If organic taro farmer Mark Paikuli-Stride had his way, Kailua and Kane'ohe students would learn about Hawaiian history through the stewardship of the land, and to that end he has obtained $141,000 in grants to develop curricula for fourth-graders.

The Harold K.L. Castle Foundation, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and the First Nation Development Institute have given Aloha 'Aina Health Center, for which Paikuli-Stride is executive director, the money to create E Malama I Na Waiwai of Kailua: Instilling Core Values by Fostering Awareness of the Kailua Ahupua'a.

The Kailua educational program will be specific to learning about Kailua and will include visits to taro fields in Maunawili Valley that Paikuli-Stride and Aloha 'Aina have restored.

Students will learn that ahupua'a is a resource management system that can sustain life, where food can be produced, Paikuli-Stride said.

"It's to create more awareness and involvement, not only from the students but the families that live within the ahupua'a," he said. "We want to show them that this is their backyard."

In Kane'ohe, portions of the OHA grant will make it possible to add a food sovereignty/security aspect to the educational program, Paikuli-Stride said. The grant will allow Aloha 'Aina to ensure there are land and resources to continue growing food in areas such as Luluku in Kane'ohe, he said.

Food sovereignty/security includes such issues as the right to food-producing resources, and the ability to sustain oneself and society with safe, nutritious and culturally appropriate food, Paikuli-Stride said.

"What we're going to do in Luluku and in Maunawili is create education around food-security projects," Paikuli-Stride said.

The Kailua educational program will meet state Department of Education standards. Aloha 'Aina is working with more than a half-dozen schools and youth groups to create the curricula, said Terrence George, executive director for the Harold K.L. Castle Foundation, which awarded $58,800 to the project. OHA matched that and First Nation gave $25,000.

For many years, the Castle Foundation has focused its resources on education, Windward O'ahu and near-shore marine conservation, and the Aloha 'Aina grant fits neatly with the foundation's goals, George said.

Paikuli-Stride "has a very sophisticated but humble vision that all schools should be serving food that's grown in their ahupua'a," he said. The children will help plant food, weed it, harvest it and prepare it, he said.

George said the grant is an investment in the future, because the results won't be clear until these students grow up and become leaders.

"We think it will bring great return to Kailua ultimately," he said.

Aloha 'Aina also received an additional $7,950 OHA grant for its Planting the Seed of Hope project. The project involves seed banking and the planting of native Hawaiian varieties of taro in five ahupua'a: Halawa, Ioleka'a in Haiku Plantation, Kane'ohe, Kailua and Ha'iku, PaikuliStride said.

"Food security and seed banking are going on now, it's always been our work," he said. "So now we're tying it all together with the schools."

Reach Eloise Aguiar at eaguiar@honoluluadvertiser.com.