Deering High School booster groups sell products and hold fundraisers throughout the school year to help raise support for their team or group.  The Alumni Association is happy to provide a list of these efforts for alumni who might be interested.  If you have a fundraising event to list,
contact us.

Auditorium Renovation Fund
The auditorium is in need of repair and renovation.  Volunteers are needed to help raise funds. Contact principal Ken Kunin to get involved or to make a donation. 207-874-8260.  As of June 2008, the school has raised about $65,000. That is just over halfway to the goal, so send in those donations!

June 2008 Update.  Class of 2008 donates make class gift of $5,000 toward the Auditorium Fund!

May 2008 Update.  Deering Alumni Association donates $500 to the project.
The Portland City Council approved $35,000 out of the capital equipment budget for Deering's auditorium lighting.  This will allow the school to move forward on a new base lighting system.  The school continues to raise funds as they plan for a rededication in the Fall.

LOWE’S GIVES $25,000 FOR DEERING AUDITORIUM RENOVATION

November 2007 - Lowe’s Charitable and Educational Foundation has awarded $25,000 to Deering High School in Portland to help renovate the school’s auditorium. Jimmy Davis, manager of the Lowe’s store in Portland, will join Deering Principal Kenneth Kunin for a ceremonial presentation of the check at the Portland School Committee meeting on November 7 at 7 p.m.  “This award is a tremendous boost to our $100,000 fundraising effort,” said Kunin. “We deeply appreciate Lowe’s generosity.”

The Lowe’s grant will be used to purchase materials for fixing the stage and improving lighting. Parents, students and community volunteers are providing much of the labor for the project.
“The grant to Deering represents Lowe’s commitment to education,” said Larry Stone, chairman of the Lowe’s Charitable and Educational Foundation.  The Portland Partnership worked with Deering’s staff to help secure the Lowe’s grant. The auditorium project also has received a $5,000 donation from the 2007 senior class, a $1,400 gift from the Class of 1947 and individual gifts from the Class of 1957 totaling $520.

Efforts are underway to seek additional contributions from Deering alumni. A Deering Wall of Pride in the renovated auditorium will honor any class with individual or collective gifts of at least $5,000.

The Deering auditorium has showcased student musical performances, plays and other events for more than 80 years. But lighting is minimal, many seats are uncomfortable or unusable and the stage has numerous limitations.  A group of parents, students and staff began working with the district’s facilities staff and the architectural firm of Semple and Dane last winter to plan the renovations. Their goal is to complete the project by the fall of 2008. They plan on volunteers doing as much of the work as possible.

“We want to send a clear message that artistic excellence is valued at Deering,” said Kunin. “The end result will be an auditorium that matches the high quality of the productions it contains while maximizing students’ educational experience.”  Last spring, band and chorus students surveyed all of the auditorium’s 700 seats to determine which ones needed to be fixed, replaced or tightened. Parents and students devoted a July day to make the necessary repairs.
Volunteers removed portable staging and repaired and replaced tiles during a second work day. Paul G. White Tile Co. provided materials at no cost.  Additional work remains to rebuild the stage and to upgrade both the house lights and the stage lighting.

Anyone interested in helping with the fundraising effort, volunteering labor or donating materials and services is encouraged to contact Ken Kunin at kunink@portlandschools.org.
 

Yearbook Donations Needed for School Library

The Deering school library needs copies of yearbooks from certain years for the archives:

1962
1963
1964
1971
1972
1979
1982
1984
1985
1986

They especially need 1972 -- we don't have any copies of that year. If you have a yearbook from these years that you can donate, please drop it off at the school office or library.
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DHS Teacher's Wish List
Donations are always welcome. Please contact the school at 874-8260 if you would like to help out with any of the items below.

-  Volunteers needed:  math tutor, classroom aide, clerical support, fundraising support

-  Expert presenters needed on:  drama, public speaking, journalism, migrant workers, refugees

-  In Kind Donations:  copy services, free tickets to events, free transportation, internships, business tours, software, gift certificates, technology hardware, dictionaries/thesaurus, book bags.

-  For stage plays:  fabric, paint, lumber, furniture

-  Sponsorship Donations:
Sponsor a Class Play - $100 and up
Sponsor a Project - $300 to publish a handbook for Spanish speaking refugees
Sponsor a Yearbook - $45 buys a yearbook for a low-income student
Sponsor a Field Trip - $12 per student covers a ticket and transportation to a Portland Stage Co. production.