HR Ed Foundation awards 2022 Impact Grants

The foundation has been providing grants to educators for more than 25 years and is a 501c3 nonprofit. While not part of the school district, the foundation supports its students, educators and schools.

“The Hood River County Education Foundation supports the Hood River County School District through funding impactful and innovative educators and/or student-designed projects that exemplify excellence in education,” said Newton. “HRCEF strives to support impactful projects that enrich student learning through direct academic benefit, staff development and/or non-academic learning opportunities.”

“I was thrilled with the quality of proposals from teachers that will explore new ways to teach, new areas to study, and creative uses of technology,” said Aspen McKenna, HRCEF program chair, in a press release. “HRCEF continues to provide more funds for Impact Teaching Grants every year, and luckily our donors and fundraisers have kept pace with the requests. 2020 and 2021 have been tough years for fund-raising as COVID-19 has taken our in-person fundraisers off the calendar. We really depend on our donors in these circumstances, and they have come through.”

Educators submit a brief application form detailing the planned educational experience, the number of student participants and the cost per student, among others. The HRCEF volunteer board then scores the applications.

Grants were awarded to the following schools and programs:

• All district elementary schools — $2,000: Sally Anderson, FAB Bus, robotics.
• Cascade Locks — $2,000: Sheri Holloway, Integrated Art and Native American History, afterschool program.
• Hood River Valley High School — $10,623.45: Keven Haspela and Tegner Weiseth, digital balances; John Trimble, Engineering the Internet of Things with Arduino; Doug Beardsley and Areli Lica (student), AVID Advanced Math toolkit; Shawn Meyle, video sound.
• Hood River Middle School — $8,774.61: Kyla Louis and Josh Hobson, Podcast Equipment; Adams Smith, telescope; Stacy Claus, Goal Ball for All; Ann McDonald and Amy Wheeler, HRMS Community Reads; Maureen Wiseman, Grace Parson, and Connor Ward: Break Space for Classrooms.
• Parkdale Elementary — $5,171.16: Holly Lavoie, Paula Linquist and Celia Newton, Hands-On Math Manipulatives; Marika Smith, Foundational Reading Development; Paula Linquist, Kathleen Welland, Jill Spaulding, Jenay Coval and Madeline Salminen, Handwriting Without Tears.
• Wy’east Middle School and Mid Valley Elemenary — $9,110: Jeanne Welch, Erin Bertram, Karen Holt, Tom Frojen, and Ashlie Sorestad (District 5-12 grade Motor and Assistive Technology Team), All-Terrain Bikes for Students with Diverse Abilities; and Wy’east: Ashlie Sorestad, Ripple Effect: At the Intersection of Art & Nature.
• HRMS and Wy’east — $3,900 (shared grant): David Scharfenberg and Patrick Getchis, VEX IQ Robots.

Impact Teaching Grants also awarded $30,000 for elementary and middle school field trips and in-school events that bring the “field trips to the school.”

To donate to the Impact Teaching Grants Program or to become a member of the Education Foundation, go to www.hrcef.org.