ir 2009
Features
exchange students
would always think to stay in
America."
Biançardi cultivates small business, sells
to gourmet restaurants
C alley L athrop
Age: 15
Grade: junior
Host Family: Stroum
Speaks: Chinese, English,
Korean, and a little Japanese
School differencess: "School,
education and food are very
different here." According
to Lee, everything is much
bigger in America and the
school ages are very different.
"Middle school is for ages
14-16, high school is for ages
17-19 and the universities are
ages 20 and over."
H obbies: Lee enjoys playing
the piano, and has been
playing since she was nine
years old.
Favorite subject:
Reason for com ing to West
Linn: "I hoped to learn
American culture."
Age: 17
Grade: senior
Host Fam ily: Teramura
Host Student: Rachel, junior
Speaks: Spanish, English,
French
School differencess: "Nearly
everything is different."
According to Gonzales-
Morillas, there are no lockers
in the school, plus the teachers
have to move to different
rooms throughout the day
and the students stay in one
class.
H obbies: "Music. I like
photography, dance and
traveling"
Favorite Subject:
Photography, Biology
Reason for com ing to West
Linn: "I wanted to learn
American culture, and
improve my English."
Photos by Libby Kara and
Mark Poppert
enges of administrative roles
This is Marten's fifteenth
year in education; Martens
previously taught English for
12. years and was an assistant
principal at Tualatin High
School for three.
Aside from work, Marten
spends a great deal of time
with his family. He has been
married for four years, and has
a ten month-old baby.
According to Martens, his
favorite part of the job so far
has been getting to know the
students and the school.
Freeborn, in her first year in
an administrative position, is
especially interested in seeing
her previous students once
again and watch them growT
into adults. She worked as an
instructional coordinator for
the last three years at Rosemont
Ridge Middle School and
taught for 16 years, beginning
with kindergarten and
extending to Rosemont and
Athey Creek middle schools.
Freeborn's own high school
experience in Alaska was
very positive. She has two
children, Kade and Reese,
who currently attend Stafford
Primary School. The entire
family is active in sports; Kade
and Reese both play football
and soccer, respectively, as well
as basketball. Freeborn has
participated in marathons for
eight
Freeborn mostly works with
freshman and incoming eighth
graders, as well as aiding
teachers in their first, second
or third year of teaching.
According to Freeborn, she
tries to be a helpful aid to
teachers in and outside of the
classroom.
Both Martens and Freeborn
encourage students to
become involved outside the
classroom participating in
extra-curricular activities, and
most importantly, to graduate.
Freeborn also stressed the
importance of friendship and
believes the coming school
year will be an "amazing and
powerful one."
Lou Bailey, principal,
agreed, "I think we can expect
continued academic excellence,
an increase in school spirit and
a positive attitude." Certainly,
with the addition of Martens
and Freeborn, that looks like a
strong possibility.
9
Ever w ondered w hat the
m e a n in g b e h in d th o s e
"G io v a n n i's G a rd e n " T-
sh irts is? T h ese colorfu l
shirts advertise the small
business of M ichael Bian-
cardi, senior, w hich spans
over a half acre and yields
over 180 lbs. of vegetables
per week.
Biancardi com es from a
very green family; his par
ents and siblings have been
tending their half acre gar
den for over 10 years. Two
years ago, looking to make
a dent in the approaching
college tuition, Biancardi
took over the plot and began
researching w ays to make
his garden b lo sso m ...fo r
profit.
"I'v e had the garden for
two sum m ers, but this sum
m er tried lots of new things;
m any of w hich I w ill never
do again," Biancardi said.
H e created an irrig ation
system out of PVC pipe,
and has been m entored by
a fam ily friend / farmer who
sells to local businesses.
The farm er sold to a high-
end restaurant, Papa Haydn,
for five years, along with
several other area restau
rants and businesses. At one
point, the orders becam e
too large for B ian card i’s
m entor to m anage, and he
passed along the business to
Biancardi. In 2008, Biancardi
b e g a n sellin g to H ay d n
directly, m aking deliveries
twice a week.
It so u n d s lik e an easy
b u sin ess...p lan t the crops,
w ater them, harvest them,
rake in the profit. According
to Biancardi however, the
investm ent is costly both
financially and in time.
"I just recently broke even
financially after m y second
summer of harvesting. Buy
ing seeds, organic pest control
and other costs w ere using up
the profit I w as m aking from
Haydn and the other restau
rants," he said.
The ep itom e of h an d s-on
learning, Biancardi w ants to
own his own business in the
future and says that Giovanni's
Garden has taught him much
more than just farming.
"I get to w ork w ith high-
end chefs in Portland, so I've
are past their prime and not fit
for sale after a mere 24 hours.
"M y family has two freezers,
both are full of tom atoes and
other veggies that I couldn't
sell. Basically, w e'll be having
hom em ade salsa for the next
five years," he said.
T his year, B iancard i has
early release in order to focus
on caring for the garden. He
spends about 3-4 hours per
day caring for the crops, most
Photo by Amy Biancardi
Michael Biancardi, senior, displays his recently harvested crops. He
solely owns and operates Giovanni's Garden, a business that produces
over 100 lbs. of vegetables per week that end up on plates at high-end
Portland restaurants.
learned lots of great custom er
m anagem ent skills, as w ell as
w hat to do w hen things go
wrong— like forgetting to turn
on the water, delivering to the
wrong restaurant, not weeding
as often as necessary, the list
goes on pretty m uch forever,"
Biancardi said.
O ne o f the m ost d ifficu lt
things about the business has
been learning all about perish
able inventory. Biancardi sells
his produce im m ediately after
harvest, because the vegetables
of it weeding, according to
Biancardi.
H e w ill keep his garden
growing until he leaves for
college, at w hich tim e he
plans to hire a friend to fin
ish the fall season. According
to Biancardi, the garden is
w orth more than just college
money.
"I love the feeling after har
vest w hen my living room is
full of vegetables, and I’m like
yeah, I grew that," Biancardi
said.
www.RosboroughPhotography.com ~ info-'a RosboroughPhotography.com - 503.453.2844