KANE'OHE — The Pacific American Foundation is planning to buy the fee simple ownership of an ancient Hawaiian fishpond that has been the center of the foundation's educational programs for 15 years.

The Waikalua Loko Fishpond in Kane'ohe has been managed and maintained by the Waikalua Loko Fishpond Preservation Society since 1995. The society has invited thousands of volunteers a year to learn more about the ancient aquaculture system and to care for it.

The nonprofit Pacific American Foundation was founded in 1993. According to its Web site, it is "dedicated to improving the lives of Pacific Americans through education, mentor/leadership training, employment, research and development and community partnerships."

The foundation created its first educational program focusing on the cultural significance of the fishpond and eventually developed more than a dozen other programs as well as a variety of culturally based curricula for public schools.

The foundation is holding a fundraiser Friday at Paliku Theatre to help buy the 10-acre fishpond and about 6 acres of land. The event is dubbed "The Gathering."

The Harold K.L. Castle foundation has kicked off the campaign with a $100,000 grant.

Acquiring the fee-simple interest in the fishpond guarantees access to community and school groups in perpetuity, said Herb Lee, executive director of the Pacific American Foundation.

"The fishpond is our piko (navel)," Lee said. "It all started here."

The foundation's fishpond-based and ahupua'a-based educational curriculum meet state Department of Education standards and brings 5,000 students to the pond each year.

The foundation also has provided training for hundreds of teachers and career planning for students, beginning in the fifth grade. It has developed an educational/cultural program for Kaho'olawe and a preservation program based on culture for the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument.

The foundation is also working with the U.S. Department of Interior to field archaeology interns in the Pacific. The plan is to pay for their college and give them a job afterward, providing they agree to spend three to four months on Midway and Kure for their internship.

"To me the bottom line is we're trying to empower our students to build strong communities," Lee said. "That's the key, and it's important in this global society to have a firm anchor in the place that you grew up because that's where you develop your values and that's going to help determine how successful you're going to be in a global society."

The state DOE liked the educational curriculum so much it gave the foundation an award in December.

Lea Albert, superintendent for the DOE's Castle-Kahuku complex, praised the foundation's curriculum and its leadership program for teachers.

"What they provide at the fishpond gives meaning to a learning experience and that makes it very special because the student can relate to the land, the environment," Albert said. "The educator would call it relevance and for the student it's meaningful. It's hands-on. It's education they can carry with them all their life."

The goal after acquiring the fishpond is to join with partners to expand educational and cultural preservation programs.

The partners are the neighboring Camp Kokokahi YWCA, which is developing a cultural learning center, Windward Community College and the Hawaii Institute for Marine Biology on Coconut Island. Combining the YWCA's land and the fishpond property will open to public use 25 to 30 acres of land and pond on the bay.

The YWCA's Cultural Learning Center at Kokokahi already includes a hula halau, a Hawaiian language immersion school and a charter school.

Joining with the foundation would add another aspect to the center, said Maile Alau, with YWCA Oahu.

"Families tend to gather (at Kokokahi) and especially a large number of Hawaiian families," Alau said. "So the idea is to build upon that.

"Let people come together for opportunities to learn Hawaiian language and maybe do some work in terms of connecting with the land."