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~ First Tech Credit Union Donates $10,000 to Hillsboro Schools Foundation Innovative Grants 

The donation will go toward the grants that will be funded by the Hillsboro Schools Foundation in the spring 2008. The check was presented at the Hillsboro Chamber of Commerce monthly Business Forum Luncheon on May 13, 2008 at 11:30 a.m., at the Glenn and Viola Walters Cultural Arts Center in Hillsboro.

“First Tech Credit Union has been a great support of the Hillsboro Schools Foundation for several years,” Executive Director Aron Carleson said. “This is the largest single contribution they have made for our students. We appreciate their commitment to give back to the students of the families which they serve.”

Click here to read the full press release.

~ NIKE Summer Literacy Academy,

Two hundred forty incoming kindergarten, first and second grade students were engaged in a rigorous four-week Nike Summer Literacy Academy, beginning Monday, July 9, through Thursday, August 2. The program was held on Mondays through Thursdays, from 9 a.m. to noon, at Indian Hills and Farmington View elementary schools.

In its first year, the Nike Summer Literacy Academy served children in seven District schools in need of additional support. The schools served by the Nike School Innovation Fund grant were Brookwood, Butternut Creek, Farmington View, Groner, Indian Hills, Orenco and Tobias elementary schools.

Incoming kindergartners were introduced to classroom routines and academics such as reading and pre-writing skills. The goal for first and second graders was to retain and support basic literacy skills they have learned during the school year.

Nadine  Zimmerlund, Foundation Board Vice President, visited the program at Indian Hills on July 31.  Kimberly Miles and Grant Corliss served as administrators at the building sites.  Kimberly walked Nadine through the classrooms and shared information about the curriculum and academic expectations.  Classes had 12 to 15 students in them with one teacher and a number of classes had an assistant also.  Nike provided special gifts to all the students each Thursday.  Students received Nike promotional items such as armbands and each student received a book to take home on the last day of the Academy.

A Family Night was held and approximately 120 students attended with their parents and siblings.  Information was shared regarding the curriculum and how parents could support their child at home.

Nadine was very impressed with the learning activities and the organization of the Academy.  Huge thanks goes to District leaders for organizing this, Academy staff for their hard work, and for Nike's invaluable financial support!

~ Brown Middle School, Fitness Grant Visit,

On May 24, 2007 Mike DePinto, physical education specialist at Brown Middle School, and twenty-five 7^th grade students demonstrated the unique fitness program funded by an HSF grant, “Getting to the Heart of the Solution.”  In this program students wear Polar heart rate monitors while warming up and exercising to provide instant feedback on each student’s target heart rate zone.  This helps students develop their own fitness goals based on real data and assists them in meeting their fitness benchmarks.

~ HSF Awards More Grants,

For school year 2007-2008 HSF awarded more grants than ever before.  HSF gave $78,000 for 16 Innovative Grants including $5000 for a Verizon Literacy and Technology Grant.  HSF/ Intel Science & Technology Grants of $20,000 each were awarded to Hillsboro High School, Farmington View Elementary School and Miller Education Center. Nike’s Innovative School Fund will give HSF $200,000 for Hillsboro School District’s Primary Literacy Initiative for K-2 literacy summer camps and after school programs and for a Leadership Academy for innovative teacher training.

Jumping & Jiving with the Jaguars at Century HS	Navajo Code Talkers at Glencoe HS	ORCA Live TV at Orenco Elementary	Weather in the Garden at Butternut Elementary

On June 12, 2007, the Third Annual Anthony O’M. Brennan Memorial Golf Tournament or Tony’s Tourney, a benefit for the Hillsboro Schools Foundation, raised over $15,000, tripling the revenue from the previous year.  Eighty golfers enjoyed a glorious day at The Reserve Vineyards & Golf Club followed by a barbecue, special appeal, prizes and auction of a 42” plasma television.  Special thanks to First Tech Credit Union & PGE, the co-presenting sponsors; prize sponsor Nike; hole-in-one sponsor Dick’s Country Chrysler Jeep Dodge and plasma television donor Planar. 

~ Mardi Gras 2007: Most Successful Event Yet!

300 people wore masks, bid on items, dined and danced to New Orleans jazz and raised over $95,000 at the HSF 2007 Mardi Gras Gala & Auction.

Held on February 10th, the HSF auction committee transformed the Nike Tiger Woods Center into Bourbon Street with fabulous decorations and live trees. The event included Creole food, wonderful wines, and two foot table centerpiece strung with colorful glittered and feathered masks made by the art students at Hillsboro High School. Hillhi Jazz Combo and Band and the Black Swan Classic Jazz Band provided the danceable New Orleans music. Student jugglers, caricature artists, and painted street scapes reminded attendees of Jackson Square in New Orleans.

Long time Hillsboro residents, Jack McGowan, Executive Director of SOLV and Mardi Gras Emcee, and Auctioneer Jon Batcheller expertly facilitated the program, oral auction and special cash appeal. For the special appeal benefiting HSF’s innovative grants program, several teachers who had received grants provide testimonials. Ann Doyle from Butternut Creek, Vic Smith, Kris Hoggard and Pam Schorr from Tobias and Jill Butcher from Farmington View showed pictures of their successful HSF grant programs.

Our thanks go to everyone-our volunteers and donors for making this the most successful HSF auction in terms of dollars raised but especially to our sponsors: Presenting Sponsor, Vernier Software & Technology; Supporting Sponsors, The Hillsboro Argus and First Tech Credit Union and Contributing Sponsor, Standard TV & Appliance. Patron Table Sponsors were: Bank of the West,  Jenna & Ray Bayer, J2K Engineering, Mahlum Architects, Tuality Healthcare and West Coast Bank. Eleven parent organizations also contributed silent auctions baskets and other items with proceeds benefiting HSF and the parent organizations.  They were: Butternut Creek, Farmington View, Groner, Ladd Acres, Liberty High, Minter Bridge, Mooberry, Orenco, Patterson, Tobias, and West Union.

Everyone was so excited by the fun event that we are already planning a Latin Mardi Gras or Carnival for February 2008.  Volunteers are needed to help with the planning of the event.

~ HSF/Hillsboro Parks and Recreation After School Homework Clubs Started at 7 Schools
The Hillsboro Schools Foundation and the City of Hillsboro Parks and Recreation Department have partnered up to offer a homework clubs at seven schools this spring. This new partnership offers students the opportunity to stay after school to get assistance on homework in a quiet, structured atmosphere.  Students also are able to check out books from the library and use the computer lab.  Brown and Evergreen middle schools have seen a tremendous turn out in just a few weeks!  Brown has 24 students enrolled and Evergreen has 46.  The five elementary schools (Brookwood, Butternut Creek, Indian Hills, Mooberry, and Orenco) are making preparations to start the program after spring break.  This is a pilot program for this spring and we hope to expand to more schools next year.  Over the past couple of years, Hillsboro Parks and Recreation has been approached by the schools to offer a homework club, spurring the Foundation and Hillsboro Parks and Recreation to team up to offer this great program to enhance the opportunity for success of our students.

~ HSF Phone-a-thon a Success!                      
On November 13-16^th, parents and the community generously supported HSF’s annual Phone-a-thon.  It takes several months for all the donations to arrive at HSF headquarters, but so far the numbers look very promising. Students from Hillsboro’s high schools clubs raised over $13,000 for their clubs through their telephoning efforts on behalf of HSF. Our thanks to these students clubs: Century High-Drama, Dance, Speech/Debate, Choir, Band and Fame; Hillsboro High- Girls & Boys Soccer, Yearbook, Girls Basketball, Sr. Senate and the French Club; Liberty High-HHS Leadership, Band, SET Senate, MCM Senate/Café Couture, Newspaper and Arts Senate; and Glencoe High-Mat Hostess, Drama, Baseball, Girls Basketball, Band and Choir.

~ Innovative Grant Demonstration  
November 14^th marked the date for HSF’s first grant site visit. Friends of HSF were amazed at the CAD printer technology that allows students at Century and Hillsboro High Schools to use a computer and special program to “print” out a plaster prototype of the design.  Many companies use such “printers” to develop actual design models but this is the only CAD printer that is used as part of the curriculum in Oregon high schools.  Technology teachers,  Tim Morley from Century High and  Don Dome from Hillsboro High successfully applied for a HSF/Intel Science & Technology Grant and received it in 2005. Each year, over 600 students use this CAD printer that is shared between the two high schools.

~ Intel Volunteer Hours Program Benefits HSF
At the Intel ceremony on October 24^th for recipients of Intel’s Volunteer Matching Grant Program, Morgan Anderson (left), Education Relations Manager for Intel, presented HSF President Aron Carleson (right) with a check for $2000 for 200 hours of volunteer time for HSF by an Intel employee. Intel employees who volunteer at schools or educational foundations may submit their volunteer hours to Intel who matches their time with a check to the school or educational foundation where the time was donated.

~ New Seasons Donates over $20,000 to HSF from its Cans For Kids Program - New Seasons at Orenco Station donates the proceeds from pop can and bottle recycling brought in by customers to the Hillsboro Schools Foundation to benefit our educational programs. The program started in December 2002, and as of January 2007, HSF has received over $20,000 from New Seasons. Tell everyone you know about this great program and encourage your friends to take their cans to New Seasons for recycling!

~ GoodSearch.com Benefits HSF - Yahoo’s GoodSearch.com search engine benefits non-profits by giving 1 cent to  non-profits selected in the category for each search on the internet.  HSF is now listed as a charity and can benefit by thousands of dollars in one year if HSF and its friends use this search engine.  If 1000 supporters search the internet twice a day that would equal $7300 a year.  Send out an email to all of your friends and family to spread the word.  Just go to www.goodsearch.com, enter HSF as the charity you want to support.  Put GoodSearch.com on your list of favorites!