By ESTHER K. SMITH
News staff writer
November 23, 2007

These are exciting times for Michael Becker, eighth-grade science teacher at Hood River Middle School — and for his students and middle school students throughout the district.

Becker had two pieces of great news for the school board last week: a $30,000 donation by Marie Asai will make the school’s greenhouse project a reality, and — even bigger — a new trust fund is being established by the Hood River Alpinees that will give middle school students in the district an enhanced outdoor education for years to come.

“Marie Asai has been watching the greenhouse project, and decided she wanted to help,” Becker said. The project has also received donations for the plans, foundation and glass, he said, so it’s likely the greenhouse can be started in the spring.

Last year, Becker was invited to an Alpinee meeting where he learned that the group was “pretty much ready to disband” and was looking for a way to have its name live on somehow.

Members who were familiar with Becker’s outdoor education projects wondered whether the school district might be interested in having the Alpinee property and building as a place for off-site educational programs.

“But the school district decided it didn’t want another pre-war building to maintain,” he said. He suggested to the group that it sell the property instead, and set up a fund that would give an outdoor education to generations of middle school children.

Becker told the school board last week that the Alpinees have decided unanimously to go along with the “No Child Left Inside” program. The group hopes to have the building on the market by the first of the year, and money raised from the sale will form the Alpinee Outdoor Education Trust.

The value of the approximately 1.5 acres of land and facilities has been initially estimated at $350,000. The goal will be to maintain the principle and use yearly interest gains for funding the outdoor programs.

Becker said that if the fund is $350,000 and the annual interest is a conservative 4 percent, that would give the program $14,000 annually to be used for educational experiences, transportation, staff development and curriculum.