January 2013
FEATURES
The Southwest Portland Post • 5
Hillsdale mother leads effort to open outdoor classroom at Rieke School
By Jillian Daley
The Southwest Portland Post
A Hillsdale woman plans to bring an
outdoor classroom to Rieke Elementary
School with support from students, staff
and volunteers.
If Rieke ropes a $1,900 grant from
Southwest Neighborhoods, Inc. this
month, the project will begin immedi-
ately on 2,400 square feet of land behind
modular buildings at the school, said
Jamie Repasky, project organizer and
Rieke mom.
The plan includes covered seating,
a path, an oak tree, storage shed and a
bridge across an existing rain garden
that looks like a plant-filled creek bed.
There would be a hanging vegetable-
and-herb garden and a science-class-
worthy nurse log, a fallen tree upon
which other trees grow and little life
forms thrive.
Repasky said the project abounds
with teaching opportunities, such as
where produce comes from.
Community members are donating
construction and project design aid for
the site, which will be open for public
use when school is not in session. A
neighbor gave two rain barrels.
Members of Missio Community, a
church, are lending muscle. Hillsdale
Neighborhood Association submitted a
letter supporting the SWNI grant.
Repasky said several teachers and the
principal wanted an outdoor classroom,
and she has time to help in-between job
hunting.
“The school just needed someone to
help bring them together,” Repasky
said.
The project could cost $7,000 to
$18,000, depending on factors including
whether the main shelter is permanent
or temporary.
Funds so far include a $1,500 grant
from West Multnomah Soil and Water
Conservation District. Portland Parks &
Recreation will provide trees and logs
for seating.
Rieke landed a $1,000 bonus from
Portland Public Schools for its energy-
Jamie Repasky is working to bring an outdoor classroom next year to Rieke
Elementary School, which her children attend. (Post photo by Jillian Daley)
saving efforts, efforts which also earned
the school kudos.
On September 7, Rieke became the
first Oregon school to win the Green
Flag Award, the highest honor for Na-
tional Wildlife Federation’s Eco-Schools
USA program.
Students, staff and volunteers re-
ceived the award for implementing Eco-
Action Plans on biodiversity education
and reduced consumption, waste and
energy use, said Erin Barnett, commu-
nications manager for Portland Public
Schools.
Planning to include focus sessions on schools, parks, land use and transportation
HILLSDALE NOTEBOOK
By Jillian Daley
The Southwest Portland Post
The Hillsdale Neighborhood Associa-
tion at its meeting last month took the
first steps toward creating an action
plan: a to-do list of improvements and
projects for the neighborhood.
To determine what items to put on the
list, neighbors will hold Saturday focus
sessions in the coming weeks on schools,
parks, land use/property development
and transportation.
The first focus session on transporta-
tion will be Saturday, Jan. 12, 10 a.m. to
12 noon, at The Watershed at Hillsdale,
6380 SW Capitol Hwy.
At the neighborhood association’s
regular December meeting, association
chairman Mikal Apenes showed the
gathering of about 20 people the most
recent action plan, which was from
2005-2006.
Apenes said a new plan was overdue,
and the existing one gives neighbors
a sense of what they’ve accomplished
and a framework of how to approach
the next plan.
Items from the old plan include keep-
ing Rieke Elementary School open,
working on Portland’s Red Electric
Trail and cleaning the Bertha Triangle,
a swath of land that was polluted from
an automotive repair and gas station
facility.
“I think if you look at this stuff, the
people who wanted to see something
happen made it happen,” said neighbor
Don Baack. Baack is also chairman of SW
Trails, a group advocating for improved
walking and biking trails in the area.
Baack has been instrumental in the
development of the Red Electric Trail,
which follows the route of a 20 th Century,
interurban passenger train.
Once complete, the in-progress, long-
term project will connect Washington
County, Southwest Portland and the
Willamette River with a series of bridges
and trails for bicyclists and pedestrians.
Rieke is flourishing, flush with almost
400 students. The neighborhood asso-
ciation helped, but the primary driver
for the school’s survival was students’
parents, Apenes said.
A developer, with community help,
transformed the Bertha Triangle from
a brownfield to the Watershed at Hills-
dale, home to senior housing and com-
munity space – the association holds
meetings there. The site’s name comes
from the shape made by the roads
bordering it, Southwest Bertha Court,
Bertha Boulevard and Capitol Highway.
“This is wonderful, just for learning
the vision a few years ago and seeing
which (items) we can tick off,” said
neighbor Arnie Panitch.
Apenes inspired neighbors to hold
the focus sessions to figure out their
next steps.
“We can distill it down to bullet points
and present it to the neighborhood,”
he said.
Neighbor Michael Reunert said or-
ganizers of the plan should focus on
goals the whole neighborhood wants.
Reunert suggested a survey or another
way to sample a larger portion of the
population.
Glenn Bridger joked that he knows
one way to attract more people to meet-
ings to weigh in on decisions. “Con-
troversy is what drives participation,”
Bridger said.
Rick Seifert said the neighborhood
should start simple. “First identify what
are our assets and what are our deficits,”
he said.