Film premiere to benefit Arcadia High School

Camelview Harkins Theater will be rolling out the red carpet on Feb. 22 in the hope of revamping Arcadia High School's classrooms when it hosts the world premiere of the film "Bonneville."

The Arcadia High School Dads Club, a group of fathers of Arcadia students, will present the event, themed "Arcadia Goes Hollywood," as part of a goal to reach $500,000 by next year to enable the school to spend $6,000 per classroom in technological advancements.

The club is selling tickets for $150 for general admission and $350 for VIP access to the "green room" which allows ticket holders to mingle with the film's stars.

"I'll go as far to say that in the history of Arizona, there has never been a star-studded premiere quite like 'Bonneville,' " said Dan Harkins, CEO of Harkins Theatres.

"Bonneville," a comedic drama that tells the story of friendship on the road, stars Tom Skerritt, Joan Allen, Jessica Lange and Kathy Bates.

Harkins' guest list includes all of the movie's main stars and filmmakers, but is awaiting confirmation from Bates. Morning-show host Tara Hitchcock of KTVK-TV (Channel 3) will host the event and legendary rocker Alice Cooper, an honorary Dads Club member, will be in attendance.

The club intends to generate enough buzz to sell all 600 tickets and begin funding the school with money that will be spent on technological equipment in the classroom.

Harkins, a founding Dads Club member and father of two Arcadia High students, said he hopes to see his children keeping up with the level of technology-enhanced learning that they were exposed to in grade school and at home.

"These kids are going home to a high-tech world, then they come to school, so you want to keep up with them," he said. "We want an overall enrichment of the education experience with an emphasis on the highest quality technology."

The Dads Club is comprised of nearly 100Arcadia High parents whose efforts go directly toward Arcadia's efforts to obtain cutting-edge classroom equipment, Harkins said.

And although the Dads Club is new to Arcadia High School this year as a function of the PTO, their previous individual efforts have helped push the advancement of technology in the Scottsdale Unified School District.

Many of the dads came together while their children were attending Arcadia High School feeder schools in the district to help contribute tofund-raising campaigns for its grade schools and middle school, Harkins added.

The fathers' efforts have allowed officials to gauge where money allocations are effective, said Ernie Nicely, district executive director of information systems and technology.

"Through (the Dads Club's) generosity, we can see what works, what doesn't work and build that model school that we want to see around the district," Nicely said. "Arcadia can be that model that we use."

Voters in November 2007 agreed by a 2-to-1 margin to approve just less than $70 million in capital override funds for the district to spend evenly over the next seven years. Technological advancements will receive the bulk of the funding - nearly $5 million annually - to be spent on interactive equipment for the classrooms beginning July 1, Nicely said.

He added that he would like to see the Dads Club's financial support go toward providing training services and on-site assistance for faculty members so they are able to use the new equipment to its full potential.

Anne Marie Woolsey, Arcadia High's principal, said she is very excited with the parent involvement that has brought "advanced education" to the classroom.

"I'm amazed at some of the things on the marketplace that can make learning so real with the ability to bring this to the classroom," Woolsey said. "Funding is something special for the community and we feel very blessed to have such a supportive community here at Arcadia."

Where the money goes

The Arcadia High School Dads Club intends to generate enough money over the next year to support the following technological advancements in each of Arcadia High School’s classrooms:

• Projector and installation: $2,450

• Classroom amplification: $1,250

• Document camera: $500

• Video/TV tuner: $200

• CPS chalkboard: $400

• Tablet PC: $1,200

• Total: $6,000 per classroom

Further financial efforts will go toward training Arcadia faculty on the use of the equipment.