like Totten's have helped Punahou School's Partnerships in Unlimited Educational Opportunities, or PUEO, program thrive, admitting 40 new public school students every year as fifth-graders. And it's gotten the attention of some large donors, including the Clarence T.C. Ching Foundation, which will announce a $3 million award to the program today in a special ceremony.

"It addresses a segment of the public school kids who ... are quite often forgotten," said Ken Okamoto, Ching Foundation trustee. "They certainly are having these kids think very seriously about proceeding on to college."

The Ching Foundation grant will help fund PUEO through 2014.

The program now has some 200 kids and it will admit 40 new public school students every year, up to 280 at any one time, said PUEO director and Punahou School history teacher Carl Ackerman. Students are chosen by their public school principals, and must qualify for the free or reduced school lunch program and have a strong interest in learning. The students who are picked aren't always the best in their class, since those high-performing kids already have a good shot at college.

The kids attend six weeks of summer courses at Punahou, going through challenging, hands-on classes such as robotics, scientific concepts of flight and marine biology. They also get tutoring and attend programs during the school year.

Ackerman said the one thing that is drilled into the kids is that college is possible for them. They visit colleges on field trips, they get tutored by college students, and they learn about how financial aid can help pay for college tuition.

"The central idea of PUEO is, 'I'm going to college,' " said Ackerman, who spent several years studying other private school programs that help public school or disadvantaged students before launching PUEO. "What the program is about is developing college skills. It's a culture of college, a culture of learning."

Ackerman called the $3 million Ching Foundation grant a "godsend."

Every PUEO student costs Punahou about $2,000 a year.

Kylee Omo, assistant director of PUEO, said the program is doing its part to improve the educational system in the Islands and has helped develop partnerships between Punahou and several public schools. "We're hoping we're leading by example," Omo said. "Everyone can take responsibility for improving the education system in Hawai'i" – and the lives of disadvantaged kids.

Ackerman added he has seen "remarkable changes" in the PUEO kids.

Some have even seen their grades and study habits improve.

Totten's adoptive mother, Lee, said Precious got "a focus" thanks to the program. "She became a self-motivated learner," Totten said, adding that Precious is now almost always reading or studying. In her free time, Precious confessed, she sometimes jumps on the Internet to look at college Web sites.