I am writing to thank you for your continuous support. I am beyond grateful for this amazing opportunity. I am currently a junior at OSU majoring in psychology. I also have an internship work at At-Risk Youth in Albany, Oregon. Every summer, I have returned to work in the orchards to financially support my family. Your contribution has greatly reduced our financial stress and worry (about) funding my education. Again, thank you. I hope to one day be able to help students achieve their dreams, just as you have helped me.

— An HRCEF Isabel Gilkerson Memorial Scholarship recipient.

HRCEF can create these events for students only because our generous donors provide the funds. Despite these wonderful accomplishments, we know that we can do more! More scholarships for more students, more field trips, and more grants to educators are needed, and we want to be sure that fees for sports and activities do not keep any student in HRCSD from participating.

Your annual Membership and other donations keep us able to support and enhance education for all kids in our HRCSD schools. Please become a member, or renew or scale up your HRCEF membership today. Be part of the great support HRCEF provides for our Hood River County students and schools!

Thank you for your support of Hood River County students and graduates, school and educators!

Jan Veldhuisen Virk

Chair of the Board of Directors, Hood River County Education Foundation

The HRVHS Local Scholarship Program (formerly E-Schol) is underway and HRVHS seniors may now browse local scholarships on eschol.hrcef.org.

The 70+ scholarships available this year are entirely funded from organizations and grantors in Hood River County. These scholarships are only available to students in Hood River County, and there are scholarships for students pursuing vocational/trade, two-year, and four-year degrees. Students are encouraged to apply for scholarships even if you are not sure where you are headed to school or what you want to major in.

In 2022, HRVHS & HROA seniors received nearly $600,000 in scholarships from the local scholarship program. Awards ranged from $500 to $60,000 and approximately 200 scholarships were awarded to 71 students. With so many available scholarships, every student has the opportunity to qualify.

Use eschol.hrcef.org to:

• Find scholarships based on your extracurricular activities, planned major, family employment, and more!
• Review scholarship eligibility criteria (GPA, etc.)
• Review / prepare essays and other required application documents
• Find resources on and off campus to help with your scholarship applications

Applications for local scholarships will be open from January 4 – February 23 on Kaleidoscope.

Follow HRCEF on facebook or instagram for more updates on local scholarships. The Hood River County Education Foundation is a proud sponsor of the HRVHS Local Scholarship Program. HRVHS seniors can find and apply for all 32 HRCEF scholarships through the Local Scholarship Program.

Educators, start your laptops! Applications are now open for 2023 Impact Teaching Grants. The Hood River County Education Foundation has been providing grants to educators for over 25 years, and the Impact Teaching Grants program awards funds to teachers and staff who find better ways to teach, new subjects to explore and interesting experiments to try. The goal of the program is to provide the critical funds that will turn the best of these ideas into action. The program is open to any Hood River County School District teacher, staff, district employee or student.

HRCEF wants to support projects that enrich student learning through direct academic benefit, staff development or non-academic learning opportunities. Ideally, we are looking for innovative ideas that exhibit a creative or new approach, program, area of study or means of instruction, but we are open to awarding grants for items or ideas that significantly enhance student learning without being particularly innovative. 

Grants will be considered based on cost-effectiveness, as well. We seek projects that impact a large number of students (either at one time or over a number of years) OR that involve a unique depth for a smaller number of students. Preference will be given to grants where two or more educators work together on a project, broadening the scope of impact and cost-effectiveness of grant monies. Educators are encouraged to pursue additional outside sources of funding either before or in addition to this grant, thus leveraging HRCEF’s funding as fully as possible.

Applications for HRCEF Impact Teaching Grants will be open from November 1, 2022 – January 9, 2023.

The Education Foundation has been raising funds for this program from the community for many years. However, with teaching needs increasing, we have recently undertaken a more concerted effort to raise funds specifically for the Impact Teaching Grants program. Revenue from fundraising events is combined with individual annual or long-term targeted donations.

Asked why he was interested in leading the Education Foundation, McElwee said, “I have a longstanding interest in our local public education system.  The Executive Director position will enable me to contribute to the important mission of supporting our students and teachers in the Hood River County School District. “
 

McElwee cited HRCEF scholarships as a particular interest. “The Education Foundation awarded over $230,000 in scholarships in 2022. I am interested in assuring that the prospective college students with the most significant financial challenges can achieve their college and career goals.”
 
Former HRCEF Executive Director Meleah Bauman resigned her HRCEF position to become the Coordinator of the Aspire Program at Hood River Valley High School. Aspire helps students find colleges and college funding. The Hood River County Education Foundation is a 501c3 non-profit organization that partners with the HRC School District to provide college scholarships, grants to educators, field trip funds, and support for co-curricular and extracurricular activities for students in poverty. All HRCEF activities are funded by donors and fundraising.